Page 14 (2/2)

The flip of a wrist and he had the engine purring His deep-set blue-grey eyes, which one female sports commentator had called ‘lethal blue’ as if they not only needed colour coding but branding, assessed the traffic and he pulled away from outside the corporate offices of the business that had been his heart and soul for five years

He had just tied up a deal with Swiss-based car manufacturer Avedon to produce Blue 22, and whilst every vehicle design was a rush this was the car he’d first conceptualised back in his racing days, when nobody would have taken hiuts on his future plans

Fortunately he’d never been overly chatty Being raised by a mean drunk who’d seen a kid’s prattle as an excuse to deal out backhanders had bred in him the habit of silence To the public he was notoriously impenetrable ‘Self-contained,’ one journalist reported ‘A cold sonafabitch,’ countered a disenchanted former lover

But, however else he was perceived, the world took him seriously nowadays even when they weren’t intrusively curious At thirty-four, he’d survived as a professional in one of the erous sports in the world for allory—and unlike so many sports pros he’d parlayed his expertise and a passionate love of design into a second career

An extremely successful second career

One that overshadohatever fame he’d had as a driver—which had been his intention He could coht noas in demand—at the top of an elite field of specialists

Yet he was restless, there was no denying that, and several ti the fateful question: What next?

But he knew the answer to that question It hy the Eagle head honchos had flown in last night

Yeah, he wanted back in the gaone past in a rush of track groupies and speed as he’d raced against the world’s best and outraced his own demons He’d knohen it was time to stop He also knew this time it would be different He wasn’t a boy any e He had nothing to prove

The road cleared He changed gear and took off up the hill

He had a date this irl car who had it all over this newerwith e of what promised to be a very nice find She was reported to be a sweet little nuinal and he was finally going to see what the fuss was about