Page 51 of False God

Darwen Circuit is a racing track. Fig and I went to a Formula One event there a couple of summers ago. We talked about going back last summer for the British Grand Prix … and then my life imploded.

“Theo rented it for the day. Right, I’ll see you there?”

I glance at the piles of papers. One stack I … started. A dozen untouched. “I can’t.”

“You feckin’ eejit.” Fig’s accent always gets thicker when he’s annoyed. “What else are ye doin’?”

My fingers tap a restless rhythm against my thigh. “Not much,” I admit.

Now that Kensington Consolidated rejected the offer, I’m back to researching other potential investors. If Ihaveto sell off pieces of my inheritance to a partner, I’m going to at least make sure it’s the best deal possible.

“Just give yer name at the door. Theo will have it all sorted.”

Fig hangs up in his typical efficient manner before I can reply. Protest. Apologize for being a rubbish friend for the past year.

I leave Newcastle Hall just after lunch, the temptation of an afternoon of escape hard to resist.

The drive to Darwen Circuit takes just over an hour, most of the route roads winding through the familiar countryside with stone walls and patchwork fields. I pass a golf course and a horse farm as I near the racing track, but there’s not much else around.

The guard at the gate waves me through after I give my name.

I’m lost in my own head as I follow signs to a parking area and then walk into a cavernous garage space overlooking the track. Stuck with the same swarm of thoughts that has been following me around for what feels like forever. They drone in the background like I’m ensconced inside a beehive.

A largish group—about fifteen people—is gathered ahead, next to a red car.

I crack my knuckles as I approach. I aged sixty years in the last one, transforming into a cranky old man who avoids commotion or crowds. Partly to avoid lying. But also, I just haven’t felt like being around many people. At least in New York,no one was offering condolences about my father or asking why I wasn’t at Royal Ascot.

Specific queries about topics I don’t want to discuss are much more likely in this country.

I spot Theodore Hughes first, leaning against the bumper of the race car. He’s sporting a trimmed beard he didn’t have at university, but otherwise looks the same as I remember him.

A beaming blonde is saying something to him. They’re holding hands, so I surmise she’s the woman he’s marrying on Saturday. And on the other side of her …

My next step stutters, my brain struggling to compute what my eyes are seeing.

What thefuckis Elizabeth Kensington doing here?

Lili glances my way a few seconds later, then does a double take.

Her spine stiffens, her shoulders square, and her chin tilts toward the ceiling.

I’ve seen her fighting posture before. Today, it’s followed by a rush of red to her cheeks, which tells me she hasn’t forgotten how our last conversation ended. Plus a purse of her pink lips, which suggests she had no idea I’d be here either.

Bloody hell, she’s gorgeous.

I didn’t think I’d see her again. Certainly nothere.

Fig heads straight for me, followed by Theo. We catch up for a few minutes, the rest of the group—minus Lili, who seems to be intentionally looking away—sending curious glances toward our trio until an instructor arrives to give us a safety speech.

“Ye already missed four of ’em,” Fig tells me under his breath, clearly impatient to get out on the track.

We all have to sign waivers.

Skimming over the list of warnings, I think of the photos from my father’s accident. I looked at the report, even though everyone had told me not to. All that remained of his car wascrumpled metal and shattered glass and strips of ripped rubber. Wreckage I’ve witnessed firsthand.

But I’m not nervous about driving. I’m craving the adrenaline rush. A chance to escape the buzzing and simply react.

Something I’ve been unable to do for months. The only relief from worry I’ve experienced was kissing Lili. A reaction so unexpected that I rushed off at the first available opportunity, before I could fully lose control.

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