Fragments (The Broken Series Book 2) (6 page)

I cursed under my breath. What the hell was wrong with these people? Didn’t they know Jack had been injured?

I pushed my way forward, not caring who I shoved out of the way. When I had almost reached Jack, I leaned forward to try and pick up one of the crutches. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment one of the paparazzi, the one with greasy slicked-back hair, had decided to step backwards, and as he lifted up his camera, his elbow connected with my face.

Ouch. Holy crap that hurt!

I stumbled, falling to my knees and gripping the side of my face.
 

“Watch what you’re doing!” I yelled, and then I caught sight of Jack’s face.

He was furious.

Before I could even stagger to my feet, he had gripped the neck of the greasy paparazzo and was shaking him like a doll. Then a split second later, he pulled back his arm, and I knew what was going to happen.

“No! Jack, don’t do it.”
 

But it was too late. Jack delivered an uppercut to the man’s jaw and sent him sprawling to the floor.

I scrambled to my feet and reached Jack’s side. Everyone else had backed off a little bit now.

I handed Jack one of his crutches, and he picked up the other one. Holding them both in one hand, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“Get out of our way,” he growled at the rest of the crowd, while directing me around the rest of the paparazzi.

As we walked towards the circuit, I glanced back at the paparazzo on the floor. He was mumbling incoherently.

“Are you alright?” Jack asked, tilting my head towards his and studying my face.

“I’m fine. He just caught my jaw with his elbow,” I said. “He didn’t really mean to hurt me.”

“He still did it. It doesn’t matter what he
meant
to do.”

I took another glance at the paparazzo, who had now sat up and was cradling his head. I had a feeling that was going to come back and haunt us.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before security approached us. At first, I suspected they would grill us over what had just happened, but it seemed they were there on Dominic O’Brien’s orders and didn’t care about the altercation.

They were quite an intimidating sight. A group of eight men, dressed in black uniforms, carrying batons.

“If you’d like to follow us please, sir, we will escort you to Dominic O’Brien.”

Jack shrugged. “Fine.”

We followed the men in black as they held up batons and snarled at anyone who dared to approach Jack.

I was beginning to think this whole Grand Prix thing had been a terrible idea.

We got inside the perimeter without needing a ticket, bypassing the huge queues. “Where are we going?” I whispered to Jack.

“The pit wall,” he said. “That’s where all the major players in the team will be before the race.”

I nodded as if I knew what the pit wall was. I hoped it wasn’t actually a pit.

We reached the area where there were a line of garages. Each team had its own garage and mechanics for the cars. I got my first close up look at the Formula One Grand Prix cars. They looked beautiful — sleek lines and gleaming colors — but what really amazed me was the noise they made. When they started up, it honestly sounded like a jet engine was taking off.
 

Someone shoved a pair of orange sponge earplugs wrapped in plastic at me, and I took them gratefully.

Jack grinned.
 

“The noise does take some getting used to,” he said.

We had just passed three of the garages when Jack stopped in his tracks.

“Rita?” he called out, and a tall woman, dressed in a blue and white jumpsuit looked up and saw Jack.

She broke out into a wide smile and barely noticed me as she strode towards him.

“Jack,” she said, practically running out of the garage and flinging her arms around him.

I took a step to the side. I didn’t fancy being hit by anybody else trying to get close to Jack today.

“It’s so good to see you!” she said, pulling him in for another hug. “Why didn’t you return my calls? I tried so many times to get in touch.”

“I know,” Jack said. “I’ve not been great at returning calls. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”

The smile Jack gave her was dazzling. There wasn’t a chance in hell any woman with a pulse would be able to stay mad at Jack when he smiled like that.
 

It reminded me that this was the
real
Jack Harding. The racing champion who could wrap women around his little finger. I stared down at the ground, feeling uncomfortable.

“Of course, I forgive you,” she said. “But only because it’s you, Jack. I can’t stay mad at you.”

An older man walked past us, slapping Jack on the back in a friendly way.
 

Everyone seemed to know Jack. As Jack continued to talk to Rita in the pit lane, people from the other garages waved hello and shouted out greetings.

Jack turned to me. “Kristina, this is Rita. She is in charge of one of the oldest and most successful teams in the sport.”

Rita smiled at me. I couldn’t deny she was attractive. Her dark blond hair was tied back in a ponytail, but tendrils curled around her dimpled cheeks. Despite the Shirley Temple curls and dimples, she wasn’t too girly. She had a hardness about her, which I suppose must have come from working in such a male-dominated environment.

She held out her hand for me to shake. “Nice to meet you, Kristina. My father is still technically in charge, but I do most of the day-to-day management now.”
 

After her quick greeting, she turned her attention back to Jack.

Jack seemed very relaxed in her company. I noticed that she was talking to Jack like he was a normal person and not treating him like someone who needed to be pitied. They chatted away about the cars and race strategy, and she didn’t once mention Jack’s accident.

“Excuse me, sir,” said the tallest man in black who had been escorting us. “If you’d care to follow me, I can take you to Dominic O’Brien.”

Jack turned his back. “Dominic can wait,” Jack said dismissively. “I’m sure he won’t mind my talking to an old friend for a few minutes.”

“Of course,” the man in black said, taking a step backwards.

I watched as Jack seemed to come alive as he talked to Rita. He seemed to be almost bursting with excitement as they talked about the race and the cars. His face was lit up by his devastating smile, and it made my heart expand.

I’m pretty sure that smile had the same effect on Rita. I felt an unwelcome pang of jealousy. I couldn’t help warming to Rita, though. She took the time to explain things to me as she and Jack tried to include me in their conversation.

She must’ve been rushed off her feet today, especially just before the race, so I appreciated her making time for us.
 

But even when she was explaining something to me, her attention was focused on Jack.

“Tell me, Jack. When are you coming back to us?” she asked.

Before Jack could answer a deep laugh sounded behind us. “So this is where you’re hiding, Jack.”

Jack turned and gave a curt nod. “Dominic.”

I was surprised at the lack of warmth in Jack’s voice. I thought they would be closer than that, seeing as they’d worked together in the same team last year. I felt a little sorry for Dominic when Jack turned his back and continued speaking to Rita, practically ignoring Dominic behind him.

Dominic didn’t seem too bothered, though. He turned his attention to me. “You’re here with Jack?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes, it’s my first Grand Prix.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy it. You’ve certainly got a great view of the cars. Not everyone is allowed to enter the pits and see the cars this close-up. What do you think of it so far?

I took a breath and gestured at the nearest race car. “It’s pretty noisy.”

Dominic boomed out a large laugh that made Jack turn around, but he soon turned his attention back to Rita.

 
“Do you think Jack is glad to be back?” Dominic peered at me.

I didn’t know what to say. Should I mention the incident with the paparazzi? That hadn’t exactly been a great start to the day. I’m sure one of the security men had seen what had happened, so the truth would get back to Dominic eventually. I decided it wasn’t my business. If Jack wanted to tell Dominic, he could.
 

I decided to give a noncommittal answer.

“I think so, and it’s a great day for it,” I said, smiling up at the blue sky. When in doubt always fall back on the weather.

“I was kind of hoping this might convince him to come back to the team.” Dominic leaned forward and spoke in a low voice.

“You mean to race?” I asked.

Dominic nodded enthusiastically.

“I still think Jack’s got some healing to do,” I said.

“Oh sure. I know it won’t happen overnight. You know,” Dominic said, moving a little closer to me and speaking so quietly it was almost a whisper. “We have something here that Jack might be interested in.”

He gave me a cryptic smile and raised an eyebrow.

I knew he was playing me, but I was intrigued. I had to ask. “What?”

“It’s a simulator. Basically, it’s like a big video game, although it cost a hell of a lot more,” Dominic said and laughed loudly at his own joke. “It’s almost like being in a Formula One car, going around the circuit, except of course, you’re safely tucked away in a machine. Because it’s not actually racing there is no risk at all.” Dominic beamed down at me. “Do you think we could persuade Jack to have a go?”

I looked over my shoulder at Jack. He was still talking to Rita and smiling that gorgeous smile of his.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess he might be persuaded.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Dominic said. “After the race, I’ll come and find you, and we’ll see if we can convince Jack to take a ride. What do you say?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

I turned around just in time to hear Rita tell Jack that she’d better get back to the garage as she had a million and one things to do before the race started.

Jack took me by the hand. “Come on, let’s go get our seats.”

Our seats were amazing. We were sitting just to the right of the grid in a gorgeous executive-level lounge. There would be no more milling through crowds for us, and I was actually quite glad. I didn’t fancy a repeat of the incident from earlier.

In the executive lounge we were offered finger food, but I wasn’t hungry. I did accept a glass of champagne from a blonde-haired waitress, who couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from Jack.

“You don’t seem to like Dominic very much,” I said after I had taken a sip of my champagne.

“It’s not a matter of liking him,” Jack said. “He’s just a money man. We had a business relationship. We were never friends.”

I nodded. “I see. You seem to like Rita, though.”

Jack smiled, a real, genuine smile that seemed to ignite a flame of jealousy in me. I didn’t understand it. I had never been a jealous person before.

“She’s great, and she really loves everything about Formula One. She’s definitely her father’s daughter. Look,” Jack said, pointing at the grid. “The cars are lining up. It’s not going to be long now.”

The rumble of the engines were so intense, I could feel it vibrate through the floor.

I could feel the excitement building in Jack as he gripped my hand.

With a tremendous roar, the cars sped away from the start line. I held my breath as a couple of them almost collided at the first corner, and then they were gone around the first bend, and we turned our attention to the large screens in the executive lounge, so we could see the whole circuit.

“Good start,” Jack said. “No one went off at the first corner.”

I couldn’t help but notice Carlos Dalton was out in the lead, steadily pulling away from the rest of the pack. I’m sure that wasn’t what Jack had hoped for.

After ten laps, Carlos’ lead was increasing.
 

Jack told me Monaco was one of the hardest circuits to overtake on, so there wasn’t much action, although the pit stops were interesting to watch.

The pit crews managed to change the car’s tires in less than three seconds during the race.

I could feel Jack buzzing with energy beside me. He was loving every minute of it, even though slimy Carlos was in the lead.

I was so glad we had come to the race. It had given me a picture of who Jack used to be before his accident. And God help me, I’d fallen for him even harder.

Despite the unpleasantness from earlier, we left the race circuit on a high. Jack was still buzzing with energy from the race. He couldn’t stop smiling as we walked away from the grid, following the crowds of people to the exit.

A few people stopped Jack for autographs, but no one caused any trouble. After he’d signed a T-shirt for a little boy with the cutest freckles, who was missing his two front teeth, Jack looped an arm around my shoulders. “You know, you were right about coming today,” he said. “I enjoyed it.”