Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
GRIFFIN
I’d crashed here last year. Not that I’d ever remind Violet of that fact.
Callaghan had won. He wouldn’t again.
“Fresh surface through the esses,” Al said, keeping pace beside me on his own bike. “Grip should build through practice.”
I nodded, legs burning as we climbed the infamous uphill approach. My engineers pedaled behind me, the data analyst already muttering about grip levels while Al saved his breath for the technical corners. Liam wheezed something about normal people using their feet.
My phone buzzed against my ribs. Violet, probably. She’d been keeping me in the loop despite the endless stream of media commitments and team meetings. Updates on Hazel’s naps, photos of her giggling at the telly, little snippets that made me smile when everyone around me was deadly serious.
“You’re grinning like a lunatic,” Liam said, pumping harder to keep up. “Either you’ve spotted something we’ve missed, or you’re thinking about—”
“Shut it.”
“Definitely thinking about her.” He wiped sweat from his forehead.
The electric whir of a scooter cut through our banter. I glanced back and barely suppressed my scowl when I spotted Callaghan gaining on us. He rode a sleek Sorel-branded ride, not a drop of sweat on him while we worked like proper athletes.
“Afternoon, Griffin.” Callaghan pulled alongside without invitation, that familiar smirk already in place. “Bit warm for cycling, isn’t it? Though I suppose you need all the practice you can get.”
My jaw clenched. Here we bloody go.
“Piss off.”
The engineers fell silent behind us and Al tensed up next to me, throwing me side-eye warnings. Why, I couldn’t say. It wasn’t like I was the one who had up and punched someone in the middle of the paddock unprovoked.
“Touchy. How’s your preparation going? Must be difficult finding focus with all the new... responsibilities.”
Okay so maybe I’d spoken too soon. The casual way he mentioned Hazel did make me want to deck the fucker.
“I’m focused.”
“Are you? Because your times in practice have been inconsistent. Losing those tenths here and there.”
We approached the technical section, esses that separated the good drivers from the great ones. Every crack and ripple in the notorious surface jarred through the frame, a constant reminder that COTA didn’t coddle anyone.
Al dropped back with the other engineers, leaving just Liam close enough to hear. Smart of them to create distance from whatever this was building toward.
“Though I suppose when you’re juggling so much at home, something has to give.”
I gritted my teeth. “My times are fine.”
“For now.” His scooter drifted closer as we rounded the sweeping left. “But all I need is a second and everything you’ve worked for can disappear in an instant.”
My hands tightened on the handlebars. He wasn’t talking about racing.
“I don’t make those kinds of mistakes.”
“Everyone does eventually. Especially when they’re trying to protect something precious.” He tilted his head, studying me like I was some interesting specimen. “The key is knowing when to make the smart choice before circumstances force your hand.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just thinking about what really matters when the checkered flag drops.” Callaghan’s smile was all teeth. “Some things are worth more than any trophy, wouldn’t you say? Like family.”
I pedaled faster, done with this mindfuck of a conversation. He just sped up.
“Shame not everyone sees it that way.” The scooter’s motor hummed as he kept pace effortlessly. “Some people think they can just take what they want and call it theirs.”
“Don’t know what you mean.”
“Course you don’t. Just like you didn’t know what you were doing when you shagged my sister.” Venom dripped from every word despite his pleasant expression. “Funny how that works. You seem to have a talent for not knowing things.”
“We’re not doing this,” Liam said firmly.
“Doing what? Having a conversation? Two professionals discussing racing?” Callaghan’s grin spread wide and satisfied. “Because that’s all this is, isn’t it? Just shop talk.”
“Right,” I muttered.
And if I kept repeating that, maybe I’d manage the restraint to avoid my own disciplinary hearing when payback time came.
“If I weren’t such a professional,” Callaghan said, voice taking on that sing-song quality he used in press conferences when he was particularly pleased with himself, “I might point out how some people are raising their sister’s child instead of their own family.”
I scowled at him. He needed to stop baiting me.
“Hazel’s exactly where she belongs.”
“Is she?” He cocked his head, staring at me, half-amused, half-daring me to react. “Lawyers tend to agree that children belong with their real family. People who actually wanted them from the start.”
Liam paled.
“I’m her father.” And Izzy wanted nothing to do with her.
“On paper, maybe. But family courts look at the bigger picture, don’t they? Stability. Support systems. People who can provide what a child really needs.” A slow grin crept across his face. “Not someone juggling a demanding career.”
“And you’re any better?” I laughed. “Isolde doesn’t want her, dipshit, and she already signed the custody papers. Take your threats and fuck off.”
Callaghan’s mask slipped completely. Raw fury flashed across his face before he could control it.
“She didn’t know what she was doing.” His voice turned deadly quiet. “Not that it matters. Blood always trumps paper when it comes to what’s best for family.”
“She made her choice.”
He shrugged. “Cormac Steele thinks I have an excellent case."
My jaw clenched.
“You’re mental if you think—”
“I’d call it practical.” A cold smile curled Callaghan’s lips.
“Leave my family alone.” I pulled the brake and slammed my feet down, barely resisting the urge to toss the bike and launch at the asshole. “Izzy already signed the papers.”
“Under duress. While vulnerable.” He turned the scooter around, annoyingly returning to me. “Before she knew she had family support available,” he said, forcing the words out through a clenched jaw.
“Jesus fucking christ. Can you stop?” I clenched the bike grip, my body inches away from shaking with the fury bubbling in my chest. “She doesn’t want your meddling so stay the fuck out of my business.”
He opened his mouth and I conceded that this was it. Julian would murder me but at this point I gave no fucks. I was going to deck the bastard and I’d enjoy every second of it.
Before he could get a word out, an electric scooter appeared ahead of us, carrying someone who looked like she’d stepped off a magazine cover.
“Finally found you,” she said, her cheery American voice doing nothing to ease my need to slam Callaghan’s face into the track. “We’ve got content to shoot and you’re out here wasting time.”
I glanced between them, noting how Callaghan’s fake sunny expression died the moment Harper appeared. His jaw clenched, shoulders stiffened.
The great Jesse Callaghan, world champion, reduced to a dancing monkey for social media because he couldn’t control his temper. The sight of his misery was the first thing that had made me smile since this conversation started.
“Just chatting track with Griffin.”
She snorted. Everyone knew we hated the other’s guts.
“Your followers are waiting. Move. Now.”
“Fine.” Callaghan sighed, but then his gaze fixed on me again and some of that venom bled back into his expression. “Think about what I said. It doesn’t have to be complicated.” His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “You just have to hand her over.”
“Careful, Jesse,” I drawled, pitching my voice loud enough for Harper to hear. “Don’t keep the boss waiting. You know how grumpy you get when you miss your screen time.”
His head snapped toward me, eyes flashing with murder. That name, combined with the humiliation of being ordered around like an intern, made a vein throb in his temple.
“Laugh while you can,” he muttered. “But let’s be real, Griffin. We both know an unstable playboy like you was never going to be allowed to keep her. I’m just doing the kid a favor before you ruin her like you ruin everything else.”
The bike hit the tarmac with a metallic crash as I dropped it, rage finally consuming me. Liam lunged forward, Al shouted something behind us, but I was already moving, closing the distance to Callaghan’s scooter in three quick strides.
“Get out of my face before I make sure you can’t drive this weekend.” My hands were shaking with the effort of not wrapping them around his throat. “Touch my daughter and I’ll end you.”
Callaghan’s eyes widened. Maybe he could see it in my face, that I was past caring about consequences, past caring about championships or careers or anything except the threat to my child.
“I said now, Jesse.” Harper’s tone brooked no argument.
Callaghan glared at me, but wisely followed Harper to the pit entrance, leaving me shaking on the empty track.
“That was a custody threat,” Liam said quietly.
“Every bloody word of it.”
“What are you going to do?”
I pulled out my phone and started dialing. “Shut him down before he can even start.”
I walked away from Liam, needing space, needing air that didn’t taste like Callaghan’s poison. The phone rang twice before she picked up.
“Griffin? Is everything alright?”
“No, it’s not.” My voice came out rougher than I’d intended. “I need to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me.”
“Okay,” Izzy said, her voice shaking.
“Do you want Hazel back? Have you changed your mind about the custody papers?” The question nearly choked me. “Because your brother seems to think you made a mistake.”
“What?” Izzy made a sound of disgust. “What’s my dickhead of a brother done now?”
“He’s threatening to challenge custody.” I paced in a tight circle as I filled her in. “He’s got lawyers, Iz. He’s serious.”
Izzy swore on the other end of the phone. “I haven’t changed my mind. You’re better for her than me. She belongs with you.”
Relief flooded through me so fast it made me dizzy. “You’re sure?”
“Completely. Griffin, I’m so sorry. I had no idea he was planning this.” Anger crept into her voice. “But I’ll handle him. I’ll make it very clear that if he tries to take Hazel from you, he’ll lose any chance of having a relationship with either of us.”
“Good.” I bit off the word like a curse. “Because if he comes near my daughter again, lawyers will be the least of his problems.”
“I’ll call him now. I’ll fix this. I promise.”
The line went dead. I stood there for a moment, phone in my hand, still shaking with adrenaline and fury and the bone-deep need to protect what was mine.
“Better?” Liam clapped me on the shoulder.
“Getting there.” But my hands were still trembling, my nervous system still firing on all cylinders. The image of Callaghan’s smug face, the casual way he’d threatened to take Hazel, burned behind my eyes.
“Gym?” Liam asked, his tone more order than suggestion. “Few hours with a heavy bag before you head back to Violet?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice. Because if I went back to the hotel like this, with rage still coursing through my veins, I’d terrify her. And Hazel deserved better than a father who brought this kind of darkness home.
But first, I needed to hit something. Hard. Repeatedly.
Until the shaking stopped.