‘Hi, Robert,’ she greeted.
‘Kat, I need you to pack.’
‘Okay. Should I come by the office?’ Because of course there would be a meeting—an urgent one, by the sounds of it. And since her dinner plans had fallen through, there was no reason she couldn’t drop everything and rush over before Robert had even uttered a summons. She glanced at her watch. ‘I can be there in twenty minutes.’
‘Good. Bring everything with you. You’ll be flying out straight after.’
Well, there went dinner, but if Katherine was honest with herself, she would much rather work than sit at a table where she was reminded how different she was from her siblings. How she would never relate to them like they did with each other. If she was working, it would mean that she was being responsible. Ensuring that she was successful. Being the daughter her parents never had to worry about. The one who would one day take care of them in their old age because her siblings wouldn’t be able to. Take care of Paige, the free spirit—a nice way of saying ‘selfish and irresponsible.’ Katherine had to. Her parents would never be able to retire, never be able to relax if there wasn’t a safety net for Paige. They would always be run ragged.
At least, thanks to Paige, Katherine wouldn’t have to run out on dinner, leaving behind a father who was proud of his Alpha One journalist daughter and a mother who was disappointed that Katherine wouldn’t settle down to a quiet life of marriage and children. Bear the grandchildren she so desperately wanted that Katherine had no interest in. They had their hands full tonight.
‘What’s the rush? What am I covering?’ Katherine asked, her curiosity well and truly piqued at the urgency. The season was over. Teams were on winter break. News was less urgent right now. Well, apart from the fact that a couple teams hadn’t confirmed their driver line-up for next season yet. It was unheard of for them to wait quite so long but she had a sneaking suspicion that Lukas was at least a part of the reason why.
‘Lukas Jäger’s publicity stunt.’
She let out a noise of frustration. ‘Robert… Anyone but Lukas.’
‘I don’t care, Kat. You will be there interviewing him,’ her producer said firmly. ‘It’s a closed track, he’ll be driving, you’ll be asking questions.’
The very last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a car with him for hours on end.
‘Viewers love seeing you two together and we’re going to leverage that.’
She knew what the viewers thought. It was in the comments of every social media post that showed them together.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if Lukas and Katherine dated?
There’s something between Lukas and Katherine. I guarantee it.
#lukat for life!
There absolutely was something between her and Lukas: mutual hatred.
‘I have no choice, do I?’
‘None.’
You’re doing this for your career. You need to be a success. You’re not going to end up like Mum.
‘Fine,’ she replied. ‘Where am I going?’
‘Please tell me you’re joking.’ Lukas Jäger stared his manager down. ‘I’m not going to Lapland with Katherine Ward, Dominic. Anyone but her.’
‘Tough.’
Lukas let out a growl of frustration and walked away from his friend. The man who had managed his career from the moment he graduated from karting at fourteen and was ready to step into the feeder series. Now at thirty-three, he’d known Dominic for two decades, trusted him, and yet couldn’t remember a time when he’d been more annoyed with the man than he was right now.
He stepped out onto the terrace of his Carré d’Or penthouse apartment looking out at Monaco, the bite of the chilly December air on his skin a welcome distraction.
Lukas didn’t want to be anywhere near Katherine. He had worked so hard, his family had sacrificed so much for him to achieve this life. To be an Alpha One world champion. And he had done it not once, but thrice. But that didn’t matter to Katherine. She’d taken every opportunity to cast doubt on his talent, on his character, on his commitment. So much so that he could see how it affected the way people treated him. Affected how many offers he received from teams, because it cast doubt on his talent…his ability to race in the future. When he’d lost his seat at the team, she’d gone out of her way to promote the driver who had taken his place. It had massively impacted the way the public viewed the change.
Footsteps sounded behind him but he didn’t turn to look at Dominic. Instead, he folded his fingers around the metal railing that wrapped all the way around his three-storey apartment.
‘You know how I feel about her,’ Lukas said, eyes fixed on the steel-coloured water.
‘I do, but, Lukas, this has been a bad season…’
‘You—’
