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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

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Espana gears up for Formula 1 pre-season testing while the world’s eyes are on the sport. FIA commissioner says they’re prepped for larger crowds than in previous years for the days open to the public.

CENTRAL RACING NEWS

The candles burned low as we watched her. Elias slept around an equally passed out Vanessa, big spoon to little spoon. She hadn’t woken up after she passed out, and none of us had the heart to disturb her rest even though none of us were even close to satisfied. Now that we had our Omega? We needed her. Desperately.

But not tonight. She was exhausted.

I didn’t think I’d ever quite experienced the same level of pleasure as giving her my knot and watching her fall apart—far more times than she ever thought she could. She would be sore, and the deepest, most feral part of me loved that. We might not be able to be with her publicly yet, but she would still feel me with every step.

River ran a hand through his hair where he rested across the room, sighing deeply. “You know what we have to do, right, Gray?”

“Hmm?”

We were all so tired it was foolish to be awake. But at the same time, it was currently impossible for me to sleep when I couldn’t stop staring at her and bathing in the scent of sex and her .

“We need to tell James and Vic. And we need to do it soon. They’ll want her to sign the same NDAs that I did for being a pack member with an opposing team.”

I hadn’t thought about it until this moment, but he was right. They had to know, because if it came out in the press and they didn’t, it would be a far bigger mess. Grayson could be accused of hiring Vanessa purely because of the scent match, and James would have no proof he didn’t. Plus, if the owners knew, they could, and hopefully would, help clean up any fallout by already knowing. Whether they would approve was a different story.

Not that we cared what they thought. Vanessa was ours, and that wasn’t changing.

“I hate that you’re right,” Gray said, reaching for his phone. “But you are. I’ll have Mason schedule an urgent meeting at the first availability.”

“Will they be at testing?” I asked quietly. We left tomorrow for the first events of the pre-season.

“James will be.”

I looked at River and he nodded. “Yeah, Vic usually comes to everything.”

“Perfect timing. It may keep them calm if they know the media is nearby.”

Grayson smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think they’ll be flying off the handle, but I take your point.” He fired off the message to his assistant and put the phone away. “I already have things set for us while traveling. Since Paragon is arranging the accommodations, all of us staying at the same hotel won’t raise any red flags, and River always stays with us anyway. If we happen to have neighboring and connecting suites, who are we to argue with that? I’ve already fixed her reservation.”

Keeping my own laughter low, I nodded. “I like the way you think. But I need to ask a different question.”

Gray waited.

“I’ll talk to Jack, but I want to be her race engineer.” I had more than enough years of experience in Formula 1 to take on the role, and I knew both the cars and race strategy inside and out. Jack, the one currently slated to be her engineer, was good at his job, but I didn’t think I could sit by and let him be the one in her ear. It would be a switch from my current, more hands-on role, but I didn’t care. If Nes was driving, I wanted to be the one speaking to her.

“I wondered when you would ask.”

“You knew I would?”

The two of them looked at me like it was a given. I suppose it was.

“I have no problem with it,” Gray said. “As long as she doesn’t. If she thinks having you in her ear will be a distraction for her, you have to accept that. And you don’t have to speak to Jack.”

That was a fair requirement. But I’d been sure the other engineer would put up a fight for the role. “Why not?”

“Because his resignation was on my desk this morning. Along with half a dozen factory staff, some people in marketing, and others.”

My jaw dropped, and Gray waved a hand. “It’s already handled. There aren’t any positions we haven’t already filled with others jumping to take their place. But moving you in there will be simple if she agrees.”

“They really just quit?”

“Their loss,” he said.

“It doesn’t make you angry?”

He fixed his gaze on me, and I regretted the question. The three of us were evenly matched when it came to our Alphas, but because of the nature of his job, Gray let his loose far less. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Like earlier, when he took control from Nessa with ease. And now, when we could all feel the dark force of rage that he barely kept a leash on.

“It makes me want to put their heads through a wall. But if they want to go, good. Saves me from having to deal with whatever bullshit they would have spewed had they stayed. No matter what happens, you can expect to see me beating the hell out of a bag in the gym wherever we are because I know I’ll have to deal with it regardless.” He sighed, letting the pulsating rage fade before Elias and Vanessa’s instincts felt it and woke. “I’m just glad HR had things ready to go. It means there won’t be any news stories about people walking out.”

Even before I’d met Vanessa, I’d admired her. Now that I had met her, though we didn’t know each other deeply, I didn’t understand how anyone could feel such disdain for her. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she was my Omega.

Okay, fine, maybe it had a little to do with that.

But it didn’t take long to see that she was smart, funny, and kind. Not to mention talented, driven, and fucking beautiful. These people were both telling on themselves and depriving themselves of meeting people who would positively impact their lives. Because this went beyond Vanessa. It was deeper than that, which was why her being elevated to Formula 1 was so important.

“I’ll ask her about the race engineer thing,” I said, getting ready to lie on her other side. “But we should get some sleep.”

Tomorrow our schedule went wild and all of us would have a hard time catching our breath, so we needed to savor every second with our Omega that we could before the rest of the world stole her from us. Even if that meant sleeping beside her just to feel her warmth.