‘Then you start acting different, dressing different, saying shit like you’re “proud of the team”. And Garmin are calling me? Under Armour? Brunello Cucinelli? Do you think I’m a Class A idiot and wouldn’t notice? After months of trying to convince low-level brands to look twice at you, suddenly the biggest brands in the world are in my fucking inbox?’
‘I…’ He makes a fair point.
‘Then an FIA comms person emailed me last week saying I’d need to check with Jules about your availability for press.’
Oh shit.
‘Do you seriously think you could hire amarketing consultantand your own manager wouldn’t find out? Are you that stupid?’
‘I—’
‘Not only are you undermining your family – which we’ll get to later…’ Excellent, there’s a later. Can’t wait. ‘But you’re trying to repair your image by associating yourself with a chick who’s publicly linkedto another driver!’
‘We’re not publicly anything!’
‘You’re having sex with her!’
‘Nobody knows that!’
‘She came to oursister’s party!’
‘It wasn’t public!’
‘We made sure no one posted anything with Jules on social media,’ Isa chips in from the front.
‘Don’t even get me started on you.’ JC points a loaded finger at her. ‘I know you were in on it.’
She shrinks down in her seat.
‘Calm the heck down,’ I say. ‘Your hair’s receding as we speak.’
‘Do not joke with me, Santiago. I have a right to be pissed.’
‘I don’t just want to sleep with her. I want to… I think we could be more. I want to be more.’
JC deadpans, ‘You really are stupid. Sheserially dates athletes for a living. Newsflash: she’s not with you for your sparkling sense of humour.’ Ouch. ‘Do you understand the paddock politics if this gets back to Tom? Need I remind you MartinelliownLeone.’
‘It’s not like that, alright? They’re not in a real relationship.’
He crosses his arms. ‘Oh, so Tom knows this?’
‘Well… no.’
‘So she’s a gold digger,’ he decides flatly.
‘Don’t talk about her like that. She’s not a gold digger. Also, need I remind you Mom was a gold digger?’
His face darkens.‘¡No hables así de nuestra mama!’
‘I’m not saying it like it’s a bad thing! You don’t understand. It’s a complicated situation.’
‘Like hell it is. Was this all just an elaborate ploy to have sex with her? Because this is low, even for you.’
What does that mean?
‘No! I hated her in the beginning.’
His expression softens from anger to… oh god, hurt. ‘Anything’s better than your own brother, right?’
