One Night to Risk It All

by Katherine Garbera

“Thanks, Elena.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said. Marielle had that feeling again like she had turned a corner, and she liked it. She’d had a meeting with her mom and hadn’t ended up saying something she’d regret later. No matter what else happened, she owed Inigo for that.

  * * *

  Inigo’s times weren’t as good as they had been the day before, and he wanted to blame it on the evening he hadn’t spent with Marielle. But he knew it was just because he wasn’t connected to driving today.

  And now he had another problem. Bianca had seen the picture of him and Marielle kissing as they got into the car the other night. She’d texted him first thing, but he hadn’t responded.

  Marielle had been right when she’d said there was no way they could have anything together. He knew that. But he also wondered if there were some way that Bianca could meet her...and then what? His sister was never going to see Marielle as anything but Jose’s mistress. She’d never know that crazy sense of humor she had that always made him laugh.

  Nor should she have to. Bianca had struggled to find her happiness, and she was truly in a good place with her marriage to Derek. Her son, Benito, had happy memories of his daddy because Bianca hadn’t wanted to take that from him, and she was expecting another child.

  They were doing well. And Inigo, who’d spent so much time going after what he wanted and not really considering how it affected his family, wasn’t going to be the one to rock the boat.

  “What is going on today?” Marco asked, coming over to the simulator. “Take a break and get your head on right. If you drive like this, we’d be better to send Keke’s three-year-old to the race.”

  He nodded. “Sorry. I’ll do better next time.”

  Inigo walked out of the simulator room and hurried into the small room that had been set aside for him. There was a couch where he’d tossed his duffel bag when he’d arrived this morning. He took out his phone, accessing his playlist, and as he did so the empty notebook that Keke had left for him fell out. He picked it up, grabbed a pen and started writing down everything.

  The mixed feelings he had about letting Marielle go. How what he’d learned about Jose was making him question so many things that he’d always taken for granted. How he could have known the man as well as he thought and never realized he was cheating on Bianca.

  And he had never suspected it. He hadn’t seen Marielle or any other woman, but it had been clear when Jose had died that there had been many women.

  He thought about what Keke had said. Joy had been what helped him drive better, but joy didn’t seem like something that Inigo could easily access. Instead he thought of the day before and that chill feeling that had swept through him when he achieved his best times. He knew that it had been the sexual satisfaction that had started it. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall as the playlist switched to the songs that had been playing in the club when he’d danced with Marielle. Pitbull, as always, sang the soundtrack to his life, and now Inigo pictured Marielle in his arms on the dance floor.

  He remembered the faint smell of alcohol and sweat and her fresh flowery perfume. How she’d felt as her body had brushed against his.

  He took several deep breaths and pushed out all the baggage that came with being with her and stood up. He just wanted to remember how he’d felt in that one moment with her in his arms.

  He remembered how she looked as he’d made love to her. His body shuddered with the memory of how perfectly she fit him.

  He walked back into the simulator room and nodded to Dante, who was lounging against his workstation. Dante called for everyone to get into position as Inigo walked to the simulator and got in.

  Immediately he felt a difference in his performance. He had no idea if his time would be as good as the day before, but he realized that he was figuring out something about himself. The driving couldn’t be separate from his life. He couldn’t isolate himself from the world in order to drive faster. Until now, he’d cut himself off from women, drinking, family time. While he wasn’t going to start drinking again, maybe it was time for him to start living. To find a way to blend the two.

  The way that Marielle had done for him. He knew it hadn’t been her intent, but she’d forced him to see the link between racing and his family. When he stopped and got out of the simulator, he glanced over at Marco.

  His boss nodded and gave him a thumbs-up sign. “Better. Keep doing that. Whatever it is that you did at the end. That is the key for you. My brother needs me back in Milan, so Keke will stay and send reports to me. I like the way you are improving, Inigo. For each driver, the key to winning is something different. It’s not something that I can tell you or even Keke, for all his wisdom, but to me it seems as if you are getting closer to that.”

  He nodded. “I am. I’d like to take a few days off over the weekend to go home. My sister is close to delivering her baby, and I’d like to be there for that.”

  Marco took a deep breath and shook his head. “Will it interfere with your driving?”

  “Honestly, I think it might help it. I need to keep living. I’ve been too isolated, and it isn’t really helping me to win.”

  “Okay. You’re from Texas, right?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “I’d like to see you out on a track getting some real-world practice. I’ll have my assistant see if you can get some time at the track in Austin. Sound good?”

  “Sounds perfect,” he said.

  Marco left, and Inigo realized for the first time since he’d started racing, he felt comfortable being a driver. He’d always thought the approach he’d been taking would bring him the results he wanted, but it hadn’t.

  Not until now. Not until Marielle.

  * * *

  Two days later Marielle was at a party at Siobahn’s to celebrate the release of her latest single. Marielle had done a live video and her followers loved it, then she’d taken a break and was sitting in a quiet corner trying not to do a search on Inigo. She missed him. Yet at the same time, she was trying to remind herself that she didn’t need him.

  “Hey. Do you mind if join you?” Scarlet said.

  She was in her second trimester and had a cute baby bump but still managed to look like the hellion she’d always been.

  “Sure. How are you doing?” she asked as Scarlet sat down next to her.

  “I’m good,” she said, rubbing her stomach. “I wanted to see how you were. I know that things didn’t end so well on New Year’s Day. I haven’t had time to call...well, that’s not true. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at first. Alec and his family see you as some sort of femme fatale and think you should have a big scarlet letter on your chest.”

  Hearing what she already knew said out loud was like a little wound to her chest. It hurt, but it also made her angry. “Whatever. It’s not like I want to be in their lives.”

  “Well, not all of their lives,” Scarlet said.

  She nibbled on her lower lip, turning her head to the side. Yeah, not all their lives. Just Inigo’s. “That’s over.”

  “Is it? I saw a photo of you two not that long ago on TMZ. And honestly it was that picture that made me realize that Alec was being stupid. I mean, you two were really into each other. And why shouldn’t you have a chance at that? Why should I be mad at you for something that happened before either of us knew the Velasquez family?”

  Marielle couldn’t help smiling at the way Scarlet said it. She put her arm around the other woman, hugging her. “Thank you. That has to be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. It means more than you know to hear that. I don’t think Inigo and I will ever be together, but still it’s nice to know you had my back.”

  “No problem. As troublemakers, we have to stick together,” she said. “Plus, Siobahn read me the riot act. Her point was, since when did I let past mistakes define how I look at a friend. I know you regret
falling for Jose’s lies, and if Bianca ever met you she’d realize that you beat yourself up for that still.”

  Marielle had to laugh. Siobahn was still down on guys after her ex had married someone else mere weeks after dumping her. “She sees the world from a unique vantage point right now.”

  “That doesn’t mean she’s wrong,” Scarlet said.

  “Don’t let her hear you say that. It will go to her head.”

  “Whose head?” Siobahn asked, coming over and sitting down next to them.

  “Yours.”

  “My new single rocks, doesn’t it?”

  “It’s a revenge song... I think when Mate hears it, he’s going to lose his shit,” Scarlet said. “Wish there was a way to see his reaction.”

  “Oh, there will be. He’s doing red carpet for that movie he wrote the soundtrack for. I’m sure it will come up,” Siobahn said.

  “How can you know that?”

  “I was on a morning radio show this morning and hinted it was about him without saying it,” she said. “Life is good.”

  Marielle knew that feeling. It was hard having your heart broken and feeling so low. Though she wasn’t the kind of person who wanted some kind of public humiliation for her exes, she understood why Siobahn did.

  “How’s things with the race-car driver?” Siobahn asked. “You could have brought him.”

  “We’re not together,” Marielle said. “It was a hot mess when we tried to figure out how it would work, and we both walked away. It’s better.”

  “I saw you two—”

  “Don’t, Siobahn. I know you mean well, but there’s no way that we can be together. My life is finally not the cray-cray show it always has been,” Marielle said.

  “Fair enough. I just know you. You looked like you were starting to fall for him.”

  “Probably all the more reason for us not to be together,” Marielle said. “When has love ever ended for any of us in anything but disaster?”

  “Uh, excuse me. I’m rocking happily-ever-after,” Scarlet said.

  “You are. You’re the exception that proves the rule. Siobahn and I can’t chance it. We might jinx you,” Marielle said.

  “You won’t jinx me. But I do like the idea of you getting you right before you add a man to the mix. For me I had the pregnancy, so I had no choice but to figure out how I could make it work with Alec. And you know, I’m glad I didn’t have too much time to think about it. That man might make me crazy sometimes, but I’ve never felt so happy and in love in my entire life. And he actually loves me.”

  “Of course he does. He’d be an idiot not to,” Siobahn said.

  Marielle hung out with her friends for the rest of the evening, and when she went home, she told herself that the empty apartment didn’t bother her. She was strong and independent. She didn’t need a man. In fact, she’d never really needed anyone else. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t miss Inigo.

  He had a way of making her laugh at nothing. She stood at the window and remembered standing by his, seeing Central Park from the other side. Tonight, there wasn’t as much snow, but she wasn’t looking at the park. Instead she tried to see all the way to the other side and the man she was trying to convince herself she didn’t miss.

  Thirteen

  Breakfast at Peacock Alley in the Waldorf Astoria was both elegant and refined. Inigo had never been before, but Marielle knew the maître d’ and had gotten them a table that was out of the main dining room and quiet. She looked different than what he’d come to expect today. She was still herself, but she’d braided her long blond hair and a few tendrils had escaped to frame her heart-shaped face. She smiled easily, but he could still see some signs of tension in her expression.

  He felt it too. Accidentally running into her at Ralph’s when they’d first reconnected had been one thing, but this...he was now back to toying with an idea he wasn’t sure he could commit to.

  Revenge had been an idea that he’d toyed with but his heart wasn’t in it. As much as he thought Marielle needed to be brought to see how badly she’d hurt his sister, he couldn’t stay away from her. He was in the crosshairs of a dilemma like he’d never experienced before. He’d always prided himself on being a man who put family first, but here he was with Mari. Again.

  He’d finally answered Bianca’s texts. To say his sister was upset about the TMZ photo of him kissing Marielle was an understatement. She had gone into brutal detail about what had happened with Jose. Now Inigo was torn. Part of him was still so angry about how Bianca had been treated by Jose and his mistress. But another part of him looked at Marielle and had a hard time making the connection between any viciousness on her part and the hurt and guilt that were in her eyes so often when she spoke of Jose.

  He needed answers, which was why he’d asked Marielle to meet him even though they’d agreed not to see each other anymore. He had to ascertain if she was the heartless other woman or Jose’s victim. He’d seen Jose use his charm to soothe angry race officials and tempt fans over to their team. He’d been larger than life and Inigo had been in awe of the man. He had wanted to be like him when he grew up. But now...

  Feet of clay, he thought.

  “I’m not sure I’ve ever been with a guy and not talked for this long,” Marielle said. “You’re very serious this morning.”

  “Got a lot on my mind,” he said. “And I was checking out this place. Not many restaurants like this in Cole’s Hill.”

  “My family has been coming here for Sunday brunch for years. We have a history with this place. After we eat, I’ll show you the portrait of my paternal grandparents with the former owners that hangs in the owner’s lounge.”

  “I’d like that. Is family important to you?” he asked, as one of the waiters poured him some coffee.

  “I’d like to say no, but that’s not true. As much as I try to do things to shock my parents, I do love them,” she said.

  “Was the affair with Jose something to shock them?” he asked.

  She tipped her head to the side. “Are we going to talk about that again?”

  “I think we have to,” he said. He’d always been direct, and he couldn’t imagine that he was going to change now. He wanted to understand her. To try to reconcile the lover who’d been in his bed on New Year’s Eve and the woman he’d learned she was the morning after.

  “Of course I wasn’t doing it to shock my parents. It was because I thought I loved Jose,” Marielle said with a shrug. “I never would have gone into that relationship if I hadn’t believed him when he said his marriage was over.”

  “Do you regret the affair? Now that you know about Bianca?” he asked.

  She picked up her mimosa and took a sip. “How can you be asking me this? I already told you how much shame I feel.”

  “Bianca saw a picture of us kissing when we left the Polar club the other night, and she isn’t happy. She’s been telling me more about what happened,” he asked.

  “Is that so? Well, you should just remember that there are two sides to every story,” Marielle said. “Not that I blame her at all. But he lied to both of us.”

  Inigo felt the slow burn of anger. The fact that Marielle seemed to have no shame about her actions made him realize that his attraction was a mirage. He might be seeing something in her that wasn’t real.

  Sex. He had to remember it had been a year since he’d gotten laid before Marielle. Maybe that was responsible for his obsession with her.

  “I’d think you’d have some regret. She was pregnant.”

  “I can’t control anyone other than myself. I was upset and broke things off when I realized that Jose was lying to me,” she said. She chewed her lower lip and looked away from him. “He made me promises as well. But he wasn’t a man of his word.”

  That didn’t jive with the Jose he knew, but Inigo had realized after his mentor’s death that there w
as a lot about him that he’d never known. He’d only seen Jose’s talent as a driver and knew that if he wanted to be the best, he needed to emulate what he saw.

  On the other hand, he didn’t feel as if he knew Marielle at all. She seemed so callous toward Bianca and took no responsibility for the outcome of her affair. That affair had devastated his sister. Inigo wondered if someone treated Marielle that way, she’d finally be able to find some empathy for Bianca.

  And worst of all, Inigo still wanted her. Could he have her? Or was avenging his sister the right course after all? He’d been so worked up after his call with Bianca that he hadn’t even thought about how all this might impact his racing.

  “Did you only ask me to lunch to discuss the past? Because if so, we’re done here,” Marielle said, shifting in her chair as if she were going to get up and leave.

  “No, I want to discuss the future,” Inigo said, stopping her. “I need you back.”

  * * *

  Marielle showed up twenty minutes early to her dinner date with Inigo, which wasn’t like her. She almost had her driver circle the block a few times so she wouldn’t be early and realized she was nervous.

  What did it matter?

  He was just a guy.

  She hadn’t been able to resist when he’d asked to spend more time with her. She scolded herself for giving in to temptation and knew that the situation with Bianca meant that it wouldn’t last. But she couldn’t lie to herself. She’d missed Inigo. She had to see where this went, even if it didn’t end well.

  She glanced at her phone and decided she could play this off if she used it for her social media channel. Her manager had noted that her live videos were the things that really got the most views.

  She took a deep breath and then asked the driver to stop. Living her best life on social media was always easier than her reality.

  The restaurant Inigo had chosen was very popular, and there was a line outside. There had been a light snow falling, and it was almost too perfect. It was the kind of wintry evening that was made for romance. There were some carriages lined up to take couples through Central Park, and she used them as the background, adjusting her position to find the best light for her video.