Mystery in Red

Chapter LXII - The new beginning

The weekend in Japan did not bring me much joy in terms of success for our team, but in the USA the whole of Maranello was celebrating again. Carlos took third place in the 19th race of the season, and I was happy because I had returned to work once more. I had to skip two races on the team doctor's recommendation because I felt too exhausted. I didn't even travel to Qatar—I was afraid to face the princess and tell her that I had lost the rubies. I never understood how those rubies disappeared; I hadn't met with Chess during that whole time, and an even bigger problem was that I wouldn't be able to complete my mission. The good thing was that I had enough time before Saudi Arabia, where I would certainly meet the high-ranking royals, and until then I would find the right words to explain the loss of the rubies.

The penultimate weekend of the season arrived—Las Vegas. This track was new to me, and I had to work very hard on the strategy for the race weekend. Even though it had been difficult for me to travel by plane lately, I kept moving around with our team, and Carlos and Rupert took indescribable care of me. I suspected that they knew something about me and the reason why I felt unwell, but I still kept quiet and didn't say anything, not even to my parents. Sainz also didn't ask, but it was clear in the air that he was burning with curiosity. We were having intimate moments less and less often, and when it happened he was so gentle and slow that I could hardly believe he was my same Latin macho who once sucked and bit my skin with passion. The change definitely did not come from him cooling off—on the contrary, Carlos was much more attentive than before. He had turned into an overprotective person who almost didn't let me out of his sight. Yes, he definitely suspected something, but he tried not to ask... I appreciated that—he didn't want to pressure me, but wanted me to feel ready to share with him.

On Thursday, Las Vegas was traditionally media day. But besides that, the drivers had decided to organize a dinner with all the teams and their principals attending. Sainz wanted me to accompany him, since he had received information that everyone who was in a relationship would bring their partners. I wasn't entirely "for" his idea, but I had to go with him—first, it would be rude to leave him alone when all the ladies would be present; second, it would be insulting to refuse the invitation without any reason. So I agreed, and I was pleasantly surprised when, after the long day, I returned to my room and found a box with a gift ribbon on my bed, and a small note on top saying, "Wear this tonight!" I assumed that Carlos had once again taken it upon himself to spare me the effort of finding an outfit, but when I opened the box, it was nothing like Sainz's style. I pulled out the dress and gasped. Red satin, ankle-length, straight cut, with gentle gathering at the waist, and on the back... O, Mio Dio! The back! In a sheer mesh were woven natural small black pearls forming the prancing horse of Ferrari. This was not at all in Carlos's simple style—he never walked around flaunting the emblem. I had an idea who it might be from, and decided that I would talk to him that evening at the dinner.

I quickly showered, curled my hair, put on light evening makeup, and finally put on the dress. I don't know how they'd guessed my size, but it fit... and it looked good. I was beautiful, but the fabric slightly revealed my newly rounded forms. Soon I wouldn't be able to hide anything, and I would have to tell both Sainz and our teammates.

Carlos behaved strangely that evening. He didn't react much to the dress except to tell me that I was beautiful as always. He gave me a bouquet of red roses, but he neither asked where I got the dress from nor looked surprised. Later he was strangely quiet in the car, as if tense. I tried to figure out what was wrong, but it was hard—Sainz wasn't himself... I worried about him.

At the dinner everyone was impressed by my appearance—Lewis even insisted on taking a picture with the "walking Ferrari flag," but the happiest of all seemed to be Charles. And right at the climax of the evening, when I wanted to call over this same Charles and ask him about the dress, Sainz stood up and tapped his knife on his wine glass. The whole table fell silent. I looked at my boyfriend and smiled nervously, since all eyes turned to us in an instant.