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“I meant what I said, Ms. Perez. I love you, but I think some space is good.”
“I know,” I said, trying to be brave.
“Besides, I’m sure I’m getting a suspension for what I did to Carlton. After that, we’ll be back on track. Pun intended.”
“I’ll miss you,” I said, fighting back tears.
“I’ll miss you too.”
I watched him walk through the terminal until I could no longer see him. The fact he’d told me he loved me hadn’t gone unnoticed. Why hadn’t I said it too? Damn it, I would fix that the next time I saw him, whenever that was. I hoped he was right and that the time apart would help, because I was going to miss him so much.
ChapterSeven
Devin
Two days later, I made a statement to the governing body of the federation. It was only a brief statement regarding the crash, and I fell on my damn sword and apologized like I’d been Judas to Jesus. A day later, my agent, Enzo, called me with the news.
“You in your new car?” I asked, stalling for time, wanting and not wanting to know my fate. I could tell he was in his new Ferrari 812 GTS, the one my endorsements had paid for. I could hear the wind reverberating through our line and I wasn’t impressed. He could have pulled over for this.
“I just got it on the weekend. I have to say, the silver is growing on me. I made a good color choice.”
“Glad to hear it.”
It surprised me a little that he’d splurged so much. Just how well was he doing?
“Now, about your suspension. It’s only one race.”
I let out the biggest sigh of relief. The federation had spared me. I’d beensurethey were going to nail me with at least two or three races because I’d gone after their number-one son, but they’d spared me. Maybe Russo had put in a good word. They did need me to keep Riedl in contention, after all.
“Good, I’m happy to hear this.”
“But you can’t do this again, Devin. They won’t be so kind next time.”
“I’ll behave myself.”
Enzo paused for a moment. God, was there another bomb to drop? He cleared his throat and continued, “About the Perez woman … what’s going on?”
That was a surprise. “Nothing untoward.”
“Let me be more specific. Do you really like her? Or is there some other angle? Because if there is, don’t you think you should tell your agent?”
He’d be the last person I’d tell. The man couldn’t keep a secret longer than half a minute. “Let me guess, you think I’m banging her to make a buck? That it’s some game?” I was angry, and yet I understood why so many people thought the worst. I admitted, “Sure, it would make sense to do something like that, you know, advance my career, get under Riedl’s skin, drive Rafe Perez mad, maybe even needle Carlton since he seems to have an interest in her, but it’s not like that.”
“Really? I’m having a hard time buying this. She’s cute, has a great body, but she’s not like any of your old girlfriends.”
“She’s different, and that’s why I like her. She doesn’t need to be like my old girlfriends.”
“Whatever you say,” he said, clearly unconvinced. “We’ll talk about it more when I see you later this week. I’ll be in London, so I thought we might catch up.”
It didn’t sound like he was satisfied with my answers about Luna. Well, he could stuff it.
* * *
“Ever since this broad came along, we never see you anymore,” my childhood friend Sean said as we entered Thirst. Our friend Colin agreed with a nod.
I hadn’t been to the club in months, and I wanted to wallow in my sorrows for a few hours. It was race weekend, the race I was suspended from. I’d thought of going to Monaco to see Luna and set things right. Much as I’d never been one to talk through relationship problems, Luna was right. We had to work this shit out—her fault-finding, my secrets. I wanted to resolve the conflict and get things back on track, but something stopped me, and I didn’t know what it was. My damn pride? Likely. But something else gnawed at me, something that should have had me on the first plane to Monaco. Blake Carlton. He’d be there with her, and I wasn’t there to stop it from happening. I knew he hadn’t just been shit-disturbing for fun. He’d had a reason for trying to break us up, and I was sure it was because he wanted her for himself.
In the two short weeks since I’d last seen her, I had thought of her constantly. She could infuriate me so easily, but just the sight of her made me want to forget everything that had happened. I’d gone to bed the last twelve nights alone wondering where she was and if she was thinking of me. Because my instinct was that something was wrong, but again, like the mug I was, I did nothing about it.
