by Alexia Adams
Lexy gave a nervous laugh. “I made the mistake of telling Max that his grandfather is Italian, so he should call him nonno.”
Daniel nodded. “Once he sees you, Max, your nonno will be saying ‘Si, si.’”
“C?” Max asked. “Is that his favorite letter? Mine is Z because it looks the tracks of a car going really fast. Or maybe S. I like M, too, because that’s for both Max and Mummy…”
Lexy shook her head. “I am so regretting not teaching him some Italian.”
There was a knock and Max’s little arms tightened even more. Forget falling off the track for thinking of Lexy—Daniel might not make it to the race tomorrow because he’d been strangled by a three-year-old.
“Max, go in the other room with Genevieve, please,” Lexy whispered.
Daniel put the little boy down, who then raced into the bedroom. “Do you want me to leave as well?”
“No, actually, I’d like you to stay.” She gave him a hesitant smile then wiped her hands down her dress again before stepping around him to answer the door.
Gian-Franco raised an eyebrow when he saw Daniel but made no comment.
“Papa, didn’t you have something you wanted to say to Daniel?” Lexy prompted.
“I apologize for my behavior earlier,” Gian-Franco said. “I already had two young men try to bribe me this weekend to get a test drive with Ferrari. And my wife, she filed for divorce yesterday. I was not in a good mind, and seeing my daughter with you, I jumped to conclusions. You are an excellent driver, Daniel. Ferrari would be lucky to have you.”
“Thank you, but I’m quite happy with my current team.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your marriage,” Lexy said, leading the way to the sitting room.
“Some men are not meant to be married. I guess I’m one of them. I had thought you were the same, Daniel. What are your intentions toward my daughter?”
He should have left when he’d had the chance. Because he was fairly certain “bang her until the race season is done then get on with my life” wasn’t the kind of thing you said to a girl’s father. Even if the girl and father hadn’t seen each other in ten years.
“Papa, that’s none of your business. But for the record, Daniel and I are colleagues.” Lexy went on to explain about her job and the Destin Designs contract, leaving out any mention of Jacqueline. Gian-Franco didn’t look convinced that was the full extent of Daniel’s relationship with his daughter, but he let it pass.
Gian-Franco took Lexy’s hand in his own. “And your mother? How is she?” There was a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
“She’s still the same. She can’t get out of bed anymore and has a home care assistant clean her and prepare her meals. I’ve done all I can. Until she wants help, it’s better if I stay away.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Papa, those things I said—”
“Are forgiven long ago. I’m sorry I didn’t come back to try again to take you away. I was so angry that your mother had done that to you. But I could understand you not wanting to leave her when you were all she had.”
“I needed to find my own way out. To get the strength from within.”
Daniel sat back and let the drama of father-daughter reunion play out in front of him.
That afternoon he’d received another message from his alleged half brother asking Daniel to meet his purported father after the race in Rio. He hadn’t dismissed the request as quickly as he had in the past. Instead, he’d Googled Santiago Alvarez and discovered that the man was very wealthy in his own right. So it was unlikely that he’d be asking Daniel for money. Still, there had to be a catch, didn’t there? Why bother after all these years?
But if Daniel had a child … if Lexy conceived and then didn’t tell him about it and years later he found out… He struggled to pull in a breath. He’d move heaven and earth to see his son or daughter. Could he expect less of another man? It wasn’t going to cost him anything except time to find out if this person was really his father.
Lexy had given her father a second chance. Maybe it was time he gave his father a first one. Heaven knew his mother was no paragon of virtue. What if she’d been the one to hide Daniel’s conception and birth from the man? His mother was all about the money; if this man hadn’t any at the time, she probably had never bothered to contact him.
“Papa, can you keep a secret?” Lexy’s question brought Daniel back from his own parental issues. She wasn’t about to tell Gian-Franco they were lovers, was she? His heart rate sped up. Gian-Franco nodded but scowled at Daniel. He knew the other man hadn’t believed the “we’re colleagues” gambit.
“I have a son, but no one outside of this room can know he exists,” Lexy said.
“Is he the father?” Gian-Franco glared at him.
“No, it’s not Daniel. It’s someone else. We were married very briefly. Papa, if you want to meet Max, you have to keep absolutely quiet about his existence.”
“You expect me not to tell the world that I have a grandson? What’s going on here, Alexandra?”
She stared at the carpet. From shame? The hesitation was back in her voice when she told her father the story of her brief marriage. Something wasn’t right here, but damned if Daniel could figure it out.
“I won’t say anything,” Gian-Franco finally agreed. Lexy went to get Max, probably to give herself a minute, as she could have easily called out for him.
“Here,” Daniel said, pulling a tiny toy Ferrari from his pocket and handing it to Gian-Franco. “Max is car-crazy. I was going to give him this, but he’d probably like it better from his grandfather.”
Max came into the room, clutching Lexy’s hand. Daniel had never seen him so sedate. Gian-Franco looked like he was about to burst into tears.
“I’m so happy to meet you, mio nipote.”
“My name is Max.”
Both Lexy and Gian-Franco burst into happy tears. Max looked at Daniel as if to say, “Are we the only non-crazies here?”
Given the emotion welling in his own throat, Daniel wasn’t so sure where he stood on the side of sanity. All he knew was that he’d better get away before he was sucked in any deeper.
Chapter 11
He won! As he sprayed the champagne at the crowd, his eyes searched for Lexy. She hadn’t shown at the party last night, and then this morning had texted him that she was going to watch the race from the Ferrari garage with her father. But surely she should be below with the throng of fans watching the trophy presentation. Daniel gritted his teeth.
“Where’s your bird?” Robert, his teammate and second-place finisher in today’s race asked as he poured the remainder of his champagne over Daniel’s head.
“Lexy? Not sure. And you know…”
“Yeah, yeah, my wife told me. Secret love affair. Good luck with that, mate. With this crowd watching your every move, you haven’t got a hope in hell of keeping it off the media radar.”
He didn’t think so either. And at the moment, he wasn’t even sure they had an affair to keep secret. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about extending their one-night stand into a two-month fling.
Three grid girls paraded out in their high heels and handed each of the drivers a microphone. The woman who handed one to him also passed her phone number. He surreptitiously dropped the paper and forced his media smile, all the while wondering where Lexy was. He answered the routine questions: “How does it feel to win?” “Great.” “Do you think you can do it again in Texas?” “Hope so.” “What about the championship?” “Ask me after Abu Dhabi…” When asked how he was going to celebrate tonight he managed not to say, “Ideally, by having repeated off-the-charts sex with the woman I can’t find at the moment.” Instead he said something about a bubble bath that made the crowd laugh.
Lexy wasn’t waiting in his garage either. Or his trailer. By the time everything was squared away and he could leave the track, his jaw ached from grinding his teeth. There was no message on his phone and she wasn’t in eith
er his hotel room or hers, although Genevieve was there with Max and Lexy’s father. All they could tell him was that she’d come straight back after the race, grabbed her dress, and disappeared again.
What the hell was going on? He showered off the champagne and dressed in what Destin Designs called a casual suit for the victory party. Casual and suit usually didn’t go together, but it was comfortable while still looking classy. When Lexy still hadn’t shown after thirty minutes, he thought about going to the front desk to have her paged.
Alexandra Camparelli, please join the race winner before he goes insane.
Instead he downed his second drink and went to get another one.
He almost dropped his glass when she arrived. If it hadn’t been for the dress, which looked as amazing on her as he’d expected, he would have passed her by as another F1 hanger-on. She’d added a subtle red color to her hair, her makeup was dark and dramatic, and she walked like she could have any man in the room and knew it. Several male glances followed her progress across to him. His palm hurt and he looked down to see his hand was clenched so tightly he’d left nail prints.
The slight tremble in her hand as she put it on his arm, before she stood on her tiptoes and whispered “congratulations” into his ear, was the only sign of nerves. If she’d been taking WAG lessons, she’d aced it.
He put his empty glass down on the nearest level surface and directed her out onto the terrace. The beat of the music was muted and the light level so low he could barely see her eyes.
“I meant to be here earlier but—”
The rest of her excuse was swallowed by his kiss. He ravaged her lips, demanding her surrender. There was no gentleness in his touch, just pure hunger. He swiveled so her back was against the wall. He pulled her leg up and anchored it around his waist then slid his hand under to access her core. Dieu, she was commando. She was already wet and bucked against his thigh as he found her most sensitive spot. He released her lips to trail kisses across her jaw and down under her ear to her neck.
“If I’d known this was the reaction I’d get, I’d have gotten glammed up sooner,” she whispered. Her voice was husky with desire, her breath coming in quick, sharp pants.
“No.” He nipped along her collarbone, intoxicated by her scent. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re beautiful. But I prefer the real Lexy. The one with slightly frizzy hair and natural makeup and eyes that make me want to kiss you until they glaze over with desire.”
“Trust me, they’re glazed. So if this isn’t about my new look, why have you gone all caveman on me? Not that I’m complaining.”
He raised his head long enough to take in the picture she presented. Her hair had come loose from half its pins and hung in chunks around her shoulders. Her lipstick was smeared and her lips swollen. And now that his pupils had had time to adjust, he could indeed see that her eyes had the glazed look of a woman caught in the throes of passion. This was how he wanted her.
While he could watch her face, he found her most sensitive spot and rubbed it. She quivered in her arms and bit down on her bottom lip. “I’m claiming my prize. If you didn’t notice, I won the race today.”
She released the zipper on his trousers and slid a finger inside. Space was tight, seeing as how he had an erection harder than the Eiffel Tower.
“I’m the victor’s spoils, am I? What if Robert had won, or Mika, or Stephano?”
“They have to get their own spoils. You’re mine.”
Enough talking. He took her lips again in a blistering kiss. He moved the hand that wasn’t pleasuring her to cup her breast, rubbing his thumb over her nipple through the fabric of her dress.
Lights exploded behind his eyelids. Dieu, he hadn’t even come and already he was seeing stars. The flashes, however, were accompanied by the click of a camera shutter. Merde. He’d forgotten they were in a public place. He withdrew his hand and placed her leg back down on the ground. He zipped up his fly and dragged in a deep breath. It did little to clear the lust fog from his brain.
“Keep your head in my neck,” he whispered into her ear, his voice harsher than he meant it to be. “I don’t think they can see your face.”
He turned his head to stare at the photographer. “Show’s over. Get the hell out of my party.”
Seconds later two burly security guards escorted the photographer off the terrace. As soon as they were gone, Daniel kept his arm wrapped tightly around Lexy as she walked with her head down, her hair shielding her face. Inside, the celebration was in full swing and most of the partygoers were well on their way to shit-faced. No one paid any attention to them as they skirted the edge of the room and through the employees-only door. He led her to the service elevator and then punched the button for her floor.
Lexy hadn’t said a word yet, but from the tight way she held herself, she was either angry or scared. As soon as the elevator doors closed he lifted her face with a finger under her chin.
“Lexy? Are you okay?”
Her eyes were panicked, her gaze darting about the elevator, skipping over his face. “Oh God, this is exactly what I thought would happen if I got together with you. Mr. Petersen is going to fire me, I’ll have to pay back the twenty grand, which I don’t have, Wesley is going to see my photo and discover I have his child and sue me for custody and win…” Her voice got higher as she recounted each potential disaster.
“None of that is going to happen. The photographer didn’t even see your face.” He put a hand on her cheek, but she pushed him away.
“No, but someone will tell him who I am. My whole life ruined over one moment of stupidity.”
“Lexy, calm down. It’ll all be fine. By the end of the night, that photographer will have a dozen equally scandalous pictures. He’s going to choose the one where he can see both faces. And even if he does choose ours, all he’s got is me romancing a ravishing brunette. Your boss will be ecstatic; he’ll have no idea it’s you.”
She slumped into the corner of the elevator. “Easy for you to say. What do you know about struggling to keep it together? You’ve had it all from birth.”
He ignored the sting of her accusations. “I may not have had your financial struggles, but I do know what it’s like to want something so badly and see it slip from your fingers. Don’t let this one hiccup ruin what we have together.” He put a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn’t resist he slowly pulled her into his arms.
“What do we have together, Daniel?” Her deep sigh slid down the open neck of his shirt.
“Passion, friendship, a mutual love of reading…” An intangible something that keeps me thinking of you long after we’ve parted and makes me reach for you in the middle of the night.
“And that’s worth risking my son for?”
He raised her face so she could see how serious he was. “If I thought for one second that being with me would jeopardize your custody of Max, I’d walk away from you right now.”
“You would?”
“Absolument. I would never do anything to hurt you or your son.”
Her eyes searched his. “I believe you. Sorry I overreacted. You should be celebrating. That was an amazing drive today.”
“I’m exactly where I want to be. With you.”
She pulled his head down as though to kiss him when the elevator doors binged as they opened. Getting caught in another compromising embrace would definitely kill any chance he had of convincing Lexy they could continue sleeping together. Daniel stuck his head out to make sure the coast was clear then escorted Lexy to her room. The night of passion he’d anticipated since he parked his car in front of the big number one now seemed a distant fantasy.
Lexy turned to him as she unlocked her door. The room was dark inside. “My father took Max and Genevieve out to dinner. Come in for a minute?” At least she hadn’t shut the door in his face.
She moved across the room, picked up the room service menu, and started flipping through the pages.
“You haven’t eaten?” He’d snacked at the buffe
t while waiting for her.
She gripped the folder tighter. “I ate with Mandy and Louisa while I was getting ready.”
He put a hand on the menu. “Then do you really want this?”
“No. It’s just a stress reflex.” She tossed it onto the sofa.
He removed a couple of pins that stuck out of her hair and the rest of the silky strands tumbled down. “Anything I can do to make you feel less stressed?”
She tilted her head to one side and stared at him for a long moment. Finally, a sexy smile curved her lips. “Well, if you’re offering. A little more of what you started earlier would probably relax me.”
“Cherie, if that relaxed you, I’m doing it all wrong.”
“Then you’d better do it till you get it right. But in my room. I’m done with being interrupted.” Taking his hand, she led him to her bedroom.
Before he could offer to help, she undid the zipper at the back of her dress and let it fall to the floor. She stood there naked, except for a pair of killer stilettos. Her smile as she advanced on him was equally as wicked. “Now, where were we?”
Way beyond the point of no return.
***
Lexy woke to the sound of her bedroom door opening. Was Daniel sneaking out before they were caught? No, he was spooned against her back, one possessive arm anchoring her to him, his breath ruffling the top of her hair. Maybe she’d imagined the noise. It wouldn’t surprise her if her hearing was off; he’d blown quite a few of her circuits last night. It had been a no-holds-barred, every fantasy explored night of passion. When they’d heard Max and Genevieve return they’d gone into stealth mode, each trying to make the other break the silence. Thankfully, she knew that once Max was asleep, a tornado blowing through the room wouldn’t wake him. And if Genevieve heard … well, she was a big girl.
A small hand touched her face.