Page 32 of Too Fast To Fall
“He loves those things,” Mia said. “I remember you giving them to him in Miami.”
“My special recipe. Even Emilio likes them. Sorta.”
“He tried them?”
Piper laughed. “Long story.”
“Speaking of you and Emilio, you are aware there are rumors, right?”
Piper could hardly believe this was a thing. “It’s not true. Obviously. Not true at all.”
Mia nodded, but didn’t seem entirely convinced. “Oh. Sure.”
“Mia,” her cameraman said. “It’s time for the grid walk.” One of the amazing things about Formula One was that right beforea race, VIPs and celebrities were allowed to mingle on-track while the drivers were climbing into their cars. It was a primetime for Mia to catch some famous folks on camera.
“I’ll let you go,” Piper said.
“Sorry,” Mia replied. “But I’ll see you in London? At Emilio’s place for dinner?”
Piper wondered if perhaps she’d been invited because Emilio didn’t want to be the third wheel with Xander and Mia. Regardlessof the reason, Piper was thrilled at the prospect. She adored Mia and had always wanted to meet Xander. “Looking forward toit.”
“I’ll text you. Maybe we can bring dessert.”
Piper watched as Mia walked away, then glanced around the paddock. She wanted to pinch herself. What had her life become?Seeing the sport she loved from behind the scenes. Making dinner plans with another driver and their partner. When she’d firstcome to London, she’d been so bummed out, then bored. And in the blink of an eye—or, perhaps, the click of a smartphone camera—everythingseemed to be turningwaymore exciting.
Emilio despised being nervous, but there he was, sitting in his car, nearly sick to his stomach. He’d been desperate all seasonto start this high on the grid, and in his mind, he was clinging to it like it was the most precious prize he could ever receive.Because he couldn’t imagine the humiliation if he finished worse than seventh. As for moving up the order, he’d try like hell,but he’d made no promises. Not even to himself.
Piper found a quiet corner in the paddock club, where Gus could sleep beneath the table at her feet and she could watch everythingon TV, but still have access to the balcony overlooking the pit lane. As the drivers drove their formation lap, Piper couldn’thelp but notice how different this was from the Miami race. She’d been invested in Emilio’s performance then, but it was nothinglike now. She knew him now. She didn’tknow him, know him. But they’d gone running together. Given Gus a bath together. She’d even been in his arms, albeit because of Gus.They were even the subject of a romance rumor, which did make her laugh. That was a fantasy that would never come true.
She really hoped he would do well today. If he didn’t... well, she sure didn’t love being around storm cloud Emilio.
Emilio felt the rumble of the engine as the cars lined up in their starting positions. Nervous energy had him on edge. Thelights blinked on in succession—one, two, three, four, five. They went out. Away the cars went.
He punched the throttle. His heart fluttered in his chest. His start was clean. The car reacted exactly as he wanted it to.Like nothing from recent history. Almost as good as last year. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he zipped through theTamburello chicane.
He and the car were one. It felt so good. Like everything he’d been longing for since the start of the season.
Piper watched as lap after lap, Emilio did great, but hadn’t moved up in the order. In fact, the whole race had been a bitof a non-event. If things remained as they were, would he be satisfied with seventh place? Would he be unhappy? It would meanhe’d bring home some points for the first time that season, but surely a world champion wanted more.
Her heart went out to him. Sure, he had a job most people could only dream of. But it wasn’t an easy thing. There was so muchdisappointment built into being a Formula One driver.
Emilio was as focused as ever. Eyes trained on the road. Meanwhile, his engineer kept asking questions.
“Emilio, how are the tires?”
“No problems.”
“Please mind them. Xander’s seeing high degradation. So are the other teams. This heat is a problem.”
As far as Emilio was concerned, the only problem was that he needed everyone to simply let him do his job. Talking was onlystressing him out. “Please. Just let me drive.”
The TV announcers were talking nonstop about tire wear, and it was really starting to make Piper worried for Emilio.
“We have an unusually hot day today and everyone’s tires are taking a beating. The hard compounds this year simply aren’tas long lasting as they were last season. Most drivers have made a second pit stop, but two haven’t. Notably, Emilio Baquerojust told his race engineer to leave him alone.”
Piper didn’t have a good feeling about this. Fifteen laps from the end of the race and Emilio had only done one pit stop.A whole slew of cars had come in over the last few laps, which meant he’d gained two positions in the order and was up intofifth place, but surely his tires would start falling away.
“Emilio, I know you really want to finish in fifth, but we don’t think these tires can last. Pitting now is imperative,” hisrace engineer said.
