Fragments (The Broken Series Book 2) (3 page)

I turned to look at Brian. He was selecting the next kettle bell for Jack, and he hadn’t seemed to notice my embarrassment. Olga, who was setting up the massage table, definitely had noticed something.
 

She tilted her head to the side “Are you okay, Kristina? I was worried about you. We didn’t know where you were yesterday.”

My mouth felt dry as I swallowed. “I’m fine,” I said and smiled a little nervously. “Does anyone want anything to drink,” I said, desperate to change the subject. “I’m going to make tea.”

Jack asked for a glass of water, and Olga said she would love a cup of tea, so I rushed back to the kitchen area, grateful for the reprieve.

I reached up for the tea caddy. This morning was going to be harder than I expected. Why couldn’t I be more relaxed? What went on between Jack and me wasn’t anyone else’s business. No one else had any reason to pry.

“Do you need any help?”

I jumped, scattering loose tea everywhere.

Olga was right behind me, looking at me curiously.
 

I scooped up the tea with my hands and dumped the spilt tea leaves in the bin.

“Are you okay, Kristina? You seem really jumpy.”

“I’m fine,” I said again, staring at the contents of the tea caddy. “I didn’t spill that much.”
 

“That’s not what I meant.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “Where were you yesterday?”

I shrugged. “I just needed a break.”

That wasn’t exactly a lie.

Olga nodded slowly. “I know what it’s like to be in a foreign country far away from your family and friends. If you need anyone to talk to, I’m here for you.”

I picked up the kettle and carried it over to the sink. “Thanks. I appreciate that. But honestly, I’m okay.”

I turned on the tap to fill the kettle. I knew she was waiting for more from me, but she wasn’t going to get it. I didn’t think Olga wanted to gossip. I thought she really was concerned for me and wanted to help, but I wasn’t ready to confide in anyone just yet. I wasn’t sure I understood these crazy feelings I had for Jack, so I didn’t have a chance of explaining how I felt to someone else.

That afternoon and the rest of the week passed much the same as usual. So much had changed, and yet everything seemed to remain the same – except for the awesome sex, of course. I didn’t think I would ever get tired of that.
 

I had expected things to be different now. I’m not sure what I’d hoped for. Perhaps I wanted Jack to talk to me and share his problems, but that didn’t happen. His moods were still like roller coasters. One moment he would be teasing and flirting, and in the next instant, he would be brooding and impatient.
 

I knew he was trying to work through his demons, though, and when Brian was fooling around, Jack would grin and go along with the joke.
 

But he couldn’t hide the sadness in his eyes. I hated it. I wished I could do something more to help him.

The fact that Monaco was preparing for the forthcoming Formula One Grand Prix certainly didn’t help. It was everywhere. Every single news bulletin on the TV seemed to feature stories about the upcoming race. It was all over the Internet and the newspapers. There was no escape.

Jack seemed to have a morbid desire to read and watch everything he could about the race. I suppose that was understandable, but it made him even more miserable, as if this just served to remind him exactly what he had lost after the accident.

One day after lunch, we had decided to watch a film, and I was about to connect up the iPad when a news bulletin came in from a local TV station. Plastered across the screen was Carlos Dalton’s smug face. I hated him. He was Jack’s most bitter rival, and he had run Jack off the road, causing his near fatal accident.
 

“Dammit,” I mumbled under my breath and reached for the remote control to change the channel.

Maria had already started to hide the sports papers from Jack. I knew that because they mysteriously never arrived with the rest of the papers at Jack’s wing. I didn’t think Jack had noticed. He hadn’t mentioned it.

As I reached for the remote control to change the channel, Jack made a grab for it.

“Don’t turn it off. I want to listen to it,” he said.

I handed him the remote control. “I don’t know why. It only makes you more depressed.”

“That’s up to me,” he snapped. “And you can tell Maria that I’ve noticed the sports pages from the papers have gone missing. I’m not a complete idiot. If I don’t have the newspapers tomorrow morning, she’s going to be looking for another job.”

I put my hands on my hips. Sometimes he really pissed me off. “Hey, we’re only looking out for you,” I said. “Maria only wants to make you happy. No one wants to see you upset.”

Jack frowned. “I don’t need protecting from this or anything else. I’m getting kinda sick of you all treating me like a child, something you want to wrap up and protect from the outside world.”

“Perhaps if you didn’t act like a petulant baby every time you see the news, we wouldn’t have to do it!”

Jack’s head snapped around, and he looked so furious that I took a step back. But he didn’t say anything else. He just lifted the remote control and raised the volume.
 

On the screen, the TV station was running footage of last year’s race. I recognized the silver and white colors of Jack’s old car. I swallowed and felt my eyes tear up. The footage was on lap fifteen. The lap that Jack had crashed.

I didn’t know how he could watch this, but I knew I couldn’t wait for what was going to happen next. I raced past him, through the sitting area and didn’t slow down until I was in the main part of the house. I closed the door behind me and walked slowly to the kitchen. I would have to tell Maria our plan to protect Jack hadn’t worked, and that she shouldn’t stop Jack’s newspapers anymore.

I just didn’t understand why he wanted to do this to himself. Why did he insist on torturing himself by reliving last year’s accident at the Monaco Grand Prix all over again?

I found Maria leaning over the stainless steel counter in the kitchen, kneading some pastry.

She smiled brightly when she saw me, but her smile faded when she saw the look on my face.

“What’s wrong, Kristina?”

“Jack,” I said bluntly. “He’s not pleased with the fact we have been trying to protect him. He wants the newspapers delivered as normal tomorrow.”

Maria frowned and then shrugged. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’s unhealthy for Jack to dwell on this year’s race?”
 

“He’s an adult,” Maria said, pounding the pastry in front of her. “It’s his choice. Perhaps it’s better for him to confront the issue rather than pretend it doesn’t exist.”

I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Do you really think so?”

She nodded. “It has been a year. Maybe it’s time for him to move on and perhaps following the race news is his way of doing that. It doesn’t mean it’ll be easy for him.”

I nodded slowly. What Maria said did make sense. Perhaps it was actually a good thing that Jack wanted to face up to what had happened last year.”

“Can you pass me that?” Maria nodded to a huge wooden rolling pin on the counter beside me.

I lifted up the rolling pin and set it down beside the ball of pastry.

“What are you making?”

“The base for a lemon tart, for tonight’s dinner.”

 
I grinned. “Sounds delicious.”

I had definitely been spoiled while I’d been in Monaco. Almost every meal had been prepared and cooked for me and everything had been delicious. I’d never been much of a cook. Now and again I prepared Jack’s breakfast, but he only ever asked for eggs or toast, so that was nice and easy. The rest of the time, Maria and a couple of the part-time kitchen staff prepared all of Jack’s meals.

“Do you think I should support him and encourage him to follow the Grand Prix this year?”

Maria grabbed the rolling pin and dusted it with flour. “I think Jack knows what’s best for him. I know it’s tempting to protect the people you love, but sometimes they need to face things that are painful.”

I nodded. “I guess that makes sense. I’d better apologize. I was a bit angry with him earlier.”

Maria smiled. “I’m sure he’ll forgive
you
,” she said pointedly, and I flushed.
 

I had a feeling that every single person in this house knew exactly what was going on between Jack and me.
 

“I’ll go and tell him I’m sorry.” I blushed again and backed out of the kitchen.
 

Maria laughed as I walked away. “You’re good for him, you know,” she said. “You might not realize it, but he’s so much happier when you’re around.”

I hoped that was true. I really wanted to believe it.

The following day Jack was in a foul mood.

“For Christ’s sake, I can’t even hear myself think!” he thundered, as he snatched up another kettle bell.

“All right. Take it easy,” Brian said. “You will injure yourself if you’re not careful.”
 

Jack scowled back at him.

“Just think how lovely the gym will be when it’s finished. I think...” Olga began.
 

Jack shot her a withering look and the rest of her sentence faded in her mouth.
 

A team of workmen had been brought in to convert one of the extra sitting rooms in the main house into a gym specially adapted for Jack. It was a huge room, and when it was finished, it would be fantastic for Jack’s physiotherapy sessions and much easier than working out in his bedroom.

“How much longer do you think it’s going to take?” Jack asked.

Brian grimaced before answering as if he were bracing himself for Jack’s foul mood. “At least a couple more days. They want to set up the equipment, and the electrician is installing extra plug points today.”

“Great,” Jack said in a tone that implied the complete opposite.

“Okay, buddy,” Brian said, handing Jack one of the lighter kettle bells. “Let’s finish off with some arm raises, and that’ll be the last exercise for today.”

Jack grunted and took the kettle bell.

Brian started to gather his belongings together and pack up. As much as I enjoyed watching Jack working out and getting hot and sweaty, I managed to tear my eyes away, and I followed Brian out into the sitting area.

“Jack’s doing really well,” I said.

Brian nodded. “He’s coming along.”

“His walking is almost back to normal. He hardly ever uses his crutches anymore. Do you think… I mean, is it possible…”
 

Brian stopped packing up his bag and frowned at me. “Spit it out, Kristina.”

I swallowed hard. “Do you think Jack will ever race again?”

Brian’s face became guarded, and his usual relaxed smile disappeared. He focused his gaze on the paperwork in front of him. Every day he filled in sheets and forms relating to Jack’s progress, which he then passed on to Alexander. I knew that Brian was being paid a considerable amount of money to make sure that Jack’s progress was the best it could be.
 

Brian sighed. “I really don’t know, Kristina. He’s had some muscle wastage and nerve damage. I’m pretty confident we’re going to get Jack back to a normal level of fitness, but as to whether or not he’ll be able to race again… I’m really not sure. He was an athlete, and reaction times in his sport are the difference between finishing first or finishing last.”

Brian pushed his bag aside and leaned against the back of a chair. “Is it really so important to you?” Isn’t it enough for him to live a full life?”

“It’s not that it’s important to
me
,” I said. “But I’m coming to see just how important it is to Jack.”

Brian nodded. “I’m sorry that I can’t give you the answer you want. All I can say is that we have to wait and see.”

“Has he told you he wants to race again?”

Brian tilted his head slowly until he made eye contact with me. “You know I can’t tell you what Jack and I discuss in private.”
 

I nodded. “I know. I just want to help him.”

Brian put an arm around my shoulder. “I know you do, sweetheart, and you are helping him. You never know, one day...”
 

Brian broke off as a large crash sounded from the other room where the workmen were fitting the gym.

Brian dumped his paperwork on the table and groaned. “I better go and see what they’ve broken this time.”

As Brian left to go and find out what had caused the awful noise, Jack emerged from the bedroom, dumbbells in hand.

He was bare-chested – which was one hell of a distraction. My eyes drank in his tanned, muscular torso.

He set the weights on the floor, opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of mineral water. He cracked open the bottle and drained it in seconds.

“I needed that,” he said. “Brian is a slave-driver.”

“The conversion work seems to be going well,” I said, even though I knew he wasn’t the least bit excited about the new gym.

He shrugged. “I’m still going to be doing the same exercises. Same routine. It doesn’t really matter to me where I do it.”

“You could at least try and pretend to be looking forward to it. Alexander and Brian have spent a long time planning this for you. You’re like a bear with a sore head these days.”

He threw an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him. “A bear with a sore head,
really
?”

The look in his eyes as he gazed down at me sent a delicious shiver along my body.

I nodded at him, not trusting my voice to speak. He was so damn sexy. I forgot the subject of my lecture and grinned up at him, hoping he would lower his head and kiss me.

But before he could, Olga brushed past us.

“I left the bag with my massage oil in the car,” she said, shaking her head as she rushed out of the room, flustered.

After Olga left, Jack looked down at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. He dipped his head, pressing his lips to mine. My hands entwined behind his head as I returned the kiss eagerly.