My stomach churned, but I fought to keep my cool. “Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. I’ll finish up the season in Budapest and will deliver the constructor’s championship, but then I think you and I need to have a talk about our working relationship.”
Frank simply grunted. “You keep this fling between you and Rossi under wraps, you hear me? If this gets out, I’ll make sure you never work the racing circuit again. Keep your goddamn dick in your pants and let’s finish up this season with the remainder of our reputation untarnished, hm? You are lucky Bianca Rossi is fucking Teflon.”
“No problem, Frank,” I muttered tersely. “Bianca and I are not a fling, but I will ensure things are kept quiet.”
Frank didn’t reply, just hung up and I sagged back into my desk chair. I tilted my head back, pinching the bridge of my nose. Fuck, fuck, fuck… I needed to speak to Bianca.
I jumped to my feet, nearly ripping my office door off its hinges in my haste to get down to the garages. My face must have construed my seriousness as people leapt from my path and evaded my eye contact. I stormed into the pit garage, greeted by the buzz of commotion. Everyone had their phones open, undoubtedly reading the article about me and Bianca. When one of the mechanics caught sight of me, there was a chorus of jeersand wolf whistles. I ignored them, pushing past as I hunted down Bianca. I eventually spotted her beside her car, chatting with Sophia. She did a double–take as she caught my eye, her face falling.
“I need to speak with you,” I murmured, grasping her by her elbow. “Now.”
“Yeah, of course.” She nodded.
As we headed back towards the offices, another mechanic wolf whistled. Bianca jabbed her fist into his arm with a face like thunder.
“Shut the fuck up,” she hissed.
At least she was taking this seriously. I couldn’t recall a time I’d seen Bianca looking so tense. She followed me in silence to my office, ducking beneath my arm when I held the door open for her. As soon as the door was closed, I leant back against it with a heavy sigh.
“You’ve seen the article then?” Bianca said quietly.
“I have. Frank has torn me a new arsehole over it.” I scrubbed a hand down my face.
“Shit. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think Davina would—”
My brows rose. “You knew?”
“No! No, I didn’t know she was going to print something so inflammatory. We spoke on the night of the sponsor drinks, but I swear I didn’t say a word about us. Only about the old perverts who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.”
I nodded. “You said as much to me too.” I paused. “And I told Frank I wasn’t going to stand for it any longer.”
Bianca’s face brightened. “You did? How did he take that?”
“He threatened to fire me,” I replied.
“Oh. Oh, shit.” Bianca sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
“He also knows about us.” I held up my hand as Bianca opened her mouth. “He pressed me, and I told him the truth. I think that was probably the nail in my coffin. I’m not holding out muchhope for being kept on as team principal once this season is over.”
“Well, fuck him! It’s his loss,” Bianca snapped, her ire taking me by surprise. “You’re the best team principal McLaren has ever had – and I’m not just saying that because you can eat pussy like a fucking god.”
I burst out laughing, shaking my head. “Well, thanks. I appreciate that.”
“In all seriousness, if Frank is going to sack you off for trying to stand up for female drivers, then he can kiss my arse goodbye as well.” Bianca crossed her arms over her chest.
“Wait, seriously? You’d drop McLaren?”
“Of course. I’ve kept quiet about all this seedy shit for too long. I’m the fastest driver out on that track – they either shape up, or I ship out. My contract is coming up for renewal anyway and I’ve heard rumours about offers from Mercedes.”
I took a moment, allowing Bianca’s words to sink in. “Don’t do this for me. Make sure you’re loud about the reasons you’re leaving,” I said, my voice low.
“Oh, don’t worry.” She grinned. “I can berealfucking loud when I want to be.”
“Don’t I know it.” I chuckled, watching Bianca closing the distance between us. She wrapped her arms around my middle, and I automatically relaxed into her, squeezing her in an embrace. I didn’t say as much, but I knew my appreciation of her support was clear and Bianca tucked her head into my chest.
“So, what do we do now?” she murmured.
“We keep our heads down. There’s one race left. We won’t make waves, just bring in the constructor’s championship and then once the winter break begins, we can give Frank both barrels. But hey, who knows? Maybe once he’s had a chance to cool off and come to terms with all this, he’ll see sense and decide to support us.”
