Page 152 of Off the Grid

He glares at me with a rage I feel but that he can’t understand.

“What the hell was that, Riggs? Are you fucking kidding me?” He paces the small space, almost stumbles at one point he’s so focused on me, but rights himself. “Care to explain?”

I stare at him. I can’t fucking tell him why. I can’t betray Camilla’s trust. I can’t explain a thing.

“He had it coming to him.” It’s all I say.

“What? Your ride in F1 wasn’t enough that you decided to risk it with some juvenile bullshit from some old grudge?”

“I’ve got nothing.” Each word is like a dagger to my heart because I already know what’s coming next.

But she is more important than this.

I don’t know when that happened, but it did.

“That’s your third and final warning. Grab your shit and get out. You’re no longer a driver for Moretti Motorsports. You’ve just embarrassed this team, this sport, and me as an owner. Do you have anything to say for yourself? Anything to explain why you just beat another team’s crewman within an inch of his life?”

I clench my jaw so hard it might break.

I can’t explain. It’s not my story to tell. I can’t hurt her any more than she already has been.

I look at a man I admire and know if I had the chance again, knowing the consequences, I’d do it all over again.

In a heartbeat.

“Being in a relationship has a lot of parallels with being a good F1 driver. Always maintain your integrity, always show respect for yourself and your wife, and always win for the team. It’s all about the team.”

My dad’s voice fills my head. One of his many interviews that I memorized comes back to me, right now when I need to remember it the most.

Almost as if he’s somewhere watching. Almost as if he knows right now, I need to hear the advice he never had the chance to give me.

Those words—that interview—never really made sense to me until now.

Until this moment. Because right now, as I hear his words, I realize that is what Camilla and I have become—a team.

And I know which team I must choose.

So I look him in the eye, I nod, and I whisper, “Thank you for the opportunity.”

And when I leave the room to go and gather my things, I leave my hopes and dreams there with him.

com

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Camilla

“Where is he?” I ask the minute I see my dad standing in the room with his back to me, his hands on his hips, and his shoulders set.

“Where’s who?” he asks without turning to look at me, but there’s a bite to his tone, showing me I’ve made a grave mistake. I just showed my cards, and he knows. “Where’s who?” he repeats but this time he turns to look at me with a scrutiny that makes my breath catch.

Carlo Moretti is a kind man. A forgiving man. But fuck with him or lie to him and he is anything but.

“He’s off the team and frankly, it’s for the better. All around.”

He’s not good enough for you.

That’s what his tone says. That’s how his gaze reads.