Page 33 of Red Queen
“You better stop talking to me like that. And no, I wasn’t lying. I’m Chris’ niece, and I started attending the races this year. I really don’t know you. I’ve heard stuff, but I’m not one to judge beforehand.” She raises her voice, which only fuels me more.
“Did any of us mean anything to you? Or were you with me to get more money? Maybe even some confidential information? Bet your precious uncle would’ve loved that.” Her eyes widen, jaw hitting the floor, before a loud smack lands on my cheek.
“I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but you crossed a line, Mateo.” Her voice cracks, my name slipping off her tongue with disappointment.
“Next time, start with your intentions. No need to lie to my face.” She scoffs, but doesn’t come after me when I turn to walk away to the crowd of journalists that are waiting for me. “Thanks for nothing, Dawson.” I turn back one last time, before I walk away for good.
Mierda. Why the fuck didn’t she tell me? It feels like she just used me. Like she had a master plan and I was her puppet. Every single nice thought I had of her shattered in a few seconds.
She’s working for our rival, and she wants me to believe that she didn’t wrap me around her fingers on purpose. Come on, I’m not that stupid. I knew she was a witch. She cast a love spell on me, distracting me from her real intentions.
Feels like a goddamn betrayal, and we weren’t even a thing. I shouldn’t have gotten involved so deeply. I need to get myself together.
I continue to walk toward the media station, already looking forward to the journalists’ questions. I skipped the interviews on Friday and even yesterday, so I bet they’re not over Thursday’s scandal.
I took a break from social media because of the thousands of messages I get. Some are wholesome, telling me they believe me and wish me the best, and the next is a death threat, full of disgusting words, asking me to go to hell. Such a nice way to start the day.
“Mateo, how was the race?” I’m surprised by the journalist’s first question. I thought they’d dive into the juicy stuff as soon as they could.
“Thank you, it was quite hard, actually. We had the pace, and I did some nice overtakes, but the rain made it a little difficult. I could’ve done better on quali yesterday, but overall, I’m happy with the results.” I barely finish when I hear him talk again.
“Perfect. Any comments about Mona’s evidence? She published a voice note of the night you two spent together.” He extends the mic to me, my eyebrows shooting up.
“Really? Then you must’ve heard how much she enjoyed it.” I smirk at the journalist’s expression, who’s not appreciating my joke. Enzo and Vickie are going to kill me, but I couldn’t help it. “Is there anything else other than moans on it? Because I bet there’s not one word about the confidential stuff I supposedly told her about.”
“Well, I…haven’t heard it yet, actually. But it proves that you were with her that night.” I laugh at his attempts to embarrass me. God, he’s desperate.
“I never denied that. But I still deny that I gave away any information to her. Thank you.” I give him a small smile, ending the interview early.
I don’t have time for this. I still have more interviews, and I have to fucking get myself together and forget about Rosa. Now that’ll be hard.
I walk to the next interviewer’s stand, but they go over the same questions, asking me about the race and Mona. Seriously, that’s all I am now? Cars and sex? Well, maybe I am.
I’m about to cut the interview short again when I hear a question pierce through the other ten. I whip my head back, asking them to repeat it.
“We have a video of you getting slapped by a woman earlier today. Is that the same woman you went on a date with on Wednesday? Is there a woman who stole your heart? Or did she already break it?” My whole body tenses at the question, the ends of my fingers turning white as I grip the metal fence. So we weren’t so private, after all.
“She slapped me because she knows I like it. And it was just a date. People often go on dates, no?” I smirk at their faces. One more comment and I’m going to get killed by Vickie. Man, I love annoying her.
I once again thank them for hearing me out, walking out of there as soon as I can. I don’t want more questions about any single woman. Not Mona and not even Rosa. I’m done for the day.
20
MATEO
Ican’t let Rosa get to me now. I’m landing in Madrid in two hours and going home. The next race is in Spain, my home country, and I’m not going to let another woman mess me up. Even if it’s her.
I keep replaying our conversation since then, and I still can’t believe she didn’t tell me who she really was. It’s not like I expect people to tell me their whole life story the moment we meet, but this is not a tiny, unnecessary detail you can keep a secret of.
I’m being framed for a serious crime, and still, she didn’t tell me. I might’ve overreacted that day, but is it really so much to ask? I had a meaningful connection with her, finally found someone nice, and she just lies to me, like it didn’t mean anything.
I cannot count how many people I’ve met in my life so far. It would be impossible and batshit crazy to even try it. And they were all different in at least one aspect. Rich, poor, lawyer, CEO, young, old… You name it.
One thing that was common in all of them was their ability to lie. They all lied about at least one thing to me, and I alwaysfigured it out. I’m quite good at reading people, and lying is the thing I hate most.
Fuck me. Why can’t I just forget about her? Why did she get to me? Out of all women on Earth, my heart decided to like her, the woman who is with my rival. Maybe there wasn’t anything bad behind her intentions, but it could’ve gone that way, and I definitely don’t need another scandal when I have another going on already.
It’s like my heart makes bad choices on purpose. Once I’m a playboy, which is good, until you get bored of the strangers sleeping with you. Then, comes a woman who sweeps me off my feet, and when I think we have something real, it shatters.
