Page 72 of Too Fast To Fall
Piper noticed how her stomach didn’t wobble. It wasn’t that she refused to let this bother her; it simply didn’t. “Of course.Also, her name is Bridget.”
“Okay, well, there’s more.”
Emilio stepped into her doorway with a laundry basket filled with Piper’s clothes. Gus lumbered over to greet him. Emilioleaned down to pet his dog. Tears stung her eyes. If Piper had an entire lifetime to see the two of them together, it wouldnever be enough.
“Piper? Are you still there?”
Emilio stood and quietly kissed her cheek, then set the basket down on the bed. He’dfoldedher stuff. She couldn’t even believe him. “I’m here. Just say it so I can pack.”
“Kyle and Bridget got married. A week ago. She’s pregnant, and they weren’t planning on that, so they went to a—”
“Stop stop stop. Stop talking. I don’t need to know the specifics.” Piper stared at her phone, her breathing shallow. “Goodfor them.” Piper glanced at Emilio, who’d stepped into her line of sight.
“Are you okay?” he mouthed.
She nodded. “Dad, I need to go. I can’t wait to catch up. See you soon. Love you.” She pressed the red button to hang up.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Emilio asked.
“Yes. You know, it’s better they got married. That there’s a baby.”
“How is that better?”
“Because I know he didn’t blow everything up for nothing.” Piper unzipped her suitcase and laid it out flat on the bed. Guspromptly jumped up and stepped into one of the compartments, turning in circles to try to gauge a way to cram his too-largebody inside.
A melancholy smile bloomed on Emilio’s face. “Can you blame him? I don’t want you to leave, either.”
Just kill me.She drifted into his arms and the tears stung her eyes again. She inhaled his warm smell, curled the tips of her fingersinto his strong back, pressed the side of her head against the plane of his chest. She wanted to remember everything abouthim. The future was so up in the air. She really wanted to be with him, to find a way to make it work, but it still felt likean impossibility. Different lives. Different worlds. Different continents.
“I planned to come up here and tell you I can’t let you go to this wedding by yourself.”
Piper reared back and looked him in the eye. “Hold on. What?”
Deep furrows formed between his eyebrows. “I was going to invite myself to the wedding. But Isabel called when I was foldingyour laundry.” He combed his hair back from his face. “You won’t even believe what happened.”
“Is everything okay?” Piper’s heart wanted to pound its way out of her chest. She couldn’t take any more news of consequence.
“Everything at Vermillion blew up. The news just broke. I guess they were trying to keep it quiet until the summer break,or possibly the end of the season. All the top-level management have been forced out by their board of directors.”
“Including Tristan Highbridge?”
He nodded. “They all knew Tristan was guilty and they hid it all because they wanted to keep winning. Destroyed evidence.Everything.”
Piper clamped her hand over her mouth. “Everything Mia said that night she and Xander came over. It wasn’t just gossip.” Shegrasped his arms. “And you were right. All along. You must feel so vindicated.”
“I wish the timing was better. Like I said, I thought I’d invite myself to Florida. I want to be there to support you, butno one from Vermillion is talking, so Isabel has about fifty interview requests for me. Mega has asked me to do it all. Theyfeel like between my performances in Spain and Monaco and the news that I didn’t fuck up by trying to hold Vermillion accountable,that it will change the whole narrative on my career.”
“Yes. You absolutely should take your victory lap.”
“I don’t know if it’s that, but I do like feeling like things are looking up. I’m even doing an interview with Claudia Simonfor the BBC. She’s taking a break from her maternity leave just for this.”
“Wow.” Claudia was one of the foremost Formula One journalists. That was a very big deal.
“I still feel terrible you have to go to this wedding and endure the bullshit.”
Piper had been thinking about this a lot, especially as the wedding got closer. “It would be amazing to have you there. Really.I’d love every minute of it, but I think I have to do this by myself. Let him know he didn’t destroy me. Sort of like yougot to do with Victoria.”
“But you were there to help me. I want to help you.”
