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CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

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RACING WORLD SHOCKED BY FLAMING CRASH

A Formula 1 car exploded into flames this past weekend during a racing accident that has the world watching. There’s no doubt that Vanessa Lennon has been the center of controversy this season, but there has been nothing but support for her in the aftermath. If anything, the crash is a stark and brutal reminder of just how dangerous this sport can be. Teams up and down the paddock are triple checking everything in their power to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Louder sounds came from outside Vanessa’s room than there should be. Someone was yelling. My Omega had fallen asleep a while ago, and I wasn’t going to let her get woken up by someone who felt like shouting. Now that she was here in my line of vision and safe, I could breathe.

Elias currently rested in the bed with her. We locked eyes, and he nodded. He’d stay. Beck and Gray were with me, all three of us so wired and ready to snap it was like standing on the edge of a knife.

The sounds got louder towards the nurses’ station, and someone was trying to get by a body-blocking nurse. I blinked. John Lockwood stood there, trying to get past. “This is fucking important. I need to see them right now .”

“John,” Grayson called.

He stopped fighting when he saw us. “Thank fuck.”

I wasn’t in the mood to be so gracious and placed myself directly in his path. “After what happened last time, I’m not letting you back there to see her.”

“I’m not here to see Vanessa. I’m here to see you.”

What? I crossed my arms, frowning. I’d expected some kind of desperation from an ex, not this. My curiosity spiked, along with my caution.

Beck gestured down the hall where we could have a little more privacy, closer to the hospital entrance. It wasn’t too late, so it wasn’t strange for him to be here. John just looked like he was about to lose his marbles. I’d be fine with that—it would be entertaining as hell. But something told me this was deeper.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I was going to your garage,” he said, handing me a small envelope. “To give someone this note to pass to Vanessa. It’s nothing important. Just apologizing for the way I acted last time.” He smiled sheepishly. “My pride was hurt and I let it get to me. So it was an apology and just letting her know if she needs anything from me or my dad, feel free to let us know.”

Grayson took the small envelope from me and pocketed it like he knew I wanted to tear it up. I wouldn’t, though. “We appreciate that,” Gray said. “But that’s not why you’re here.”

“No. It’s not. There wasn’t anyone in the garage. Everything’s empty and everyone is gone. Hell, half of it is torn down already. But mostly deserted until the teams come back in the morning.”

“Get to the point,” I growled.

He reached up and scratched the back of his head, wincing. “I cut down through the far side of the paddock. It’s faster for my hotel, and I heard voices. Kind of angry, kind of… I don’t know… panicked? They were coming from the ApexLink garage. I should have walked away, but curiosity got the better of me.”

Dread seeped beneath my skin. I didn’t like where this was heading, and neither did the others.

“It was Gendra.” John winced again. “And Bachman.”

All three of us went still.

“I was just going to walk away, because maybe they’re friends. But then Gendra yelled at him not to walk away, and—” He shook his head and pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. “I swear on my life I’m not usually one to hide and record things. But something told me not to let them know I was there, and I’m glad.”

Beck’s voice was lethal. “Why?”

“You’ll see.”

John turned the screen toward us and hit play as we gathered closer. The shaky image was clearly taken from behind something. We were watching through a crack—whatever John hid behind as Bachman shoved Gendra into the wall. “I will walk away whenever I want to. This has nothing to do with me.”

“ Like hell it doesn’t ,” Gendra hissed. “She’s in the fucking hospital, and I never would have— fuck .” He turned and kicked a chair over.

“Get it together,” Bachman snarled. “You want to keep this quiet? Then this isn’t the way to do it.”

“This isn’t what I wanted, man. I didn’t want to kill her. I just want her seat. After everything you’ve said this whole season. That podcast you went on. Santiago. Payet. Fucking O’Neill . I just saw red when she passed me. I thought if she had another crash it might shake Paragon’s confidence in her. I didn’t want her dead . When you told me to gun for her, this isn’t what I thought you meant.”

Every cell in my body went cold.

“The bitch is fine,” Lars snapped. “Stop being a pussy. And I didn’t tell you to do shit.”

“That isn’t true and you know it. You’re the one who’s been hammering how any of us could have a chance if she was just gone. You’re the one who encouraged being ruthless and taking every opportunity whenever we could to take her out. I would never have done that if it weren’t for you fucking with my head. And?—”

Lars laughed. “I’d like to see you prove that. Now chill the fuck out. Everyone thinks it was a rookie flinching and nothing more than an accident. Keep it that way.”

He turned to walk away, but Gendra glared after him. “You pushed me.”

“What?”

“I might have touched her car on purpose, but I also didn’t have a choice. You were on my ass, and there was nowhere to go. I’m the slower car, Lars. I had nowhere to go. You herded me into her car. This is exactly what you wanted.”

The smile on Lars’s face made my blood run cold and rage so deep it froze slithered to the surface. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it is what I wanted. But I don’t want you, not anymore. I wanted someone who would be a good teammate and help me win a goddamn championship. But if you can’t keep your shit together after this? You can’t handle the pressure.”

“I did everything you asked. Everything .”

Lars just smiled. “There will always be people willing to do things for money, Joshua. It makes the world go round. And in this case, there’s more than enough people who hate her that they’ll be lining up to help. So doing what I asked doesn’t make you special. It could have, but not anymore.”

“I’ll tell them.” Gendra lifted his chin. “I’ll tell them the truth about all of it.”

“Once again, I invite you to prove it. I’m fucking careful. Vanessa Lennon isn’t the first person I’ve gotten rid of, and I doubt she’ll be the last. All you’d be doing is ending your own career. Or have you forgotten that I do have proof against you?”

Gendra’s shoulders slumped, and he fell back against the wall. The kid looked so devastated I almost felt bad for him. Almost. He said nothing.

“This almost worked out perfectly. Hit the wall a little differently and she wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Too bad she got lucky. Now I’m going to walk away, and once I do, I’m never going to hear a single syllable about this from you again? Got it?”

“Got it,” Gendra mumbled.

The camera fumbled, John retreating in quick and quiet footsteps before the video ended. “I came straight here,” he said. “Because fuck .”

I was so far beyond anger, I wasn’t sure it was a real emotion I felt. Once glance at Grayson and Beck told me they felt the same, though all our bonds were strangely calm. Like the three of us together had pierced what separated true rage from the rest of the world.

Grayson held out his phone with a number displayed. “Send me that video.”

“Yeah.”

“It was him the whole time,” Beck said.

I shook my head. “I mean, we knew.”

“Not like this.”

No. There was a part of me that had hoped he’d just been disgruntled and would get over it. I truly didn’t think he’d stoop this low. But…

“Fuck, it all lines up.”

They turned to me. “What does?”

“The week before her tyres were sabotaged, they did that Q&A on stage. No one asked Lars any questions, and they got into it afterward. When she had those brake failures it wasn’t long after we proposed.”

“This race though,” Beck said. “There’s no motivation for that.”

“No?” I asked. “When everything comes down to the last race? Any one of the three of us, me, him, and Ronan, could take the title. If I had the points from today it would no longer matter.”

It would still be hard for him to win. I’d have to not place well or not finish at all in order to lose, but there was still a chance. And now? I was pretty sure this was the reason.

“We need to look at the replay again,” Beck said. “Look and see if Bachman was actually herding him.”

No one was focusing on Bachman when the action was Gendra and Vanessa. The guy knew what he was doing.

I looked at John. “Thank you.”

“Of course. I was an ass. I fully admit that. But I would never want her hurt.” His gaze strayed behind me. “Is she all right?”

“She will be,” Beck said. “She’s resting now.”

“Tell her I’m glad she’s okay?”

Grayson nodded. “We will.” John turned and headed back towards the hospital entrance. Gray called after him. “John?”

“Yeah?”

“If we need your testimony?”

“You have it.”

Good.

As soon as he was out of sight, my rage kindled. “Gray, I’m about to go beat the ever-loving shit out of Bachman. When I’m done, he’ll wish he was the one in the burning car.”

“Can I help?” Beck asked.

“Not yet,” Gray said.

I growled, and he stared me down, our Alphas warring.

“Not never ,” he growled too. “Not yet . We need to play this right.”

“This is her life ,” I shouted before remembering to keep myself quiet. “We don’t just play that right. If you think I care about media strategy?—”

Grayson stepped in, toe-to-toe. “I’m not talking about media strategy, River. I’m talking about making him hurt as much as possible.”

My eyes narrowed. That was a sentiment I could get behind. “I’m listening.”

“Which is worse? Revealing this now and it all going down, or waiting until after the next race, when he takes third place in the championship. Or, god forbid, wins , though I hope that doesn’t happen. Then everything comes out and he’s stripped of the title along with everything else?”

Fuck, that was worse. They were both bad, but speaking from experience, basking in the glow of victory was something you never forgot. Having that rug pulled out from underneath you was brutal. And this would be brutal.

I smirked, feeling absolutely no sympathy. Was it harsh? Absolutely. But the fucker had said out loud that he’d wished she’d died. You try to kill my Omega? You forfeit any right to decency or gentleness.

“Fine,” I said. “But after he’s out, I’m going to need your help to clear it with Vic.”

Gray laughed, the sound dark with revenge. “Clear you beating him up?”

“Yes.”

He clapped me on the shoulder. “You got it.”

I didn’t like waiting. I wasn’t a patient man and never claimed to be. But sometimes waiting made things that much sweeter, and this? This would be worth waiting for.

“In the meantime,” Gray said, “we gather everything we can. Any proof. Every camera angle. A statement from John. Everything.”

Rolling my eyes, I followed them back to Vanessa’s room. “This means I have to like John now, doesn’t it.”

“Like? Nah. Maybe tolerate,” Beck said.

“Perfect.”

Vanessa still slept peacefully, but Elias looked at us, eyes wide, when we walked in. “What the hell was that about?”