Love Always Wins

102

Seb stood there with his mouth half open while Britta looked to him for a reply. What the hell was Antti doing here in Bahrain and more importantly, how had he managed to get a pass to get into the paddock? He put his hand over his mouth as the mere thought of his ex-trainer brought back all the bad memories; how Antti had fallen for Chloe, how he'd let her kiss him when she'd been too drunk to know what she was doing after they'd once spilt and his involvement with Stephen which had ultimately led to her being shot outside his Norwegian lodge by Corinna. The last time he'd seen Antti he'd told him that he wanted to never see him again and that he'd never work in F1 again after he'd turned up at his home, frightening poor Chloe who was pregnant and still recovering at the time and he was glad that his wife wasn't here to see Antti herself.

Britta stood, still waiting for an answer. She'd tried to tell Antti that there was no way that Seb would want to see him but the Finn had insisted that he speak to him, saying that it was urgent.

"Did he say why he wants to see me?" Seb asked, breaking the quietness in the room.

"He just said it was urgent." She replied. "He wouldn't tell me what it was about."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and then the centre of his forehead while wondering what the hell else could possibly happen before the end of the year. "Tell him to leave before I get security to make him go." He muttered.

She nodded and scurried off, closing the door behind her.

"Wow." Heikki breathed, unable to fathom out how Antti had been let in to the paddock to look for Seb and wondering what he could possibly want.

"Just when you think things can't get any worse huh?" Seb said, staring hard at the wall in thought.

The door opened and Britta burst in once again, still looking worried.

"If he won't leave then call security." He said bluntly, waving a dismissive hand without even looking at her.

"He says he's got information about Viviana."

His gaze quickly darted to her. "Information? What information could he possibly have on her?"

She knew that he wasn't going to like this but she was going to say it anyway, "I think we should speak to him and find out."

"We?" He asked, raising his brows.

"I'm not letting you speak to him alone, I don't trust him." She confirmed.

He smiled wryly, there'd been a lot of trouble caused by trust or the lack of it just lately.

"I'm coming too." Heikki chipped in. "He can't make up bullshit to the press if we're all there."

"I'll record what's being said." Britta added to encourage Seb to see what Antti had to say.

"Well I guess it can't make things much worse, can it." Seb sighed as he headed for the door, putting his mask on at the same time. "Where is he?"

"Just out there." Britta replied, pointing in the direction of hospitality. "He definitely has a paddock pass, I don't through which team though."

Antti sat nervously at a table, picking at the skin around his fingernails and doing his best not to make eye contact with anyone. He could hear them all whispering about him, no one had forgotten his involvement with what had happened in Norway last December (exactly one year ago tomorrow) and he knew he could have timed his appearance here a bit better but he couldn't wait any longer. Seb and Chloe had blocked his number, as had his family and no one in Ferrari would pass on any messages for him so turning up like this had been his only remaining option and he'd thanked his friend, Pierre Gasly's trainer Pyry Salmela, for getting him a paddock pass to enable him to be here today. He knew that he was the only one who could give Seb and his wife the confirmation that they needed and with Seb's permission he was prepared to go to the press and try to clear the German's name.