and we chased

Chapter 47

ARIA

"Last race of the season", Lewis tells me as we're walking hand in hand through the paddock.

"Can't wait for the next season", I say happily. I am not lying. I love the race days.

Lewis looks at me and gives me a quick kiss on my lips. "Let's hope we win this race first."

"You will", I assure him. APOLLO is one of the best, probably the best, teams on the grid. I am sure it will all go well.

Maybe I was too fast to talk.

~

"Where the fuck is Gruff?!", Lewis screams in the garage.

Duncan is quickly at his side, followed by Levi. "We can't find him", the team principal says.

Lewis is one step away from having a mental breakdown.

"Well, someone needs to be in that car in half an hour, so I don't care if we have to call the paddock security to find him, I'll do it", he lets out. Lewis then turns to some members of the team. "Search the ASTORIA and the ESPEN garage", he begins. Then to some others. "You search RUNE and KEEGAN." "MAGNUS and OAKLEY." "You take LEDGE, RHODES and ORION."

The people nod and start fussing around, going outside of our garage and to the other garages.

 "Levi, Aria, can you please go look around our garage and the trucks. Duncan and I will stay here and see if we hear anything."

I nod, so does Levi. We are both aware of Lewis' state right now.

Levi makes me a sign to follow him and we begin looking. First the relaxation room, Gruff's prep room, Levi's one, the small office, the pit lane.

Nothing.

"Did something happen between you two?", I can't help but ask Levi as we're making our way to the truck with the tires.

"Apart from the usual ignoring each other, no, not much."

"Do you know if something happened to him last night?"

"I haven't seen much of him, to be honest. Chris, Fabio and I went to the casino, then as I came back, Gruff was probably already in his room. I haven't seen him, didn't want to disturb either."

I nod, not knowing what else to say. Levi takes over the talking for me.

"I don't know what the fuck he was thinking", he begins. "He knows damn well the Monaco GP is one of the most important ones, not to mention it is the last race of the season."

I know about that. My bestie Livie and her boyfriend Nathan came all the way here to watch the race. We were going to walk over to them in the Paddock Club as soon as we checked that everything was alright in the garage, but thanks to Gruff, the plans changed.

"I could try calling him", I suggest.

Levi looks at me saying I'm free to do it, but he probably won't answer.

You reached the mailbox of John Gruff, leave a message.

Fair enough.

"We could...", I try to suggest but the tones of "Popular" stop me.

"Sorry", Levi mutters, taking out his phone. "Yeah", he begins. Whatever he heard makes him nod once. He hangs up and tells me: "It was Lewis. He told me I should come get ready for the race at the garage. He asked me to ask you if you could look for Gruff at the starting line."

I nod, coming to hug him. "Yeah, sure. Good luck. You'll win this."

"Thanks", he answers, winking at me once with a smirk.

He leaves as I keep looking around the truck and start walking towards the starting point.

~

As the countdown begins, I look at the grid and both black-and-blue cars can be seen. I stand there until the five lights go out and I can see the cars starting to drive down the track. It's only then I allow myself to sigh relieved and walk back to the APOLLO garage, to find Lewis and maybe go find Livie and Nathan with him.

It's not Lewis' voice that greets me in the garage.

"Can he even do that?", one of the members of the team asks.

"He can't. No matter what, you can't just quit before the last race of the season. And not through a note left on a table", Duncan answers.

"Can we sue him?"

"We could, but Lewis told us it's pointless. We'll only lose money in the process and he said he never wants to see Gruff again anyway."

"Well, chances are he won't", the voice replies, trying to make a joke. "He didn't show up for the race, it's not like he'll come back."

I look at the big screen, the one that has the live transmissions of the race. The two APOLLO cars are there, Gruff on P4, Levi on P1. Yet the one driven by Gruff doesn't seem so happy about its current place, keeping on trying to overtake Johnathan's car, which he does at the second corner. Crowds go wild at the sight, since that never happened before.

It's then I get it.

There is no John Gruff in that car.

"Where is Gruff?", I make myself noticed with the confidence as if I would own the place, since I need answers and I need them now.

"Miss Grant...", the member of the team Duncan was talking to begins.

"And where is Lewis?", I continue.

The members of the team start sharing side-eyes.

I take a deep breath, as I notice no one plans on responding. "Where the heck is my boyfriend?"

It's then Duncan takes a step forward, sliding his headset around his neck. He is looking at me, then his gaze wonders to the screen showing the transmission of Gruff's car.

I can feel my heart start beating faster at that.

"I need to talk to him", I say, hoping I can get a headset and just speak to Lewis.

The team goes silent, as Duncan starts shaking his head. "I am so sorry, Miss Grant. But it was Lewis' wish people don't know it's him. We'll let everybody believe John Gruff is driving that car."

"They'll eventually find out as they hear his voice on the team radio", I mutter.

Duncan shakes his head. "They won't. We talked to Gruff's engineer and he won't say any names when talking on the radio. Lewis simply won't reply."

My head started speeding and I can't take my eyes off the screen with Lewis in that car. He keeps fighting for P2, closing in on Chris and fighting against him in Lap 23. "Does Levi know?", I can't help but ask, seeing how the two APOLLO cars started getting closer.

Duncan shakes his head. "No. He doesn't know. Lewis was already in the car with helmet on as he came." He looks at the screen and at my boyfriend's performance. "But it won't take long before he figures it out. Lewis and Levi have driven on the same track before, they know each other's driving styles." He looks at the transmission of the black and blue car with Gruff's number on it but Lewis' driving skills behind the wheel. "And that over there", he continues, then lets out a short laughter and shakes his head. "That over there can only be Lewis Cunnan."

"Dott coming on your right, followed by Rossi. Try to keep position", I can hear Gruff's engineer telling Lewis through the team radio.

I can see my boyfriend nod on the screen. Dott closes in, clashing into the APOLLO car, making some bits of metal fly. I can't help but gasp, my heart racing at the speeds of the cars I'm looking at. I turn to Duncan, still shaking. He offers me a reassuring look pointing at the screen, at how Lewis quickly steers the car and after pressing the break, he leaves Dott behind.

"He's good", I whisper, mostly to myself, looking admiring at the screen. That's my man.

"He's a world fucking champion", one of the engineers says. "He's brilliant."

I smile as I keep watching the race.