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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

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Charlie Amor: Since there’s not much suspense about what’s happening at the front of the race, let’s take a look at the midfield. Vanessa Lennon is having a good first race. She had a bit of a fumble right out of the gate, falling back to tenth almost immediately, but she’s fought her way back to her original starting spot of seventh.

Geoff Askew: Seventh is where she finished in that race last season. Given what I know about her and Paragon, I don’t think anyone will be disappointed with a P-7 her first race out of the gate. But I also think we haven’t quite seen the real Vanessa Lennon yet.

Charlie: No, I agree with you. Most casual racing fans don’t follow the junior categories, but we do. During her season in Formula 2, actually, in all the junior categories, Vanessa was known as a particularly ballsy driver. She took risks that most others wouldn’t be able to pull off. That’s the sign of true talent. She hasn’t shown us that side of her yet, but I think she’s biding her time and getting comfortable. When she’s ready to show us the real Vanessa Lennon, we’ll know.

Geoff: Let’s just hope she doesn’t take too long to get there.

Charlie: Something tells me she won’t be holding back for long.

“Ten laps to go,” Beck said. “Mind the tyres.”

“They’re good,” I told him. They still had plenty of grip. Enough that I could push a little more, but I also didn’t want to take too many risks in the last ten laps. But if I was going to do something to move up from seventh, where I still was, it needed to be now.

“Who’s in front of me?”

“Arnault.”

Lumière. They were a good team, but my car was faster, and I had far more to lose. Jean-luc Arnault had been on the grid for years. He didn’t have to prove himself.

“How hard can I push?”

“Let me come back.” There was silence as Beck listened to other information and made sure he knew which call to make. “You can give it a little more if you feel the tyres are good.”

“Is overtake within reach with the laps we have left?”

A pause. “Yes.”

“Let me guess. You’re going to tell me to be careful?”

He chuckled. “Would it matter if I did?”

“Probably not.”

“Then go get him.”

Yes, Alpha. I kept that part to myself.

It felt like the last time, chasing down the next car, and just like last time, I was determined to catch him. There was a two point difference between finishing sixth and seventh. Every point counted.

My car locked up coming around turn fourteen and I almost lost it. “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. I was closing the gap to Arnault in front of me, but the tyres were suffering because they were already almost gone.

“You good?” Beck asked. There was an undercurrent of worry I heard that had nothing to do with being my engineer.

“Yeah, I got it. The tyres aren’t great. They’ll make it though.”

“Four laps to go. You’ve got DRS.”

I smirked into my helmet. The DRS zone was coming up, and I didn’t need Beck to tell me I was close enough. I was. Picking up Arnault’s slipstream, I pushed as hard as I could without absolutely wrecking what was left of my rubber.

Then I pulled out from behind him and slammed the DRS button. The flap on the back of the car folded, allowing me to gain a burst of speed thanks to the lowered drag, and I passed Arnault, pulling in front of him and his sandy-colored car just in time to take the corner.

Sixth place.

“Well done.”

The last three laps felt like I was flying, and it had nothing to do with being strapped to a car that moved like a rocket. Passing the checkered flag with a roaring crowd sent adrenaline careening through me, and I waved. Paragon colors flew in the crowd, waving. For me.

“P-6,” Beck said, and I heard his smile. “Amazing race, Nessa.”

“Thank you.”

Grayson’s voice came over the radio. He didn’t speak on the comms unless he had to, but he heard everything. “Incredible first race, Vanessa. We’re proud of you.”

To the rest of the world he meant Paragon Racing was proud of me. To me it meant my pack. I couldn’t stop smiling. This wasn’t the best I could do, and I knew it. But I’d done exactly what I needed to today: finish in the top ten and keep the car out of the wall.

“Who took P-1?”

“Daniels,” Beck said.

I laughed. “Tell your packmate congrats for me.”

“Will do.”

The track was always a crazy place after a race finished with the cars stacking up in the order they finished in. Jean-luc shook my hand when he hopped out of the car. “Nicely done.”

“Thank you.”

He smiled softly. The Francaise racer was one of the quiet ones in the sport. He kept his head down and did his job, staying out of the drama. “Looks like you’ll be surprising a lot of people this season.”

“Are you one of them?”

Throwing his head back, he laughed before shaking his head. “I am Francaise. We know better than to underestimate a woman. But don’t expect me to go easy.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Annika practically pounced on me. “Let’s fucking go, mate.”

“Eight points.”

“Not too shabby.”

We didn’t linger. I still needed to do press before I could get out. But I stripped the racing suit down to the thermal beneath and tied the arms around my waist. I was hot from the car and the excitement.

There would be an actual press conference, but I stopped at one of the reporters with a mic and camera where directed. It was Holly Buchanan, who I’d met before at the Paragon launch.

“Vanessa Lennon, the woman of the hour.”

I laughed, leaning into the mic. “I’m not sure about that, but I’m happy with the results.”

“Let’s not play games. We both know you had a lot of eyes on you during this race, and you performed perfectly. How do you think it went?”

“My goals for today were to finish in the points and have no incidents caused by driver error, and I accomplished that. Is this the best I can perform? No, I don’t believe so. I know with this car I can finish higher, and I fully intend to do so. But for this first race and getting my feet under me, I’m happy.”

A sudden presence at my side made me jump. Johnny stood there, too close. “Congratulations, Nessa. Knew you could do it.” He went to shake my hand and leaned in to kiss my cheek at the same time.

“Thanks, Johnny,” I said, smiling, but raising an eyebrow in question.

He just shrugged with a knowing smirk. I just shook my head. It wasn’t going to happen. But in front of cameras I wasn’t going to shoot him down, if only because the resulting rumors about us getting back together might take any scrutiny off me and anyone else. That, and though Johnny and I weren’t suited romantically, he wasn’t a bad guy, and there wasn’t a reason to humiliate him on television.

“It seems like the other drivers are happy for you. Do you have anything to say to address conversations about friction on the grid after your signing?”

Paragon’s PR team and I had gone over talking points for this, but it was still delicate. So I smiled and made sure I was fully relaxed.

“This is a major change in the sport, and I think it takes time for anyone to adjust to change, no matter if that change is good or bad. We’re all in a situation that hasn’t existed before. So it’s natural to be uncertain about things. But I have nothing but respect for the other drivers on the grid, and I look forward to racing them for the rest of the year. I hope they can say the same, but I’m not in control of anyone’s thoughts about me, nor is it my business. I’m here to race to the best of my ability, and that’s where my focus will be.”

“Thank you very much, Vanessa, and congratulations on the points.”

“Thank you.”

By the time I was back in my hotel and showered, I was exhausted. Doing interviews and the team debrief where I couldn’t look at Grayson or Beck too closely. I needed to go to sleep, but I missed them.

None of the guys were back yet. I peeked into their suite and felt only emptiness. Still, the idea of going to sleep by myself in my suite held little appeal. Instead, I found a hoodie thrown across one of the couches. Cedar and dark incense. Beck.

I pulled the sweatshirt over my head and curled up on the couch to wait for them. It struck me that this was real. We were here. This was normal. Waiting for my pack after a race. It wasn’t something I’d dreamed up. I had a pack, and they would be coming for me as soon as they were ready. It felt like it could slip through my fingers at any moment, but I wasn’t going to let them go.

But it also wouldn’t feel like it was permanent until people knew and I could touch them in public. Kiss them in public. Make sure everyone knew that we belonged to each other.

The wait was torture, but at least they’d be waiting with me.