Race With a Heart
Chapter 74: Win for Him

Chapter 74: Win for Him

No, no, it’s impossible that he did it on purpose. He certainly wasn’t planning it. It’s just an attempt to take advantage of the opportunity the driver in front of him made room for an approaching Paxton, right? It really couldn’t be on purpose.

And yet such a suspicion had entered not only Martin’s heart. The commentator and Dave were loudly venting their displeasure, even Teddy shaking his head in disgust.

"One can start believing in conspiracy theories," the old man muttered under his breath.

"Right?!" Dave who heard him exclaimed. "Martin, what do you think?"

"I don’t know," admitted the young mechanic.

Martin really didn’t know how to respond to it. He loved Steve with all his heart, but realized that Paxton was far from perfect. Still, Steve wasn’t a bad man, and he certainly didn’t make enemies with either Belindez or Richardsen, so why would they go against each other. After all, these drivers worked for other stables and came from other countries. Why would they plot a plot against Paxton? For what? After all, they could gain nothing!

Suddenly there was suspicion in Martin’s heart. What if the first incident was indeed accidental, while the second was the revenge of the gangsters Steve chased from the car repair shop to save Martin?

Impossible! These were local gangsters who were proud of their local driver. Why would they hurt someone who made their city famous? Anyway, such little gangsters had too short arms to reach players from another country and enter into deals with them.

"It looks a bit like some kind of conspiracy," admitted Martin, "but I just don’t see why or who would start such a plot. It does not make sense."

But it also didn’t make sense that the leaders caught up with Paxton due to a track fight between the two bottom drivers and will start attacking in a moment.

At that moment, Jack Lambert appeared and, like a torpedo, headed straight at the disturbing drivers, as if he wanted to ram them. He charged so hard they both fell off the track, dragging Jack with them.

"OH!"

Steve slipped past them. Jack was back on the track, but the two drivers took the opportunity and ran past him before he could pick up speed.

Jack was relegated to fourth position, but Steve held the first position. In this arrangement, they reached the finish line.

The victory, however, was not a joy. Paxton deserved it one hundred percent, but after the incident on the track, everyone felt disgust in their mouths. Due to Richardsen’s excessive ambition, Steve lost the advantage he had gained and had it not been for Jack’s dedication, he would have had problems to regain it, and maybe even lose the first place.

As if in response to their mood, it started raining when the last drivers were reaching the finish line.

Martin was happy and sad at the same time. Jack’s noble dedication cost him two places but secured Steve’s victory. Lambert was a great friend, but also a really calculating player. If he hadn’t attacked and waited for the others to catch their tails, absolutely anything could have happened in this crowd. Not only could both he and Steve have lost their positions, but in the event of a collision, either of them might not have reached the finish line at all. So he could either attack or hope that they would not be more unlucky than before. Paradoxically, an attack was less of a risk than waiting.

This was confirmed by the reassuring slaps of the mechanics as the drivers returned to their stalls. Abe even nodded. The camera zoomed in on Jack’s face. The driver was smiling as if he had just had an interesting adventure and had not lost his place on the podium. Steve was also shown, whose face was fierce and his eyes furious. The commentator even suspected that his helmet was about to fly to the floor, but Paxton just shook his head and shook Jack’s hand. Just that.

It wasn’t a beautiful victory, but it wasn’t ugly either. Steve didn’t do anything wrong, so he also got a slap on the back from the mechanics. The overall result was satisfactory and the Fergus Stable had something to celebrate.

But Martin was a little worried about Steve. Some victories were too bitter to taste, and in Paxton’s face the mechanic knew it was one of them.

Paxton was barely out of the shower when someone knocked on the hotel door of his room. The driver adjusted the towel around his waist and asked:

"Who’s there?"

"It’s me, Jack!"

Steve was not happy with the visit, but he did open the door. Lambert stood smiling, holding a bottle of champagne at eye level. Paxton gave both the driver and the bottle an unpleasant glare.

"Relax, it’s alcohol-free. Can I go in?"

In fact, Jack’s appearance was on hand for Steve. He had something to say to him. He let his colleague inside.

"I’ve come to congratulate you," Jack announced, and turned to Paxton, who was just closing the door. "For God’s sake Steve, cover yourself, otherwise I won’t be able to focus."

"I thought you had a boyfriend," Paxton muttered as he walked towards the bedroom.

"Which doesn’t mean your torso isn’t tempting me. Of course, I’m not going to cheat on him, but I also don’t want to have impure thoughts, especially about you. "

"I don’t even want to know if it’s a compliment or an insult," Steve said. By the time Lambert could find the glasses he was back. He was wearing black suit pants and a white shirt. He was obviously getting dressed for the party that awaited them both.

Jack opened a non-alcoholic champagne. The cork did not pop out with a bang. Lambert poured it into glasses and handed one to a colleague.

"Congratulations Steve! You rode brilliantly today, it was nice watching you get away from me. You deserve this victory! "

"Thanks, but if it weren’t for you, I might have lost it. Thank you for helping me. "

"I didn’t do it for you," Lambert smirked.

"No?" Paxton was surprised. "It’s for who? Don’t say it’s for yourself. "

"For Martin."

Steve nearly choked on champagne.

"What did you say? For whom?" he asked choking.

"You wanted to win for him, right? I saw that you really care about this victory. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so determined and focused before, so I figured you had a particular reason to win, and what could be a better reason for a man than love? "

"You must have gone a little too far in your fantasies," remarked Paxton in confusion. Even if Jack was right, Steve wasn’t going to admit it. "No matter what my goal was, my today’s victory is not a real victory ..."

"That’s exactly what I expected," Lambert cut him off. "I saw it in your eyes while still on the track. Am I such a wonder character expert or are you so easy to read huh Steve? Damn! You really are too ... sometimes "

Jack was clearly speechless. He just shook his head and, glass in hand, sat down comfortably on the couch.

"A week ago you deserved to win, you didn’t win and you were in a bad mood. This week you deserve to win and can’t enjoy it too? Why? Because I fell to fourth place? Don’t joke, we’re not close enough for you to cry over me. You just don’t want to enjoy your victory! "

"Why would I not be happy if I got it honestly?"

"And what was unfair about your win? What is it? You won fair as hell! It was that asshole who block you, he was cheating, not you. And if that’s why you’re not happy, you’d better ask yourself why you wanted to win so much? I bet you’re starting to chicken out ... "

Jack Lambert was the most annoying person Steve Paxton had met in his entire life. He was loud, go-getter, everywhere was full of him and he stuck his long nose into everything. But the worst part was that for some reason he could figure out Steve and throw it in his face without any fuss.

Yes, Steve was starting to flinch, but that wasn’t the main reason for his displeasure at the win.

"You’re only half right," he told Lambert. "Yes, I wanted to win today because I wanted to hand this victory over to Martin. I know how big a fan of mine he is, so I wanted to be able to say that I won for him. But I wanted to win beautifully. I wanted this victory to be beautiful and my own. Fought only by me, not by the generosity of others. This boy is my fan, but he is also yours. Do you think I can stand up honestly in front of him and boast that I won when I won that victory at your expense? How can I ask him for anything now, when I have nothing in return for him? "

"So that’s it ... Sorry Steve, I didn’t know."

"I could have lost like a week ago and I would have done it proudly. But today’s win is more humiliating than last place. So yeah, I’m starting to chicken out because I can’t stand in front of Martin and offer him victories that are not mine. "

Jack suddenly took out his phone. His face was serious.

"Sit down and be quiet. The conversation will be on the speakerphone. Don’t let him know you’re in the room. Whatever happens, whatever is said, keep quiet. "

"What you want to do? Who are you calling?" Paxton became angry. "Probably not to ..."

"Hi, Martin! Tell me, why I have to ask for congratulations again ...?"

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