and then she would make the final modifications for the race itself.
Now though, there was one brief night to relax.
Not that she could.
Damn you, Matteo, Abby thought as she turned on the news and sure enough the first thing she saw was his mug shot.
Abby switched it off and, when the doorbell rang, she hauled herself from the sofa and there at the door stood Pedro.
A very different-looking Pedro.
His hair had been cropped and he was wearing a sharp suit and, judging by the set of keys he was waving, he was the new owner of a car fit for a soon-to-be racing legend.
‘Matteo made it to take you out?’ Abby put her own anger aside and smiled as she let Pedro in. ‘How was it?’
‘It was brilliant.’
‘I tried to call you,’ Abby said.
‘I left my phone at Bernadette’s. I’m just on my way there now.’
‘So what happened with Matteo?’ Abby couldn’t stop herself from asking. ‘I saw on the news that he’d been arrested...’
‘And released without charge.’ Pedro shrugged as he walked into her lounge. ‘Some guy was arguing with his wife and got heavy. Matteo stepped in and the guy took his mood out on him. Hey, Abby...’ Pedro said to his very distracted manager, who was blowing out a guilty breath at her own presumption. ‘I wanted to ask you something—can Bernadette come to Milan?’
Abby guessed Matteo had suggested that Pedro ask her.
Pedro had wanted to bring Bernadette last time but things had been so incredibly tight that there had been no room for wives and girlfriends.
Things were different now.
‘Sure.’ Abby nodded.
She wanted Pedro to linger, to tell her all about his day, or rather anything else Matteo had even loosely mentioned, but he was soon heading off to show Bernadette his new clothes and car and to tell her the news. Abby spent the rest of the night wondering if Matteo would call.
He didn’t.
And so, by the time the team were due to fly to Milan, Abby was in a state of high anticipation at seeing him.
She felt a bit like a schoolmistress at an all-male school as they boarded the Di Sione jet. Everyone was in high spirits, everyone except Abby, because there was no sign of Matteo.
Abby sat in a plush leather seat and rolled her eyes as Pedro looked around the jet.
‘Who gets the suite?’
‘You do!’ The attendant smiled.
It was then, Abby knew, Matteo wasn’t joining them.
* * *
Milan she glimpsed from the inside of a luxurious coach that took them from the airport to the hotel.
Abby knew the hotel the Lachance team stayed at and she had chosen another one, as she always did, which gave her one less thing to worry about.
Everyone was checked in but Abby lingered till they had all headed off to their rooms and then she asked the receptionist if there were any messages for her.
There weren’t.
‘Is Matteo Di Sione here yet?’ Abby made herself ask.
‘No.’
‘Do you know when he’s arriving?’
‘We can’t give out that sort of information.’
‘I’m a colleague,’ Abby attempted but she was no match for the tight security around the Di Sione name. ‘A close colleague.’
‘Then ask him.’ The receptionist’s smile did not waver. ‘Is there anything else that I can help you with?’
It was a busy week with little waking time to dwell on Matteo and when and if he would arrive.
Despite their amazing win, Abby did know it was unlikely to be replicated.
Pedro had raced the Dubai course but never Milan and, though they went over and over it and watched endless recordings of previous races, she could feel Pedro’s tension.
‘I shouldn’t have brought Bernadette,’ he admitted to Abby before he put on his helmet for the practice run. ‘She’s going to see me place last.’
‘Don’t think about that,’ Abby said.
‘I just got a text from Matteo, wishing me luck...’
It was more than she’d had.
‘I’ve a feeling I shan’t be getting his jet for a week.’
‘Listen,’ Abby said to Pedro. ‘You won last month. Nothing can take that away.’
‘Yeah, but I’ve got a whole lot more to prove now. Hunter reckons it was a fluke—he was talking in Reception loud enough for me to hear.’
Abby took a steadying breath. Apparently there had been a problem with the Lachance team’s hotel security and yesterday they had moved to the one Abby’s team were staying at.
Still, her own nervousness as to that wasn’t the issue now.
‘Don’t listen to anything Hunter says.’ Abby spoke firmly. ‘Don’t even look at him. Just give him the finger in your head any time you pass him. Maybe not today, but any time in your career that you pass him, then that’s what you’ll do.’
And so, too, would she.
The practice run didn’t go particularly well and Abby spent ages trying to soothe Pedro, who was seriously rattled, but finally at six he headed back to the hotel for an early dinner and then bed. Abby worked till late making modifications to the car.
By the time she got back to the hotel Abby was hungry, tired and certainly not looking the way she would want Matteo to see her, but there he was checking in at Reception.
Abby kept walking.
A month of no contact and she didn’t know where they were at and so she made her way to the elevator and pressed the button and stood.
‘Don’t you say hello?’ Matteo asked and she turned and smiled as he came and stood beside her.
‘I didn’t know if you’d just wanted to go up to your suite and crash,’ Abby admitted.
‘I do.’ Matteo yawned. It had been a very long day. ‘So, how’s the race preparation going?’ he asked as their elevator arrived and they stepped in.
‘It hasn’t been the best day.’ Abby sighed. ‘Pedro’s convinced that he’s peaked too soon, though he seems a bit calmer now.’
