Page 82 of Fast & Reckless
“Leave him!” Mira said, planting a hand on his chest and putting herself in his line of sight.
As his eyes met hers, the rage ebbed. He was still shaking with unspent adrenaline, but he could think again. And this wasn’t great.
A cluster of Deloux mechanics were huddled around Brody. Several more Lennox guys had also shown up. Violet had materialized, too.
“Oh, my God,” she was muttering, “everyone’s recording on their fucking phones.”
“Get your boy out of here!” Omar shouted at the Deloux mechanics, still keeping one arm braced across Will’s shoulders to hold him back.
“Just who do you think you are, calling me a ‘boy,’ boy?” Brody shouted. Now Will was the one restraining Omar, who made a lunge in Brody’s direction. But the Deloux guys were pushing Brody back, dragging him out of the paddock before Omar could get to him.
“Stop,” he said to Omar. “I’ve already fucked up enough. Don’t make it worse.”
“Brody started it,” Mira said.
“Yeah and Will threw the first punch,” Violet snapped. Then she glanced at Will. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
“You’ve gotta go,” Tae said, taking him by the shoulder and turning him away. “You’re almost up.”
Fuck. Qualifying.He had to go out there and fucking drive.Now. His hands were still shaking.
Tae started dragging away Will, who stopped and turned back, looking for Mira. Every head in the paddock turned to watch as he crossed back to her. Well, fuck it. It was all out of the bag anyway—no saving that. So he wasn’t leaving without checking on her.
He took her by the shoulders, crouching slightly to look her in the eye. “Are you okay?”
She was pale but she nodded tightly. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. He just—”
“Stop. The only one who should be sorry is Brody fucking McKnight.”
She reached up and touched his face, the spot on his left cheek where Brody’s fist had caught him. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine. You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I’ve got her,” Violet said, stepping up to Mira’s side. “You just go run quali. We’ll talk after.”
After. There would be consequences for this. He didn’t know what they would be, but he was sure they were coming. No time to think about it now, though. He had to go get in the car and drive.
“I’ll see you after?” he said to Mira, brushing a couple of curls out of her face and tucking them back behind her ear.
She nodded. “Just go. Good luck.”
Will walked between Omar and Tae back to the race bay. He shook his hands out, trying to dispel the stiffness. His whole body still felt wired with adrenaline.
“That fucking asshole,” Omar muttered.
“He’s probably already in the FIA offices filing his fucking complaint,” Will seethed as the enormity of his fuckup began to register. A fight. A physicalfight. He’d fuckingpunchedBrody McKnight.
“Forget it,” Tae commanded. “The place to kick his ass properly is out on the track. Nothing else matters.”
Will nodded, but that was easier said than done. He did his best to put himself on autopilot as the well-oiled Lennox crew got him geared up and into the car.
A few minutes later, Tae’s voice crackled in his earpiece. “Okay, you gotta shake that off, Will. It doesn’t matter now. You’re okay to start the engine.”
Somehow he fired the engine and got out onto the track, running through the usual routines to warm up the tires and check the systems, even though his head was a million miles away. He could still hear Violet’s voice.Everyone’s recording on their fucking phones.By now it was out there. His gut hollowed out, that same feeling of pressing dread he used to get three years ago, waking up hungover and checking his phone to see just how bad the news was from the night before. None of that had been as bad as this was about to be.
But then he thought of Mira’s face, remembered Brody’s hand on her arm, and the rage flared up bright and hot, and for a moment, the only thing he was sorry about was not pounding Brody straight into the fucking pavement.
“Denis is pushing behind. Watch for traffic with Denis. You’re clear behind him.” Tae’s voice jerked him back to the present. The very important present.
