I glanced at my father, daring him to contradict the script he’d forced on me.
Julian didn’t even blink. “Precisely.” He turned back to Griffin, his voice dropping into that reasonable, terrifyingly calm register he saved for contract negotiations. “Violet has graciously agreed to step in. She provides the structure you lack, and you provide the performance we pay for. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
“It’s an ambush,” Griffin said, though the fight bled out of him as he looked down at the squirming bundle against his chest.
“Call it what you want, but unless you have a secret nanny hidden in the guest room, you have a race to prepare for and a child who needs care. You cannot do both.”
Hazel let out a sharp, sudden wail.
His eyes widened and he froze. The confidence he wore like a second skin on the track evaporated. He stared at her scrunched-up face with pure terror.
“Shh. It’s okay.” He rocked her, but the movement was stiff, jerky.
She screamed louder.
“Okay. Maybe not this exact second?—”
Liam snorted. “Yeah, mate. You look real in control.”
Griffin shot him a glare. “I’ll figure it out.”
“You’ll figure it out while keeping up with a full racing season?” Julian asked. “While managing the press, the sponsors, and the travel schedule?”
Griffin’s jaw tightened. The baby shrieked, a high, frantic sound that grated against my eardrums.
I watched him fumble, trying to soothe her without knowing how. It was painful. Incompetence made my skin itch.
Hazel’s cries escalated and I couldn’t take it anymore.
“When was the last time you fed her?”
He hesitated and Liam made a low, amused sound.
“That answers that.”
Griffin shot him a withering look before shifting his focus back to me, eyes darting briefly to the baby nestled against his chest. “I tried. She wasn’t having it.”
“She’s a newborn, not a member of the pit crew. You don’t just give it one attempt and call it.”
Julian tutted. “This is precisely why you need assistance.”
“What I need is sleep, and a rulebook for keeping an infant alive.” Griffin rocked her awkwardly.
Dad pinched the bridge of his nose. “Christ.”
Her cries escalated further, her fists flailing.
“You, uh, wanna take over here?” Liam was staring at me like I was some kind of miracle.
I hesitated, but really, did I have a choice?
I glanced at my father. He knew I couldn’t say no. Not without admitting exactly how much control he had over me. And I’d rather eat glass than let Griffin Michaels witness that particular humiliation.
As if I had a choice.
I stepped forward, holding out my arms. “Give her here.”
Griffin clutched the baby tighter, stepping back. “I don’t need your help. I definitely don’t need you.”
