Page 23 of Break My Heart

They don’t.

“Here,” he says, pointing. “Your input versus system response.”

“That can’t be right. It’s backward.”

“Which is a problem when you’re driving two hundred miles per hour,” he agrees.

“It’s advising me to compensate too aggressively.” Frustration sharpens my voice. “I’m correcting, but then it’s advising me to overcorrect.”

Dario nods. “Exactly.”

I accept a bottle of water from one of the team members with a quiet thanks. “How do we fix it?”

“I arranged for a full software overhaul from someone reputed to be one of the best in the business. They’ll be here next week.”

In the middle of chugging the water, I wait until I swallow before questioning him. “Who is this person?”

“A software engineer specializing in advanced systems integration. Steering interfaces, predictive modeling.”

“Since when do we outsource this?”

“Since it started costing us track time. Plus, like we’ve discussed, our crew has made all the changes they can. We’re stuck until we can get past this.”

I open my mouth to argue but the words never pass my lips because Dario is rarely wrong. “What are they looking into?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s performing preliminary evaluations of the software at her office in New York. We’ll meet up with her at the charity gala next week.”

“Then what happens?”

“After we onboard her, I’ll give her full access to everything she’ll need. I didn’t want to transmit our live data. You know you’re going to have to cooperate because we only have her exclusively for the season.”

“Before she goes back?”

“Yeah. Back to New York.”

New York. Just hearing the name reminds me how I torched any possibility of a future between Christin and me. Ignoring the ache in my heart, I remark, “I hope she isn’t someone who needs handholding. We don’t have time for that.”

“Trust me. She’s the best at what she does.”

I huff out a breath. “They all are, according to you.”

“This one actually is.”

I look back at the screen, at the data that doesn’t align with what I feel in the car. “Don’t we need it fixed before the first race?” I ask.

“I’m not certain what she’ll have done in that time period. Trust me, I’ll be happy to have a functional prototype. Knowing what I do about this particular individual, even a prototype from her would be an improvement before the start of the season.”

“Then what is she coming out for?” I demand.

“She’ll refine the telemetry with input from the team—especially you.”

“Fine.”

The conversation should end there, but it doesn’t because Dario pulls me away. When we’re far enough out of earshot, he stares at me like he’s able to read everything that just went through my mind. Everything I’m not saying out loud. My voice has a bite to it when I snap, “What?”