Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
VIOLET
“You’re purring.”
I cracked one eye open, finding Griffin propped on his elbow beside me, hair still mussed from sleep, green eyes bright with amusement.
“Humans don’t purr,” I muttered, but my voice came out rough and satisfied in a way that probably proved his point.
He grinned. “Whatever you call it. You were making the little noises you make when you’re dreaming about me. Sounded like you were enjoying yourself.”
There was no way he knew if that was true or not. Still, heat flooded my cheeks.
“Griffin...”
“What? I’m just saying, if you’re going to deny it, maybe don’t sound so bloody satisfied when you wake up.” He pressed a kiss to my collarbone. “Makes a man want to hear it again.”
I shivered, my body already responding to his touch. “We should get up. Check on Hazel.”
“She’s with Cleo and Imani, remember? They’re not bringing her back until noon.” His lips curved against my skin. “That gives us...” He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Three hours.”
“Three hours for what?”
“For me to make you scream my name again.” He nipped at my throat, and I gasped, arching into him. “And again. Until you admit you were dreaming about me.”
“You’re so full of yourself.”
“You love it.”
Love. The word made my skin prickle. I almost said it back, just to fill the silence, but the words stuck in my throat.
Griffin pulled back, studying my face. “Vi?”
“I’m fine.” I sat up, pulling the sheet with me. “I should shower. Get dressed.”
“Or,” he said, his hand sliding up my thigh, “you could stay exactly like this. I quite like you naked in my bed.”
“Your bed?”
“Our bed.” He smiled. “For as long as you want it.”
I glanced away, unable to hold his gaze. The intensity, the quiet certainty, made me want things I wasn’t sure I could have. It threatened to make me forget why this had to be temporary.
“I’ll make coffee,” I said, slipping out of bed before he could stop me.
I grabbed his shirt from the floor, the one with MICHAELS 7 sprawled across the back and front. I pulled it on as I padded to the kitchenette, smirking at how much things had changed in so little time.
The coffee maker hummed to life, and I leaned against the counter, watching the dark liquid drip into the pot. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Austin stretched out below us, all glass and steel glittering under the late morning sun.
For the first time, maybe ever, I let myself feel a full-blown, reckless wave of hope. Last night had been... everything. Raw and tender and completely consuming. The way Griffin had touched me, looked at me, like I was something precious he was afraid might disappear.
Last night, I let my imagination run wild.
No guardrails. No breaks when my mind wandered to places it had no business being.
What would it be like if this wasn’t temporary?
What if I could keep waking up in his arms, keep watching him with Hazel, keep pretending we were a real family instead of an elaborate charade?
The thought terrified me. But also stoked that wave of hope higher.
The suite was quiet, Hazel was safe with my friends, and the man humming off-key in the shower had spent the night showing me in every way a person could that this wasn’t just a fling.
This felt real. It felt like the start of something I’d been too afraid to even want.
I poured myself a cup, inhaling the rich scent, and leaned against the counter and tried not to let worries take me over. Later today, we’d get on yet another plane and head to Mexico City. I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other until the end of the season and then we’d see—
A sharp knock at the door made me jump, coffee sloshing over my hand.
“Bloody hell.” I set the mug down, wiping my hand on the t-shirt as I crossed to the door.
I checked the peephole.
My father.
Every muscle in my body locked. Griffin was in the shower. I was wearing nothing but a t-shirt. This was—
Another knock, harder this time.
I yanked the door open before he could wake the entire floor.
“Dad.” My voice came out steadier than I felt. “What are you doing here?”
His gaze swept over me, taking in Griffin’s shirt hanging to mid-thigh, my bare legs, my thoroughly fucked hair, and that smile spread across his face. The one that had made me want to break things since I was old enough to recognize cruelty.
“Good morning to you too, Violet. May I come in?”
“This isn’t a good time.”
“I’ll only be a moment.” He stepped past me before I could protest, his gaze sweeping the suite with the same eagle eye he used in the garage.
I closed the door, acutely aware of Griffin’s shirt barely covering my bare ass. “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong? No.” He turned to face me, hands in his pockets.
“I wanted to congratulate you. On Griffin’s win.”
My brow furrowed. He didn’t do congratulations.
He pointed out where a driver could have shaved off another tenth, where a strategy could have been more aggressive.
The last time he’d used that word with me was at my graduation, and he’d followed it up by asking when I planned to get a “real job” now that I’d gotten the psychology nonsense out of my system.
And in any case, he’d had hours of team debrief time with Griffin to congratulate him. Why did he say it like I was responsible?
“You already spoke to him yesterday.”
“I did.” His gaze drifted to the rumpled sheets visible through the bedroom doorway, then back to me. “You’ve done well.”
The praise felt like a trap so I kept my mouth shut.
“Managing Griffin. Keeping him focused.” He moved further into the suite. “The results speak for themselves.”
My eyes narrowed. “I didn’t do anything. Griffin won because he’s talented.”
“Talent isn’t enough. You know that.” He picked up a baby toy from the coffee table, turning it over in his hands. “He needed stability. Structure. Someone to keep him grounded.”
“That’s not—”
“Dorian mentioned you two seemed close. At the restaurant in London.” He set the toy down, his eyes meeting mine. “I’m glad.”
Wait, was he talking about Niran’s? That private table where I’d let myself believe, for a few stupid hours, that we were just two people. Not a driver and his nanny. Not Julian Carter’s daughter and his prized asset.
The floor tilted beneath me. I’d been right. I hadn’t imagined it. He had someone watching us the whole time.
“You had me followed,” I whispered, the words strangled and horrified.
“Don’t be dramatic, Violet.” He waved a dismissive hand. “I simply keep track of my investments.”
His gaze flicked to the bedroom, and I understood with perfect clarity which investment he meant. Not me. Never me.
“But this is exactly what I was hoping would happen.”
The words stole my breath. My worst nightmare crystallized into reality.
“You wanted this?” I asked, choking on the words.
“You’re intelligent. Surely you’ve considered how beneficial this arrangement is.” He moved toward the window, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Griffin’s been more focused, more disciplined. His performance has improved dramatically since you entered his life.”
This wasn’t about my happiness. It was never about my happiness. This was about control. About him finding a new leash for Griffin, and realizing with dawning pleasure that I was the one holding it.
“So you manipulated me into—”
“I didn’t manipulate anyone. I simply provided an opportunity and trusted you’d make the right choice.” He turned back to me. “You have, haven’t you? Made the right choice?”
I scowled at him. “What I do with my private life has nothing—”
“There’s nothing private about it when you’re my daughter working for my driver.” He stepped closer, and I held my ground even though every instinct screamed to back away. “Though I’ll admit, things progressed faster than I anticipated. You exceeded my expectations.”
This wasn’t happening. He was lying. Trying to twist everything, make me doubt what was real. That’s what he did. That’s what he’d always done.
My hands curled into fists at my sides.
He circled me slowly, like a shark who’d already tasted blood.
“You needed funding for your doctorate. Griffin needed someone to manage Hazel. And I needed leverage over my most difficult driver.” He stopped, meeting my gaze.
“So I forced you both into an impossible situation and waited to see what would happen.”
“That’s not—”
“I didn’t make you fall for him, Violet. I just made it inevitable.” His smile turned cold. “Put two people in close quarters. Give them a shared purpose. Human nature did the rest.”
The coffee maker beeped behind me. The mundane sound felt obscene in the middle of watching my life detonate.
“Griffin’s been getting harder to control lately,” my father said, his voice clinical, like he was discussing race strategy instead of destroying me. “Pushing boundaries. Questioning decisions. That stunt with the pram shopping? Defying my direct order to stay out of the public eye?”
Of course. This was the endgame I always saw coming but was stupid enough to hope I could outrun.
Every “it’s just temporary” I uttered was a prayer against this exact moment.
A futile attempt to keep us off his radar.
Watching the satisfaction spread across my father’s face, I realized I never stood a chance.
“But now when he gets difficult, I don’t need to threaten his career.” My father’s gaze locked on mine. “I just remind him what happens to the people he cares about when he doesn’t cooperate.”
I’d walked right into the trap, too busy falling in love to see the walls closing in.
“I won’t do it. I won’t let you use me to control him.”
“You don’t have a choice.” He stepped closer, dropping his voice. “One phone call to your university and your funding disappears. You can spend the next decade trying to afford it on your own.”
My throat burned. I’d walked away from him once. Lived in tiny flats, funded my degrees with my mother’s inheritance, scraped and fought for every inch of freedom. I knew exactly how hard it was to build a life without him.
I couldn’t do it again. Not now.
I’d walked back into his trap, thinking I was finally smart enough to use him the way he used everyone else. I’d been arrogant enough to think I could take his money and keep my soul.
Instead, I’d handed him the weapon he was using to gut me.
If I’d just stayed away, never taken his deal, I never would have truly gotten to know Griffin. I never would have fallen for him.
The water in the en-suite shut off.
The abrupt silence was more jarring than the knock on the door had been.
Then Griffin started humming and I missed the silence.
A happy, ridiculously off-key tune that was so quintessentially him.
He was happy. He’d won. The race and me.
Any second he was going to walk out here and see the man who had just finished laying the groundwork for his destruction.
Julian’s entire demeanor shifted. The predator receded, replaced in a blink by the charming, paternal Team Principal of Aedris Racing. The mask was so perfect, so instantaneous, it made my skin crawl.
The bedroom door opened.
“Oi, Princess. Do me a favor and hop up on the counter, yeah? I skipped breakfast and I’m starving for something sweet.”
My face flamed as Griffin emerged, totally oblivious to Julian’s presence. He wore a pair of joggers and that easy, confident grin that made my stomach flip.
It faltered the second he saw my father.
“Julian.” Griffin stiffened and the towel in his hands stilled as he scrubbed it over his damp hair.
A flush crept up his neck as he registered my father’s presence, the silence in the room, and what he’d just said.
He cleared his throat, the easy grin turning sheepish. “Right. Morning. Didn’t realize we had company.”
My father’s smile widened, and my stomach cramped.
“I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Not at all,” Griffin said, his voice a little too breezy. His gaze flickered between us, trying to read the tension that was thick enough to choke on.
“I was just telling Violet how pleased I am,” my father said, his tone infuriatingly pleasant. “With yesterday’s result, of course. But with everything, really.” His gaze danced from Griffin to me pointedly. “This entire arrangement has worked out splendidly. Better than I’d hoped.”
Griffin’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Arrangement?”
“You, Violet, little Hazel. It’s good for you. Good for the team.” My father clapped his hands together softly. “A driver with a stable home life is a focused driver. Your performance proves it. I’m glad you two finally worked things out.”
A deep line formed between Griffin’s brows as he processed the unexpected turn of events. If I were in his shoes, I’d struggle to believe Julian’s one eighty too. This warm, approving man was not the cold, demanding team boss who had made his life hell for months.
My eyes bore into him, begging him to see through the charade. But guarded suspicion gave way to a flicker of fragile hope.
He thought this was a blessing. A truce. He had no idea it was a declaration of ownership
“Right,” Griffin said slowly. “Well. Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me.” Julian waved a magnanimous hand as he moved toward the door.
“Just keep up the good work. Both of you.” He paused, his hand on the doorknob, and his gaze met mine one last time.
It was sharp, cold, and full of triumph.
A silent, final reminder of who was in control. “I’ll see you in Mexico.”
The door clicked shut behind him, leaving a ringing silence in its wake.
A shaky laugh escaped Griffin. He ran a hand through his damp hair, turning to me with a look of pure, unadulterated relief. “Well. That was... unexpected. I think that’s the first time he’s ever looked at me like he doesn’t regret signing me.”
He was happy. He was free. He thought the war was over.
He had no idea it had just begun.
A strange, humming quiet filled my ears, drowning out everything but the sight of his smile. My body was a statue, frozen in the ruins of the one hopeful thing I had let myself want. My knees gave out, and I sank onto the sofa, my arms wrapping tight around my middle.
I couldn’t leave. My father knew it. I would never abandon Hazel.
So I was stuck. Stuck traveling the world, living in Griffin’s space, watching him smile at me, completely unaware that my presence in his life was now the biggest threat to it.
Staying with him would destroy him. Leaving him meant leaving Hazel.
There was no way out.