Page 67 of Too Fast To Fall
She sucked in a breath, seeming like she was steeling herself for something. “I talked to my sister today. My younger sister.Meghan. She’s pregnant. So that’s big news. She and her husband have been trying for a long time.”
“Oh, wow. That sounds exciting.”
“I can’t wait to give her a hug. It was so hard to hear the news over the phone. I couldn’t stop crying.”
Emilio hated how disappointed he was right now, but the end was barreling at him too fast, and it was moments like this thattold him he should simply let her go. Not make a case for them as a couple. “You’ll see her soon enough.”
“I know. The time has flown by.” She managed a smile and stepped closer to him. “I feel like you and I need to make the mostof the time we have left.”
His entire body warmed from head to toe, even when his heart was heavy. “What did you have in mind?”
“Let’s go upstairs and see how the night unfolds.”
Sixteen
Piper had worried the photos in the tabloid might make their lives difficult, but she hadn’t been prepared for what that lookedlike. The next day, the photos were published, which only meant new photographers turned up, and they weren’t anywhere nearas nice or respectful as the first guy. They lurked outside Emilio’s house and even when the police shooed them away, theyalways returned. It got so bad that Emilio had to put in a call to Mega about private security at his house. Just until theBritish tabloids moved on to someone else. But that wasn’t something the team could put in place overnight. And they wereabout to leave for Monaco.
Piper couldn’t figure out the exact reason for the frenzy, but Mia had shed a little light on it when she texted Piper.
Holy shit. Are you and Emilio in love? Sure looks like it in those pictures.
Do you really think so?
Piper pulled up the photos on her phone for what was probably the fiftieth time. Piper hated looking at herself in photos,but she had to admit she and Emilio looked perfect together. And they were perfect together when they were in bed, and oftenwhen they weren’t, but they had two very different lives, living on opposite sides of the Atlantic. How could they ever overcomethat? Plus, a photograph was not reality. She knew the hidden truth of the photos—she and Emilio had simply been trying toget the photographer to leave them alone.
Yes. I think so. Count yourself lucky. I had the world’s most unflattering photos show up in a tabloid. You look amazing.He does, too. (Of course.) You look like you belong together.
We’re friends. Victoria made too much of it and we fanned the flames by putting on a show in front of her. That was our mistake,but she was being such a jerk to Emilio.
She’s insecure. I’m pretty sure of that.
How is that even possible?
Victoria had everything. She was Formula One royalty. Had won the genetic lottery. She could find a boyfriend by strollingthe paddock.
Beauty and money and a famous last name don’t buy confidence.
Then we have all been misled.
The whole thing made Piper exceedingly uneasy. She had so many warm and wonderful feelings for Emilio, but she felt pulledin two opposite directions. One was toward her family and certainty. Her comfort zone. And the other direction, toward Emilio,where things like photographers, gossip, vindictive exes and tabloids were part of everyday life. She knew he didn’t likethose things, either, but he was used to them.
She was so drawn to him, thought about him day and night, and cared for him deeply, but there were zero guarantees of anything,especially a happy ending. She’d already had one unhappy ending. She wasn’t in the market for another.
Piper thought getting to Monaco might make things better, but it only got worse. Arriving at the Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlowas a nightmare. The fans were everywhere—in front of the hotel and behind it, in the parking lots and at restaurants, followingthem and yelling both Emilio’s and Piper’s names. They were also screaming for Gus, which made Piper realize much of thismess had been of her own making.
Piper and Gus stayed in the hotel on Thursday for media day, hoping things would calm down. It was easy to pretend thingswere okay when you were hiding inside, but as soon as they went with Emilio to the track for practice on Friday, pandemoniumreared its ugly head.
Then on Saturday, the scariest scene played out when they arrived for qualifying. A swarm of fans screamed for them when theyclimbed out of the car. The crowd rattled the security gate so fiercely it made a horrible scraping metal noise, and Pipercould only imagine what would happen if the barrier gave way. Gus barked like crazy. It was bedlam. Emilio rushed Piper andGus through the swipe gates, then begged several security guards to make sure no one outside would be hurt. It all happenedso fast. In a matter of moments, they were safe and order was restored. Still, Piper was frightened.
“That was so scary,” she said when they got to his driver’s room.
“I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again. I’ll talk to Isabel about additional security.”
“I don’t like the idea of needing security in the first place. I don’t even understand why people are acting so nuts aboutthis. I’m just a normal person. How do you stand it?”
“Easy. I love this sport and it’s the only thing I want to do. So I put up with everything else that goes with it. It doesn’tmean I like it.”
Piper shook her head slowly, feeling like she couldn’t possibly make sense of it, but his answer sure put a fine point onthings—this was his life, and it wasn’t changing. “I don’t think I can take Gus out to do photos. Not even in the paddock.”
