Page 67 of Narrow Margins
“Oh, for fucks sake!” I let go of Corrie and glare at the men still sitting at the large kitchen table. Spinning around, I take a step but Corrie stands in front of me, his eyes drilling into mine and I see the plea there.
“Let’s just listen to them, sweetheart. We know we’re real and we know we love each other, but the fact that they are still sitting here means that you mean something to them. That they don’t want you to leave.” Corrie cups his hands around my face as he speaks quietly to nobody but me.
“Fine, but if he starts again, Corrie, I’m not sure I can hold back.” I let him kiss me gently before turning back to them. “So, you didn’t get the hint?” I smirk and march towards them again.
Raff leans against the doorframe to the back yard, I sense his eyes on me, and on Corrie, watching our interaction. I’m sure they heard the cries of pleasure as Corrie came for me and I don’t care; this is our home and, if we wanted to, we could fuck right now in the center of the table. I smile as I remember the pounding I got bent over here not that long ago. He pushes himself away and walks towards us. He observes me warily as he approaches his brother.
“Corrie, I’m sorry. I acted like a dick, I didn’t get what you two have. I have forgotten how intense my own relationship with Troy was when we first met. I’m happy for you, you deserve the love of a good man.” Turning his head to look at me, he surprises me when he gives me a smirk. “You’ve got some balls, Broderick, I’ll give you that. Not many men would walk away from those three men; they could easily make your life very difficult but you didn’t care, you stood your ground and that impressed me. Look after my brother, he’s the only blood I’ve got left.”
“I’ve taken bigger risks in my life, it’s seeing the narrow margins and knowing when to take them. As long as I have your brother with me, then I guess I can take a risk on you guys.” I hear Corrie snort behind me as his hand reaches for my waist and pulls me back to him.
“Easy, tiger.” He whispers in my ear, but loud enough for the others to hear.
“Okay, gentlemen, which one of you knows the slightest bit about running a race team? You see, I’m not putting my name and life on the line for some half-bit team. I race for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to win. If you can’t guarantee me the best machine and the greatest pit crew, then we don’t do this. So, who’ve you got lined up to run it?”
Nico laughs hard and pushes a chair out with his foot. “Griff, take a seat and let me show you what we’ve got.” He pulls a huge sheaf of papers out of a briefcase I hadn’t even noticed.
“Yeah, first though, have you eaten all the grub? We’re starving. I can’t concentrate on an empty stomach.” I see them catch each other’s eyes. “Not a fucking word from any of you.” I point at them then spot Corrie blushing hard, I kiss him and nip his lip then smile and wipe my thumb across his bottom lip. “Let’s eat, babe.”
“What do you think?” Ryan leans back and stretches his hand over the back of Nico’s chair.
“I’m impressed, seriously fucking impressed. How did you get all this together so quickly?” I’ve listened to their pitch and the crew they already have recruited.
“We’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and we would have approached you at some point but then your life blew up and you went off the radar. We knew you needed time to get your head straight, but when you announced that you wouldn’t be racing anymore, we knew we wanted you with us any way we could.” Troy answers openly. “We didn’t know if you were ever interested in getting on a bike again, but, when you contacted your manager about looking for a team again, it looked like we could be back in the game. Then you took it a step further and had a meeting set up with Simmons, so we had to strike now.”
“Christ, I feel like I’ve been played here.” But I smile and look at Troy. “You know, you’re not paying me enough for this, I’m going to have to renegotiate my salary.”
The laughter is genuine and Troy coasts a folded sheet of paper across the table. Picking it up, the laughter subsides and I make sure I keep my poker face on. It’s a lot of money, but I think I can get more and I grab a pen to write a new figure underneath. Then, folding it again, I push it back across to Troy. He studies me shrewdly. It’s easy to forget how young he is when you see him in action. He’s one of the smartest men I’ve met and he doesn’t play games.
When he lifts the paper, his features don’t change but he writes again and it gets nudged back to me. Corrie squirms in his seat, eager to know what is happening. Flicking up the paper, I see ‘agreed’ written under my figure. Shit! That’s twice what I was getting before! I look at Corrie and see concern etched across his face. I can’t agree to this without consulting him.
“What do you think? Are we going to do this?” I ask and see the disquiet still there. Looking at the others, I say, “Just give us a minute, this is a big decision for us both.”
Raff frowns and looks between us but keeps his mouth shut.
Corrie stands up and we walk out into the night air, the garden is alive with the sound of cicadas as the warm air blows through the trees. Taking my hand, he steers me further down the garden. When we get to the pool house, Corrie leans against it and pulls me between his parted legs.
“Talk to me, baby. What are you thinking?” I drop a kiss on his forehead as I hear him sigh.
“I’m going to lose you; you’ll be so busy and so focused. You won’t need me to be your manager with those guys breathing down your neck. I know those men in there and they are hard taskmasters. They won’t want me hanging around.” His voice is strong and pragmatic, he’s not whining or full of self-pity. He sounds resigned to what will happen.
“No, I won’t let it, there’s no way they are able to be an active part of the team, not on a day-to-day basis. They have too many other businesses to run.” I run my hands down his arms. “You are the most important part of my life, I’m not doing this without you by my side. If we do it, you are still my manager.”
“I think we need to see what those guys say in there, they may have other ideas.”
“No fucking way! If you’re not with me then I’m not doing it. Why aren’t you listening?” I push my body up to his. Grabbing his hands, I pull them above his head and hold him motionless. “Get this in your head, Corrigan. You are mine and I am yours, and we do this fucking circus together or not at all.” I fix him with a glare, “Do you get it now?”
“Yeah, I get it. Just needed to get it cleared up, before those asshats get their mitts on you. It’s going to be a media whirlwind.” Corrie’s hips nudge into mine and I feel his growing erection rub against my, quickly catching up, dick.
“You’re gonna be the best-looking pit bunny on the circuit!” I burst out laughing as relief floods through me. I only hope he’s ready for how much scrutiny he’s going to be under. I pepper his face with kisses till he struggles out of my grasp and wipes his face.
“You call me that again and your ass will be so sore, you won’t be able to sit on your fucking bike.” Corrie growls but he’s smiling hard and the sparkle in his eyes shines bright.
“I love you.” I whisper.
“I love you, too.”
“Okay, we’re in. I want Corrie as my manager, I’m not interested in having anyone else. You four have enough going on and I know you won’t be running around the world with me, so, I want him.” Griff looks over at me and winks, “He can chase my ass wherever he wants.”