His Ultimate Prize(29)

She frowned. 'But it was the driver who broke the contract. Isn't he liable?'

'No, he isn't. XPM is staging this event, so I'm responsible. I  should've taken more time to ensure contingencies were in place before  we arrived. Everyone here knows someone's dropped the ball.  Unfortunately, they're looking at me to pick it up and run with it.' He  was the hard businessman, the ruthless racer who'd held a finite edge  over his competitors for years.

He was certainly nothing like the lover who'd taken her to the heights of ecstasy.

She fought to regain her own professionalism, to put aside the hurt  splintering her insides. 'As your physiotherapist, I'll have to  recommend that you don't race.'

'Your recommendation is duly noted. Is that all?'

Her fists clenched in futile anger. Anger she wanted to let loose but  couldn't. Her days of lashing out were far, far behind her. 'No, that's  not all! This is crazy. You're risking your health, not to mention your  life, Rafael.'

His smile was tight and tension-filled. 'And you are running the risk of  overstepping, querida. I won't be tacky enough to point out just what  your role is in my life considering the lines have been blurred  somewhat, but I expect you to recognise the proper time and place for  voicing disagreement.'

The blunt words hit her like a slap in the face. Regret momentarily  tightened his face, then it smoothed once again into the outward mask of  almost bored indifference.

It took every ounce of self-control to contain her composure. 'No,  you're right. Pardon me for thinking of your health first.' She  indicated the frenzy outside, the racetrack and the baking heat under  which the cars gleamed. 'Off you go, then. And good luck.'

He reached forward and grabbed her arm when she'd have turned away.

'Aren't you forgetting something?'

'What?' She made herself look into his eyes, determined not to be cowed  by the storm of fear rolling through her gut. He returned her look with  one that momentarily confused her. Had her thoughts been clearer, Raven  would've sworn Rafael was scared out of his wits.

'As my physio, you need to come with me, attend to my needs until I'm in the cockpit. Have you forgotten your role already?'

She had. Whether intentionally or through mental blockage, she'd tried  to put her role eight months ago as Rafael's race physio out of her  mind. Because every time she thought of it, she remembered their last  row. Her rash, heated words; the stunned look on his face as he'd  absorbed her bone-stripping insults before he'd walked out to his car.  They'd been in a situation like this, momentarily alone in a place that  buzzed with suppressed energy. His race suit had been open and around  his neck she'd spied his customary chain with the cross on it. The cross  he kissed before each race.

In the months since, she'd remembered vividly that Rafael hadn't kissed his cross that day...

Now, Raven was in favour of forgetting all about it. All she wanted to  do right now was find a dark corner, stay there and not come out until  the blasted race was over. Watching his crash that day had been one of  the most heart-wrenching experiences of her life. She would give  anything not to be put in that position again.

But she had a job to do. Sucking a sustaining breath, she nodded. 'Of  course, whatever you need.' Pulling herself from his grasp, she walked  towards the bar and picked up two bottles of mineral water. She handed  him one. 'We're a little late off the mark in trying to hydrate you  sufficiently so I'd suggest you get as much liquid in as possible.'

He took the bottle from her but made no move to drink the water.

'You think I'm making the wrong decision.' It wasn't a question.

'What I think is no longer relevant, remember?' Her gaze dropped meaningfully to the bottle.

He uncapped it and drank without taking his gaze off her face. She felt  the heavy force of his stare but studiously avoided eye contact. When he  finished and tossed the empty bottle aside, she handed him the second  bottle.                       
       
           



       

'Drink this one in about ten minutes.' She started to walk towards the  door, eager to get away from the clamouring need to throw herself in his  path, to stop him putting himself in any danger.

Too late, she realised the media had camped outside the door, eager to jump on the latest news of Rafael's return.

Is this the start of your comeback?

Are you sure you can take the pressure?

Which team will you be driving for when the X1 season starts next month?

Rafael fielded their questions without breaking a sweat, all the while  keeping a firm hold on her elbow. Every time she tried to free herself,  he held on tighter.

Raven spotted the keen reporter from the corner of her eye.

Is there a new woman in your life?

Without the barest hint of affront, he smiled. 'If I told you that you'd  stop hounding me, then my life would no longer be worth living, would  it?'

The paparazzi, normally a vicious thrill-seeking lot, actually laughed.  Raven marvelled at the spectacle. Then berated herself for failing to  realise the obvious. Sooner or later, everyone, man, woman or child,  fell under Rafael's uniquely enthralling spell.

She'd fooled herself into believing she could fall only a little, that  she could go only so far before, wisely and safely, she pulled back from  the dizzying precipice.

How wrong she'd been. Wasn't she right now experiencing the very depths  of hell because she couldn't stand the thought of him being hurt again?

Hadn't she spent half the night awake, her stomach tied in knots as  she'd wondered why so beautiful a man suffered tortured dreams because  of his choices and his determination to shut everyone out?

She hadn't missed the phone calls from his father that he'd avoided, or  the one from Marco yesterday that he'd swiftly ended when she entered  the room.

Pain stabbed deep as she acknowledged that she'd come to adore him just a  little bit more than she'd planned to. She'd probably started adoring  him the moment he'd answered her call and agreed to see her in Barcelona  seven weeks ago.

Because by allowing her in just that little bit meant he didn't hate her  as much as he should. Or maybe he didn't hate her at all.

Or maybe she was deluding herself.

'A three-line frown. Stop it or I'll have to do something drastic, like  confirm to them just who the new woman in my life is. Personally, I  don't mind drastic but I have a feeling you wouldn't enjoy being eaten  alive by the paparazzi.'

She'd been walking alongside him without conscious thought as to where  they were going. The sound of the engine revving made her jump. 'No, I  wouldn't.'

'Bueno, then behave.'

They'd arrived at the garage of the defected racer. Rafael grabbed the  nearest sound-cancelling headphones and passed them to her.

She was about to put them on when she spotted Chantilly, lounging with a  bored look on her face on the other side of the garage. The second she  spotted Rafael, she came to vivacious life.

'Damn it, your frown just deepened. What did I say about behaving?'

'What's she doing here? In this garage, I mean?'

Rafael followed her gaze to Chantilly, then glanced back at her. 'Her husband owns this team.'

The single swear word escaped before she could stop it. A slow grin  spread over Rafael's face but it didn't pack the same charismatic punch  as it usually did. Examining him closer, she noted the lines of strain  around his mouth.

'Sheath your claws, chiquita. I told you, I have no interest in her. Not  after discovering the delights of fresh English roses.' A pulse of heat  from his eyes calmed her somewhat but it was gone far too quickly for  her to feel its warmth.

The chief engineer called out for Rafael and, with another haunted look  down at her, he went over to discuss telemetry reports with the team.

The ninety minutes before the race passed with excruciating slowness.  With every second that counted down, Raven's insides knotted harder. The  walk across the sun-baked pit lane into the race lane felt like walking  the most terrifying gauntlet.

She hitched the emergency bag higher on her shoulder and took her place  beside Rafael's car, making sure to keep the umbrella above his head to  protect his suit-clad body from overheating. She ignored the sweat  trickling down her own back to check for signs of distress on him.

'If you feel your hip tightening, try those pelvic rotations we  practised by flexing your spine. I know you don't have much room in the  cockpit but give it a try anyway,' she said, trying desperately to hang  on to a modicum of professionalism.

He nodded but didn't look up. His attention was fixed on the dials on  his steering wheel. When the first red light flashed on, signalling it  was time to clear the track, Raven opened her mouth to say  something...anything, but her throat had closed up.

She took one step back, and another.

'Rafael...' she whispered.

His head swung towards her, ice-blue eyes capturing hers for a single naked second.

The stark emptiness in his eyes made her heart freeze over.

* * *

Rafael fought to regulate his breathing. Shards of memories pierced his mind, drenching his spine and palms in cold sweat.