Chapter 56
EVANGELINE
Iswipe through the single security turnstile still in place as people hustle all around me to clean and pack up the paddock.
The night air is cool, making me wish I would have brought a jacket or at least worn pants. I’ve been sitting in my hotel room for the last few hours, rereading my letter and rehearsing what I want to say.
Embarrassingly, I resorted to an old masking trick and practiced my speech in front of the bathroom mirror. Multiple times.
Surprisingly, I’m not even nervous.
I’m just desperate to get it right.
When my phone buzzes in the pocket of my dress for what has to be the twentieth time, I fish it out and unlock it. As I pass the first motorhome on my right, I grin down at the notifications from the Even Better Eleven group chat.
Saint
Wherefore art thou Evangeline?
Shelby
She said she wasn’t coming tonight.
Saint
WHAT?
Saint
This is news to me.
Saint
So when it’s my turn to pick the movie, you decide to no-show?
Ren
It’s not no-showing if you inform someone in advance that you can’t make it…
Saint
I’m crushed.
Saint
Lincoln is going to be so sad.
I snort. Lincoln couldn’t be sad if he tried.
He won the Monaco Grand Prix. I’m thrilled for him.
It was his first podium of the year. I’ve already texted him, and I plan to make him a special fidget ahead of the Circuit of the Americas race.
He is truly one of the sweetest, most sincere people I’ve ever met. He deserves all the love and accolades.
Granata also did well today. If anything, I was afraid my plan might be thwarted because Alaric would be out celebrating with the team. I swung by his condo first, but according to Nigel, he hadn’t returned yet. So I’m taking my chances that he’s still holed up in his office.
Evangeline
I’ll make it up to you in Austin. Congrats again, Linc!
With a press of a button to lock the screen, I stash my phone in my pocket again and inhale deeply. Then I step into the Granata motorhome, letter in hand and my resolve locked in.
I can do this.
I am doing this.
My footsteps are loud as I take the stairs two at a time, and when I reach the top, I blame my jackhammering heart rate on my impromptu burst of cardio rather than nerves.
When I reach Alaric’s office door, I knock without hesitation. And as I wait, I breathe through the anxiety pressing into my chest.
This is it.
After tonight, we can go back to the way we were.
There’s rustling beyond the door. He’s here. The anticipation is killing me, so I test the handle, and it gives. “Alaric?” I say, peering into the office.
I’m met with silence. Not quiet, but elective silence.
From here, I can’t see his desk, so I push the door open wider and take a step into the space.
He is sitting in his chair, hands steepled and his elbows resting on his desk.
Across from him is a woman I don’t recognize, her eyes narrowed to slits and locked on me.
Next to her is a young man folded over with his arms and head pressed into the desk.
“Luca?”
He snaps up straight and whips around in his seat, glaring.
I recoil, refocusing on the man I came here to see. “What’s going on?”
Alaric rises to his feet, his mouth opening but no sound coming out.
Luca jumps up, too. “Did you call her?” he sneers.
Eyes widening, Alaric shakes his head sharply. “I would never do that.”
“What is this?” I ask, my voice cracking on the last word. “What’s going on?”
“Why’s she coming to your office late at night, then, Ric?”
I shudder. Luca’s a disrespectful asshole, but his question isn’t unwarranted. Alaric doesn’t know why I’m here, and I can’t string together the words to explain my unexpected visit.
We’re all silent, the tension ratcheting up.
Finally Luca scoffs. “I knew it. I fucking knew it.”
“Wait,” I force out, holding up the single sheet of paper in my hand. “I have a reason to be here.”
He sneers. “Sure you do, Ev. You’ve always been good at finding reasons to show up where you’re not wanted.”
The comment stings, but I’m still too stunned to feel the pinch.
“Watch it,” Alaric seethes, one finger pointed at his son. “I understand you’re hurting, but that’s no excuse to be cruel.” With a shake of his head, he moves around his desk and approaches me.
There’s a gentleness to his expression that was missing the last time I saw him. A calmness to his energy that I’m desperate to savor.
I find myself leaning forward despite our audience.
Alaric stops a foot away from me and slips his hands into his pockets, giving Luca and the woman his back to afford us the illusion of privacy.
“Listen, we’re dealing with a family matter right now, but if you and I could—”
“Family?” I peer over his shoulder at the woman seated next to my ex.
She raises her hand briefly, offering a tense smile. “Hi. I’m Sophie Callahan. Luca’s mom. And you are?”
Déjà vu slaps me across the face.
Out of all the ways tonight could go, I never expected to once again be introducing myself to the parent of a man I wasted two years of my life on.
A sharp pain slices through me, the sense of insignificance I thought I’d buried flooding back in. I can’t do this again.
With a little shake of my head, I take a big step back.
Alaric follows until I’m at the threshold.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” I tell him. “I was hoping we could talk, but I can come back—”
“God dammit, Dad,” Luca shouts.
Alaric turns his way, though only partially, ensuring he doesn’t put his back to me.
“You can’t even give me ten minutes of your undivided attention?” Luca sneers. “I come in here and tell you that some woman says she’s days away from giving birth to my son…”
He drones on, but I can’t make out any of the words over the high-pitched buzzing in my ears.
My synapses misfire and stall out. I don’t even blink until Luca appears in my line of sight over his father’s shoulder.
“You got someone pregnant?” The words spill out of me of their own accord. Surely I misheard him. Or maybe it’s a joke—a media stunt or the antics of a rabid fan. Bile burns up my esophagus. This can’t be happening.
“I’m so sorry,” Alaric murmurs, guilt, shame, and ultimately, confirmation, drenching every word.
Luca impregnated another woman.
Who’s days away from giving birth.
Meaning Luca got someone pregnant nine months ago.
My brain screams at me to go. To run. To get as far away from this awful man as I can. I don’t just want to elope. I want to jettison off this planet and disintegrate into stardust.
I’m rushing down the stairs, nearly tumbling more than once, before I’ve even processed that I’m moving. Then I push out the door and take off back through the paddock.