Counterpoints Book 3 Read online

  Oh well. He’s probably already pissed off that we are seeing each other so… Isabella thought while working on the final touches to the post. She gave another quick look at the pictures – if they needed more filters and editing- and was mesmerized by one in particular, the one she had decided to add last minute. It was of Christopher, standing on the Drivers Academy’s track, speaking to the person he had appointed to help him coordinate the project- Jonathan Korr, the man that once had been his father’s engineer.

  The light in the picture was very particular, it had been taken at sunset and the lighting around the track had just been turned on. Christopher was smiling, looking at the man and explaining something, his hands in motion and his eyes keen. He looked so focused, so concentrated on his goal- his driver’s academy, his future.

  He looks really happy, she realized.

  The worry in his eyes since their first night in London, seemed like it had mysteriously disappeared somewhere. He wasn’t hiding it, she could see he looked more relaxed- his attention only on the good result of his project and the medical check-up.

  “It’s because I have the best press agent by my side. And the sexiest” Christopher had commented on their way back from the academy.

  Smooth talker. She smiled.

  Another email from Mr. Jenkins caught her attention then and Isabella mumbled something mean under her breath.

  She posted everything and then finally checked her email.

  Her stomach tied in a knot after reading the first one. It wasn’t about work like the rest. It was personal.

  Meet me tomorrow morning. Coffee place opposite Bond Street tube station. Alfred Jenkins.

  She read the sentence again.

  It’s official, his distrust in me has officially become personal.

  Isabella took in a deep breath and stared at the screen, thinking of what to write back.

  Don’t let It get to you, don’t let it get to you…

  But Isabella couldn’t hide it to herself, the worry. One thing was try and lie to others, but how could she lie to herself?

  This had been one of the reasons why she hadn’t wanted things to become public with Christopher from the beginning, in addition to be taken seriously for her job.

  Things had taken an unplanned twist, though. There had been a turning point, a moment when she could have either turned or stopped –speaking in terms of the automobile field. Isabella had decided to take that turn and see what was at the end of the road.

  Things with Christopher had been taken to another step, another level. It wasn’t just a stupid fling, not after surviving what had happened in Cannes. Not after coming so close to losing him.

  You are going to the meeting and you’ll make him see he is wrong about you. You are not an untrustworthy person, you aren’t after Christopher’s anything.

  Isabella bit her lip and replied to Mr. Jenkins email.

  See you there at ten. Isabella Bresciani.

  No hellos, no thank yous, no pleasantries. Just like he himself was used to doing. There would be no sorry, no please, no excuses.

  There is nothing to be sorry about, I love him.

  The thought paralyzed her.

  She stopped typing. Isabella looked at the screen and breathed in deep.

  She had said it. Well, not said it but she had thought about it, which meant so much more than saying it out loud. What went on in a person’s head was the purest form of truth, Isabella firmly believed in that.

  How did I manage to fall in love with a man like him?

  As her mind kept wondering how it had all happened in just a little over four months, she heard the door of the gym open and then Christopher walked in the kitchen, his hair wet from the shower and wearing only a towel around his hips.

  He walked towards her, without saying a single word. His eyes were burning into hers like fire. He reached the stool where she was sitting and wrapped his arms around her, one hand sliding under her shirt, the other wrapping around her neck. He kissed her hard, not giving her time to think.

  “Hey” he mumbled, stopping to look at her for a moment.

  “Hey yourself” Isabella smiled to the side and reached up to kiss him again.

  She tilted her head back and reached for his nape.

  It had been like that since they had stepped inside his house on Monday. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

  Like the day before, he had been in the gym, walking on the treadmill – because anything more than that, any real exercise had been strictly forbidden from the doctor in Germany, at least until Thursday- and Isabella had walked inside the room, to inform him Hillary had tried to call him.

  Christopher had lifted her up and taken her on one of the benches.

  Isabella’s head had started spinning, his hands had driven her crazy. Just like now.

  “Chris…” she whispered against his lips.

  “Yes, luv?” he murmured, as his lips slowly worked their way down her neck.

  She turned around with the stool and he slowly unbuttoned her yellow, short sleeved button-up shirt, his eyes on her the whole time, a soft smile played on his lips.

  “I thought the doctor said no exercise” Isabella smirked and her hands stroked his abs. His skin was warm from the hot shower. “We’ve been doing quite a lot”

  “Do I look like someone who isn’t fit to ‘exercise’?” he leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers, same sexy smile glued to his lips.

  Isabella’s hands travelled up and down his chest then, her fingers drawing circles on his tense muscles.

  She shook her head absent mindedly, like she had forgotten all about her question and was thinking about something else.

  Yeah, his body!

  “You know, you can kiss me all you want, but I am still mad at you” Isabella made a face and reached for something behind her.

  Christopher gave her the sliest smile he could manage.

  “What did I do now?”

  “This, remember?” she handed him a magazine and pointed to the small print beneath the picture.

  The photograph had been taken in Sloane Square- opposite a department store- and it was a snapshot of them walking hand in hand, Christopher looking casual and relaxed – just a hint of a smile on his lips. They had both been wearing sunglasses- Isabella had nicked a cool pair of Christopher’s shades- and she was looking at him and laughing. He had been making fun of her, of how serious she looked whenever she was busy working during race weekends. Christopher had even tried to imitate the expression on her face, every time she took pictures with her camera in the boxes and so Isabella had done the only thing that seemed right then.

  The most annoying thing she could think of, to set the record straight on who was the queen of jokes.

  She had taken her reflex out of the bag and had taken a snapshot of him, right there on the street as they were walking.

  “This face, like this?” she had said and then she had pressed the button.

  She had laughed so hard at his surprised face.

  “You are annoyingly smart and super sexy. I can’t decide what you are more” He had smirked, just before spotting someone on the opposite side of the street, right next to the pedestrian crossing. A photographer. He was taking pictures of them.

  “You see that, Bresciani? Take a picture of him, that man with the camera. Let me see how annoying you can be” and to that, Isabella had started clicking, taking snapshot of the man. She had played the game.

  They had waved and then exchanged a few words with the stunned photographer.

  He had wanted to make sure he had gotten Isabella’s name right for the magazine.

  “Monica Trevisani” Christopher had told him and Isabella’s mouth had dropped open.

  Christopher had simply grinned, like it was perfectly normal to give out a false name.

  A small innocent revenge for having his privacy violated on a walk around town, he had said.

  Monica Trevisani, said the small pr
int under the picture she was showing him, on the latest issues of VIP news.

  “You are bad” she said and put down the photo. She moved in close again and kissed him passionately “Very naughty”

  “Thank you” he smirked.

  Very, very naughty. And sexy and you could get away with murder, Isabella squinted her eyes at him and then smiled.

  “What time do you have your medical checkup tomorrow?”

  “Nine in the morning” Christopher said and Isabella couldn’t help but notice his jaw tense a little.

  “Are you worried?” Isabella asked, searching his face.

  “I am a little tense”

  “Anything I can do, to get your mind off it?” Isabella raised an eyebrow and giggled as a look of amusement registered on Christopher’s face.

  “More than one thing, actually” Christopher’s hands slipped down Isabella’s back and straight into her jeans pocket. His hands grabbed her behind, as he gently bit her lower lip making her jump and giggle with excitement.

  Her arms wrapped around his neck and she smiled.

  “How about we go out for a walk somewhere? It’s a beautiful day. Look at the sky. I want to look at the sky all day, so I can remember how blue it is when it will get gray and miserable and it will rain again”

  Christopher chuckled and then took Isabella by the chin.

  “That’s what you want to do?” he asked looking into her eyes and Isabella nodded slowly.

  “Let me put some clothes on and I am all yours”

  “I think you are pretty fine like this” Isabella bit her finger.

  “I think I would create quite a stir, walking down the city streets wearing just a towel around my waist”

  “But it would help me. I’m sure it would get the attention off Monica Trevisani, your ‘girl’ or whatever my name is” she made a face and smiled again. Then, her face was back to being serious and her hands reached out for his hair, brushing it back gently.

  “Would you like me to accompany you to the checkup tomorrow?” Isabella asked.

  She wasn’t sure if Christopher would have liked her to go, if he wanted anyone to go with him. The idea of having his doctor decide whether he could race or not next week, was like a heavy weight hanging over Christopher’s neck. For sure.

  Even if he was good at keeping his troubles to himself, Isabella couldn’t help but notice how hard he had tried to avoid the subject over the past three days.

  “No, that’s okay” Christopher smiled. “I’ll meet you later at the sponsor photoshoot. You and Hillary will both be there, right?”

  Isabella nodded.

  Right after I’ve had a chat with your manager Mr. Jenkins.

  In that moment, Isabella thought about telling him and refrained from doing so.

  No, Christopher had a lot on his mind already. She could deal with Mr. Jenkins on her own. She would eventually tell him, later, possibly over dinner and in the presence of a large bottle of red wine.

  Make it two bottles of red wine.

  The kitchen counter began to vibrate and Maria’s name popped on Isabella’s phone.

  She took it in her hands and Christopher took a good look at Isabella, the spitting image of happiness that she was. He could tell it was someone important to her.

  “Go on, pick up” he encouraged and gently released her from his arms.

  He winked, walked around the kitchen isle and then disappeared in the corridor, tossing dried fruits in his mouth.

  “Ciao” Isabella said, as she poked her head in the corridor, just to make sure Christopher wasn’t nearby.

  “There’s this picture of you on Gossip news, you look amazing. Can you believe it? You, Isabella Bresciani, my good friend on Gossip news magazine” Maria shrieked.

  “What an achievement, on Gossip News magazine” Isabella frowned “Tell me at least I don’t look like a complete idiot and my eyes are open”

  “No, no you look beautiful, with your sunglasses on, looking casual in jeans and tank top. The headline says ‘Driver Christopher Taylor out and about with his new girl’”

  Isabella frowned again.

  His new girl, she repeated in her head.

  Of course they would say that, people had lost count of all the ‘new girls’ he had had. So now she didn’t even deserve a name on the headline, Isabella was just a new girl, one of many nameless girls.

  Monica Trevisani wasn’t that bad after all.

  “Where were you, by the way?” Maria asked, her voice distant, like she was reading the magazine while speaking to Isabella.

  “It was probably taken while we were walking to a department store to buy clothes for me” Isabella said nonchalantly.

  “Clothes?” Maria asked.

  “Yes, well I haven’t been home since I left for Berlin” Isabella mumbled.

  “Really????” Maria screamed “You are telling me, you are living with the guy now?”

  “No, no” Isabella said quickly “No, nothing like that” she paused.

  It surely seemed like it. She hadn’t been home at all.

  Okay, so the first night they got back, her house had been surrounded by paparazzi, like she was one of the royal family being caught cheating or something like that. But then she had stayed with Christopher the following day and the one after that.

  They had put it off, going back to her place.

  The truth was, they had spent the best days together, sleeping in late since Christopher couldn’t exercise and Isabella was off from work.

  “There’s another picture of you!!!!!” Maria screamed again on the other side.

  Isabella touched her ear and frowned “Jesus, Maria. Stop with the screaming” she said and laughed hard, finding it so funny how Maria was getting all excited over gossip.

  “Sorry. Were you at a game or something? Cricket?” she asked while scanning the page.

  “Oh yeah, we went to a game yesterday” Isabella confirmed.

  These tabloids are so quick with writing up their stuff, she thought. They had been to the game just the day before.

  Game, Isabella frowned. If watching a cricket match could even be called a ‘game’, more like ‘the episode’ of a game.

  They had sat on the stands all afternoon, sun-kissed and in the company of a light, fresh beer- luckily the weather had been wonderful- and watched the two teams throw the balls at each other.

  Isabella had followed the game, feeling a little uneasy, not getting the rules at the beginning. What did Christopher say again about which team throws and when?

  “So, wait who is that guy that caught the ball?” she had wondered out loud.

  All the while throughout the game, Isabella had sat at the edge of her seat, doing her best to get the hang of the game. And failed.

  “You are so funny” had been Christopher’s answer to her question.

  He had been sitting, relaxed and leaning on his back, the bruise on his cheek a little yellowy looking, his face amused as always. “Relax, there’s little action, it’s more like a show”

  “You are not helping me understand” Isabella had pouted a little and then had let out a sigh “I give up on the rules” she had leaned back at some point and let him wrap his arm around her shoulders loosely.

  Christopher had bent down to kiss her pouted lips then and they had made fun of the players for a while- Christopher pointing out how little athletic they were, with their tummies and slow motion running around.

  Then the funniest thing had happened. The players had all walked away and people on the stands had clapped their hands and had begun to leave the stadium.

  “What?” Isabella had opened her arms, palm up, in wonder. Why were they leaving? “Did the game end like that? Where are they all going?”

  “It’s tea brake. And the game is over for today” Christopher had delivered his answer with the cheekiest of grins on his lips. He knew what was coming, Isabella’s hilarious outburst of sarcasm and he loved every little moment of it.

 
“You are kidding? Tea brake?” her eyebrows went up “What do you mean over for today?”

  “Game lasts three days” he grinned.

  “I am not coming back tomorrow” she stood up and put her hands on her hips and Christopher had made fun of her outraged face, all the way out of the stadium’s gate.

  She had wasted an afternoon, she had said. Isabella had at least expected to find out which team had won – and preferably understand why.

  “When are you going back to your place?” Maria asked and Isabella was back to reality, back in Christopher’s kitchen.

  “I am going back home tomorrow, after a work thing” Isabella mumbled the last part.

  It wasn’t exactly about work, why Mr. Jenkins had asked to meet up but Isabella didn’t feel like getting into that with Maria. With anyone. Especially not with Mr. Jenkins.

  Her eyes went up to the ceiling, hearing a noise coming from upstairs. Christopher was changing. “I can’t believe you read that trash”

  “I read everything that has you on it”

  “You should call my mother and get together sometime, form some sort of club” Isabella mocked Maria.

  “Say what you want. My friend is on a tabloid with her new, famous, sexy boyfriend, I’m buying the magazine and covering the whole town with it, from wall to wall, if I want to. Salvo and Angela are going to have a fit”

  “I couldn’t care less” Isabella said, her voice emotionless “How are you? How are things going? Tell me about the nursery”

  “Everything is good, we are just running a little late. We’ll open late September”

  Maria explained to Isabella how some permits they required were taking longer than expected.

  “That’s okay, you’ll have all summer to advertise it” Isabella reassured her. It wasn’t going to be a problem to postpone the opening of the nursery.

  The door opened again and Christopher walked in the room, this time fully dressed and wearing black pants and a grey fitted t-shirt, a hoodie jumper casually hanging over his shoulder.

  He moved around the kitchen silently, barefoot and with a certain satisfied look on his face.