😃)

😩

🙌

💀

The tension in the room was palpable.

Zak, Aaron, Alessandro, and Dakota filed into the small office space in the McLaren hospitality.

"Care to explain what that was?" Zak asked, raising a brow at Alessandro.

"You already know what it was," he replied, his green eyes swirling with anger. His brows were furrowed, a frown marring his handsome face.

"Elaborate," Zak stated firmly.

Alessandro stood with his arms crossed, his biceps standing out in the white fireproof shirt he wore. His race suit was wrapped around his waist, allowing the thin material of his fireproof clinging to his abs.

He could feel her stare, but was too angry to send a clever remark her way. His jaw ticked before he spoke up.

"He's fucking with my car and my race. And this isn't the first time it's happened."

"What do you mean by that?"

He sighed, taking a seat at the table.

"Monaco, Baku, qualifying just now. Do you need more proof than that?" he snapped, glaring at Zak.

"Ask Dakota, she knows," Alessandro added, shooting her a look.

Dakota swallowed, her mouth running dry. His green eyes pinned her with a glare. Her cheeks heated up under his gaze. His jaw ticked, drawing her eyes to his defined facial structure. Sweat made the brown locks curled around his forehead. His smooth, tanned skin was flushed as he stared at her.

"Dakota?" Zak asked, ending their stare off.

"Sorry," she muttered, clearing her throat.

"I have the incident reports from Baku and Monaco," she began, handing the McLaren CEO the papers.

"There's proof in the data given to the FIA that there was something wrong with the car. it would've been clear to Dave on the data screens, had he looked at it."

Zak raised his brows as he stared at the report.

Dakota gnawed on her bottom lip, catching Alessandro's attention. She felt his heated gaze, glancing to meet his eyes.

"How did you get this?"

"I can't tell you that," Dakota replied firmly.

She knew if she told him, not only would her job be on the line, but so would Mark's. She couldn't do that to him.

"If you access the radio recordings, I'm sure you'll find enough proof," Dakota said quietly, leaning back in her seat.

Zak was silent, processing everything that had been revealed.

"So what do you think this is all leading up to?" he asked, glancing between Alessandro and Dakota.

Alessandro stayed silent, looking towards the brunette expectantly.

"Your lead engineer is sabotaging the team," she said, her gaze still on Alessandro.

He felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Dakota had said the words that were playing on his mind for the past months.

"Sorry, what?" Aaron blurted, breaking his silence. He glanced between the three as if they had all lost their minds.

"Right, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Zak sighed. "I'm going to have to schedule a meeting with the officials and Ross about this. This is a serious accusation you're making here, and I don't want to move forward without making this official."

"I'm aware. And I wouldn't be making the accusation if I didn't believe it myself," Dakota replied firmly.

"Alessandro, why didn't you tell me any of this? You should've come to me first before speaking with Dakota."

"I didn't tell her anything. In fact, I haven't said a word about it to anybody. She put the pieces together herself, something everyone else on this team failed to do," the Italian replied, a look of displeasure on his face.

Zak sighed again, rubbing his forehead.

"Dave will sit out for the race tomorrow. Ivan will remain as lead strategist and I'll have Daren take over as your engineer. Does that sound ok?"

"Sounds good. But please, sort this thing out. My career is on the line," Alessandro sighed, standing up.

Aaron and Alessandro left the room, leaving Dakota with Zak as she collected the papers.

Her hand rested on the doorknob when Zak spoke.

"Dakota, I really hope you got these reports with permission. For your sake, and Mark's."

"Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission," was all she said before leaving the room.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Aaron asked the minute they left the room.

"Because it was too bizarre to even imagine. Only when Dakota started to follow my train of thought did I realize I might be on to something. Dave's been with the team for years now."

"You're right," Aaron muttered.

"Try and get some good sleep for the race tomorrow. Don't stress," he said, patting the Italians shoulder before returning to the garage.

"Good luck for tomorrow," Dakota said quietly, brushing past Alessandro.

"Hey, wait," he called as she continued walking through the narrow hallway. He grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her to a halt.

"Are you alright?" he asked as she avoided his gaze.

"Fine, I need to go. Mark's probably waiting for me."

Alessandro opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"Thank you."

She slowed, her grasp on the folders tightening. His footsteps grew louder as he came closer, the scent of his cologne mingled with sweat from qualifying.

"How did you know about the reports?" she finally asked, looking right into his eyes.

"I heard you talking about it with Mark," he replied, without missing a beat.

"Bullshit," she snapped, pushing past him once again. "If you're going to lie to me, at least have the sense to make it believable."

"You're the one who went through the files without asking!"

"I was doing it for you!" she exclaimed, turning around. They now stood several feet apart in the hallway of the portable garage.

Lando heard the muffled shouting over the sounds of engines and wheel guns, his curiosity leading him to the back exit of the building.

"I never asked you to!"

"Oh for fucks sake, Alessandro," she rolled her eyes. "I'm not pathetic like you to just shut up and let people screw up my life."

He was really pissing her off now.

"That's bold coming from you, do you realize how badly this could turn out? There were so many ways to approach this without risking all three of our jobs," Alessandro spat, his hands moving erratically when he spoke.

The pair had unknowingly moved closer, now mere inches away from each other.

"When were you going to say anything about it?" she shot back, looking up at him.

"This is my car, my race, and my team. You have no say, whatsoever," he hissed, anger clear on his face.

Dakota stared up at him, suddenly wanting to scream. She was so frustrated with him.

Why can't he understand that I want to do what's right?

"So what? You were just going to let everyone walk all over you?" Dakota scoffed.

"Your parents worked their asses off to get you here. Are you really going to sit back and watch as people completely strip you of your dignity on Twitter?"

"Don't."

But Dakota had no intention of stopping.

"Watch as people criticize your racing that you've worked so hard to master? You're going to let everyone think you're shit at racing and that you don't belong in F1? Don't you think you're letting your father down?"

"Don't," he snarled, pinning her against the wall.

Dakota's heart dropped to her stomach and for a moment, she forgot how to breathe. She could smell the scent of his cologne as it invaded her senses. Her back pressed against the cool wall, Alessandro's toned chest brushing against her.

Alessandro.

He made her head spin.

Her heart was racing as she stared up into his green eyes as they flickered between hers.

"Don't you dare say a word about my father," he said quietly, making goosebumps appear on her skin.

Alessandro scanned her face, her neatly done eyebrows, her cute button nose. The long lashes that nearly touched her brows when she stared up at him.

And those damn lips.

Now red from her anxious biting.

He wanted to be the reason her lips were red.

"Um, what's going on here?" Lando interrupted, but neither paid any attention to him.

"You never even asked if I wanted this investigated. You just went through all the data and confidential information, which is illegal," Alessandro spoke, finally taking a step back.

"So is intentionally altering engineered components on a Formula One car. So regardless of you wanting an investigation, I'm going to make sure there is one. Because this isn't about you anymore Alessandro. Good luck tomorrow, I hope Lando get's a podium."

And then she was gone.