Nico’s heart sank. “Oh.” She swallowed. “Rocco told you.”
They both nodded.
She sighed. “Well, I can’t say for certain. He might still show up. But if he does, I’ll deal with it. I’ll have to.”
“I don’t think so,” Celeste said. “I think he’s gone. For good.” She looked over her shoulder at Dario. “How did Rocco put it?”
Dario opened his mouth, but Celeste had turned back around and was already speaking.
“Quote: ‘ I paid him off, put him on a flight, and told him if he ever came near Nico again, the next time he got on an airplane it would be in the cargo hold in a body bag.’”
Nico blinked. “He did that?”
Celeste nodded. “He did.”
Dario placed his arm around Celeste. “They’re about to have the podium celebration. I want to catch up with Rocco before he goes up there.”
“We’ll see you later?” Celeste asked as they walked away.
“Sure.” Nico smiled.
Although she wasn’t at all sure.
“This is wonderful, Rocco.” Carolyn beamed. “Another trophy! And next year, with us—just think of what we can do. You, Anker, and Ceci! We’ll be unstoppable!”
“Yeah, about that—”
Dario came up from behind and slapped Rocco on the back as they announced his name. “Hey, they’re calling your name. Get up there. This is it. Go get her.”
Rocco smiled and mounted the podium.
After the champagne celebration, he waited for the inevitable questions. And for once, he got exactly what he wanted from the press. He couldn’t have scripted it any better.
“So, Rocco, rumor is you’ll be leaving Maverick Racing and signing up with Blue Jet Lightning for next season? Can you confirm that?”
“I’ve been thinking about it. Blue Jet is so prestigious. They’re the team a kid grows up dreaming about. Like a fairy-tale princess. Snow White, for instance.”
What the—
“Uh, what was that?” she heard Charles say. “Did he just saySnow White?”
Nico looked around at the puzzled expressions of the faces in the crowd—the press, the fans, the teams.
“Snow White’s like the perfect woman,” Rocco said, “a true fairy-tale princess—sweet and kind, innocent and naive. Not at all like her stepmother, the queen, who’s not sweet and kind, definitely neither innocent nor naive. Actually, crafty—even conniving. You can bet she’s notgoing to wait around for a prince to come and save her. She goes after what she wants.”
Nico looked around. She couldn’t spot one mouth that wasn’t gaping.
“This has got me thinking. Who would you rather have in your corner? Who’s really going to have your back? Snow White or that queen?”
What is he doing?
“Do you know what happens to that stepmother, the queen? In the original version? They put a pair of iron shoes into hot coals and the queen is forced to wear them and dance until she falls down dead. For what? For turning into a haggard witch and offering Snow White an apple? It’s a pretty clever way to teach your kid not to accept food from strangers. It’s not her fault Snow White was too stupid to get it.”
Charles whispered in Nico’s ear. “Has he gone mad?”
Rocco grinned. “I think I prefer a different kind of fairy-tale princess; a princess more like Diana Prince, Marla Drake, or Harley Quinn.”
“Or Jessica Jones,” shouted a voice Nico recognized as Sofia’s.
