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Something in her voice told me she’d had no intention of texting me back. “I’m sorry to see you go,” I said, taking the diplomatic approach. “If I’m honest, I’m a little surprised you didn’t let me know first. I didn’t know you were unhappy.”
She let out an incredulous laugh. “Are you serious?”
I took a step back as if she’d slapped me. “I am. Is there a problem I don’t know about? If there is, please tell me.”
Tanya shook her head in disbelief. “Youareserious. God, that’s sad. I don’t know if you noticed, but when you started hooking up with Flynn, you all but forgot about the little people on the team. We used to talk all the time, but now you’re too good for us. You’d rather hang around Russo with your boyfriend. You were my one ally on the team, and you abandoned me for a guy. I no longer felt welcome, and decided it was time to go to a winning team. So now you know why I left.”
I was too stunned to speak. It took me a moment to find any words. “I’m sorry. I truly am. I had no idea you felt that way.”
“You’ve been in your own little world all year, and it was clear I wasn’t welcome in it. Anyway, I need to get to work. Goodbye, Luna.”
She stalked off, leaving me frozen on the spot. How had I not noticed how unhappy she was? I had suspected something was wrong, but I’d never asked when I clearly should have. I wasn’t sure whether to go after her and try to smooth it over, but something told me not to, just yet. Tanya was hurt and angry, and I needed to let her deal with that.
I was shaken, but I was also on a mission. I gave myself a few minutes to digest the conversation I’d just had, then headed over to Roche. I was making my rounds today.
Blake was lounging in the Roche motorhome, sipping a mineral water.
“Luna! How is Martinez taking the news?” Blake asked, grabbing me a water.
“Remarkably well for a young driver with no immediate prospects.” His ouster still burned me, but there was nothing I could do.
“He’ll be fine. I wouldn’t worry about him.”
“That’s not why I’m here,” I said, and he looked mildly curious. “Did you send Devin photos of you and I together in Monaco and Montreal?”
Blake smiled that sly little smile of his. “I had nothing to do with it, but I hope they got my right side because I just hate my left side.”
I wasn’t impressed, nor was I convinced. “You didn’t answer my question, but you don’t seem surprised to hear that such pictures exist.”
“These photos must have hit a nerve; otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Don’t be evasive with me. I’m really not in the mood.”
His gaze settled on me, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to cut right through my defenses, but I wasn’t backing down. “I can’t take credit for any photos,” he said.
“But you know who is responsible,” I concluded.
“No, I don’t know. Obviously, these photos got you into some trouble.”
He was always looking for an angle. “No, not at all. As a matter of fact, they brought Devin and I closer together. Now that he knows, and I see how much my secrets hurt him, I’m not going to keep anything from him ever again. I told you that I loved him and still you went to great lengths to break us up. You’re on the team now, the contract is airtight, but you and I are not friends. I’m going to ask you to stop this, to leave me alone, and let me live my life with Devin in peace.”
His jaw set, but instead of saying anything, he simply nodded. I stood up to leave and didn’t look back.
While the teams worked on their afternoon practice session, I sat in one of the offices reading over a statement Juan and Rafe had jointly prepared. The moment the session was completed, Rafe showered and went straight to the office to debrief me on the dreaded press conference. He sat across from me and asked for my full attention.
“All right, now I hope you don’t mess this up,” Rafe said with his utmost confidence. “First of all, make no mention of Blake being a new addition.”
“Yes, yes,” I said absently.
“Don’t talk about Pedro either. They are bound to ask you questions about that as well.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?”
He went on as if I hadn’t said anything. “Don’t talk about cars in any detail. The same goes for Flynn; don’t mention him. They’re going to try to trip you up on Blake. You know there are a ton of rumors about him joining us. So pay attention, and don’t make it look like you are hiding something.”
“Yes, Rafe.”
Devin poked his head into the office. “Ready to go, Ms. Perez?” he asked.
