Page 21 of Fast & Reckless
“Let’s push into this turn,” Paul said into his headset as Matteo neared the first complex of curves.
“He’s never aggressive enough in the turns,” Mira muttered under her breath.
Her father covered the microphone from his headset and murmured, “Exactly.”
He looked over his shoulder and gave her a wink, and she had to smother her laugh with her hand.
No one was breathing as Matteo whipped into the turn, the car barely clinging to the blacktop. By the time he was powering out of the turn complex and into the straight, Mira felt nearly lightheaded.
Stats poured out on the monitors and she exhaled in relief and happiness. The numbers so far were great. For all thedesign and engineering done on paper and on computers, for all the hundreds of hours manufacturing and testing the parts, for the thousands of hours in the wind tunnel and the simulator, you neverreallyknew what you had until you put it all together and got it out on the track. Matteo would have to do a lot more laps, and generate a lot more data before they had a handle on every aspect of the car, but right now, it looked really promising.
She touched her father’s shoulder and held out a water bottle.
He slid his headphones off and cracked what had to be his first smile all day as he took it. “Natalia will thank you, Mira. She always worries that I forget to stay hydrated.”
“That’s because you do. Dad, this is phenomenal.”
Paul glanced back at the bank of monitors, shots of Matteo out on the track and screens full of data. “Looks like we may have a winning car this year.”
“I’m sure you do. Look at those sector times.”
His smile grew wider as he scanned the telemetry. “I’m happy with that. Now let’s see what Will can do in it.”
Mira eyed the first stats of Matteo’s performance. “He’ll do better. He’s a better driver.”
Her father cocked one eyebrow. “Is he?”
“Dad, look at his simulator sessions.”
“He’s quick, I’ll give you that.”
“And you’ve built the strongest car in Lennox’s history. Will’s going to win the world championship.”
“You think so?”
“I do. You think so, too. That’s why you hired him.”
Despite the tension of the day, he laughed. “You’re right, Mira. Seems like I might have a winning team all around.”
As he slid his headphones back into place and turned back to the monitors, she caught sight of Will standing behind him, and rolled her eyes. “I suppose you heard all of that?”
She’d been trying to stay so professional around him, but it was hard to maintain when that moment over dinner in London kept replaying in her mind … his face so close to hers as he made sure she knew he was still thinking about kissing her.
“That you think I’m the best driver on the grid? I wish I recorded it so I can play it back later when you try to deny it.”
“You know that’s what I think. Now you need to get out there and prove it to everybody else.”
He grinned. “That’s exactly what I intend to do.”
WILL WAS ZIPPING UPhis race suit, still smiling to himself remembering the way Mira had talked him up when she didn’t know he was there, when Harry joined him. “Watch the braking into the turns until we can sort the reattachment issue,” he said, without a word of greeting. “That way if it goes sideways at least you can bail on the corner. We’ve also switched you to the carbon-carbon brake pads you like, but you’ll have no stopping power at all till they heat up, so mind the brake temps on your out lap.”
Harry chattered on, listing every tiny facet of vehicle performance he was expected to provide feedback on. Will half-listened as he tugged his flame-resistant Nomex balaclava into place, over his head and up over his chin, until only his eyes were visible. Harry was just talking to vent the nervousness he’d never admit to. All the sage pieces of advice weren’t going tomatter much anyway when he was screaming into the first turn at three hundred kilometers an hour. Then he’d have nothing but his own instincts to get him through it.
The mechanics were still buzzing around, checking fittings and making microscopic adjustments. Paul clapped him on the shoulder.
“Take it easy out there. Let’s just see what we have today.”
“Will do, boss.”
