“Yeah. I do. I didn’t even want to ask, but it wasn’t just my life at stake on that thing. Leah was with me.” It was one thing to risk my life following my passion, but another to put hers on the line.
“Okay, well, who else had access to the rigs after you assembled them?”
“I don’t know. I had the crew take them. They were only out of my sight for maybe ten minutes, but I’ve never been worried about this shit.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Yeah. And there’s more. My chest plate from Rome has a clean break. The damn thing is straight. Someone fucked with it.”
“Who knows?”
“Just you and Leah. I was going to bring Little John and Penna in, too. We need all eyes open.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Little John’s been with us the longest, since we were what—seventeen? I’d bring Brooke in, too. She’s family.”
“You don’t think it would be too much after what happened with Nick?” She’d been devastated, and no one could blame her.
“I think she’d kill us if there was a danger to Penna and we kept it from her. Plus, she’s working on a problem that came up while you were cuddled up to Leah. Some of our videos are being hacked on the site. Nothing big, but in combination…”
My stomach tightened. “We’re under attack.”
“It looks like it, and Brooke will know that something’s up.” He motioned behind me where Penna walked down the hill with Leah. The cameras would be coming soon, and it would be game on.
“How’s that going, by the way?” he asked quietly.
“Great until you assholes showed up.”
He clutched his chest. “You wound me.”
“She’s not a fan of all this, and she’s been freaked out since Rome.”
Landon smacked my back. “You found a good one. Try not to fuck it up.”
I bit back the urge to say something that would do more harm than good. Along with being protective of Leah, I was realizing that I was possessive, too. Great if this were the Middle Ages, not so great while filming a documentary where my fuckups could send this brand-new relationship down in flames.
“Is that the kicker he designed?” Penna asked, looking up at the metal piece that dipped down at the end of the ramp.
“Yeah,” I answered as I wrapped my arm around Leah’s shoulders. “He shipped it here. It’s working great. I just can’t seem to nail the full rotation.”
“How’s it going?” she asked, studying the ramp with a practiced eye. Penna was the only one close to keeping up with me on a bike.
“I’m coming down vertical in the third rotation.”
She sighed and rubbed her hand over her eyes. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know where her head was, because mine was there every time I hit the ramp. “I’m consistent, Penna. I always make it that far.”
“Yeah, until you don’t,” she muttered. “Look, the live exhibition is in what, seven weeks?”
“Somewhere around there,” Landon chimed in.
“We haven’t announced what you’re doing. Let’s kill it. Pick something else.” A shot of fear raced through Penna’s eyes. “We’re not losing both of you to this fucking trick. It’s not worth it.”
My muscles tensed, and I glanced at Leah’s slightly widened eyes. Damn it, Penna, I wasn’t ready to tell her yet. “No. We all had one thing we wanted to nail on this trip, one trick that would make the documentary phenomenal. This is mine, and it’s the least I can do for him.”
A look passed between the three of us, and they each nodded. “Okay. Then let’s see how to get you there,” Penna offered begrudgingly.
The cameras caught up to us, Bobby looking unapologetic, since he no doubt got the shot he wanted this morning. I needed to call in legal to see how much of the documentary I could cut Leah out of. She didn’t need to be exposed like that, especially not on my account, especially since we hadn’t discussed officially going public.
“Hey, guys, why don’t we show you the ramp?” Penna offered, flashing her mega-watt smile that usually distracted anyone with a dick.
Landon rolled his eyes in my direction but got on board. “Yeah, you’ll probably want to see where he has to start from to build momentum,” he said, guiding the cameras back toward the track and away from Leah and me.
“Tell me now,” Leah demanded once they were out of earshot.
“Leah…” Her name was a sigh on my lips as she moved to stand directly in front of me.
“No one’s ever done this before, right? Completed it? Look at me, Paxton.”
I did, taking in the slight look of panic in her eyes, the stiff way she held herself away from me. “No. No one’s completed it.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, but not in stubbornness. It looked more like she was trying to hold herself together. “Okay. Who’s attempted it?”
My jaw flexed. I didn’t want to answer. I wanted to drag her back to our room and make love to her until she forgot the question. Until we both forgot what was waiting out here.
“Paxton.”
“I only know one other person in the world who’s tried it.”
“Okay, and where is he? Is he still trying to do it, too?”
“I highly doubt it.”
“Why?” Her eyes pleaded with me for the truth.