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“I don’t know what to say,” he murmurs, his voice unsteady.
“You don’t have to say anything. Except you’re sorry for being an idiot.”
He chuckles softly. I shift back from him, and Mason’s expression turns serious again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll allow you to be an idiot this one time,” I tease.
He sinks his hands into my hair and brushes a gentle kiss on my forehead. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“You truly get me,” he says quietly.
“I do.”
He drops his mouth to my lips, but suddenly there’s a rap on his door. I step back from him, and he quickly rubs his hand across his mouth, brushing away any trace of lipstick that might be there. “Come in,” he calls out.
The door opens, and Caleb pops his head inside. “Hey. Catherine, I know this is usually your job, but we need to get going.”
I blush. He’s right. Normally I’m the one rounding everyone up and making sure we are leaving on time.
“Text me when you get home,” Mason says.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I promise.
I leave with Caleb, and as soon as he shuts the door to Mason’s room, he turns and looks at me. “Everything okay?” he asks quietly.
I nod. The halls are deserted, so I feel comfortable talking with Caleb now. “How well do you know his dad?” I ask quietly.
Caleb snorts. “He’s a bloody awful man.”
My stomach grows sick with the confirmation. “That call was with him.”
“It was well known on the karting circuit that his dad was horrible to him.”
My heart feels like it’s splintering with each new thing I learn about Mason’s past. “He expects Mason to be perfect,” I say softly.
“Listen. You know me. You know Mason, and you know all of us on the grid. We all want to win. We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t. But his dad is next level. He would scream at him all the time whenever he was there during karting. And that’s just what I’ve seen.”
“He was awful to him on the phone,” I confess.
We begin to walk down the stairs. “I’m not surprised,” Caleb says.
I know there is so much more to this story. There’s his dad. His parents’ divorce. His mother is so funny and present on social media—how was she ever married to a man like that? Why did she let Mason’s dad treat him like that? What about Mason’s sister?
Anger bubbles up in my chest as I consider these questions. Anger at his dad. His mum.
Yet despite all the toxicity around him, Mason grew up to be an incredible man. You would never know he dealt with any of that unless you saw it. He keeps his cool in the car. With the media. He’s smiling and engaging with any PR activity the team asks him to do.
And then there is the way he is with me. Supportive. Caring. Present. I can’t even imagine the example his dad set for him as far as being a partner, but Mason learnt from it. He’s nothing like his father.
It speaks volumes that he became this person considering what he’s gone through.
And I’m going to make sure he understands that tonight.
* * *
Mason is already standing in the doorway to his flat by the time the lift doors open. I’ve literally just arrived back in Monaco, and the first thing I did was come straight over to his place.
