Chapter 84 Ostsee

Chapter 84 Ostsee
Harry’s POV:

I hated flights, and flight attendants most of all. I have nothing against them personally, but all those fake smiles they plaster onto their faces just make me scoff. So insincere.

After a four-hour flight, we arrived at Ostsee, the town closest to Bernoi, since a place like Bernoi didn’t have an airport or even a decent hotel.

Zane had already traveled ahead of me and booked us a room. He was waiting to pick me up from the airport, even though I’d told him there was no need.

“Hey,” he waved at me from the terminal entrance. I hurried over, pulling out my phone to let Purple know I’d had a safe, albeit stressful, flight—only to find my stomach drop when I saw a message from her telling me to go fuck myself.

My steps halted. I scrolled up through the messages and hissed when I saw that the picture Nate had taken of me and Tania had somehow ended up on her screen.

I dialed her number instantly, but after more than ten calls, she still wouldn't pick up.

A sudden rush of adrenaline and panic gripped me at the thought that she might never want to speak to me again. I dialed Nate’s number, and it connected on the second ring.

“Sup? Already landed?”

“Why the fuck didn’t you delete that picture when I asked you to?” Nate was always impulsive, and sometimes it was amusing, but right now, all I wanted to do was smash his hard head against a brick wall.

“Which picture are…”

“The one with me and Tania. You actually posted that shit?”

“What? Of course not… she asked me to send the pics to her, and I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“That is the problem—you fucking don’t think.” I ended the call and gripped my phone tightly, trying Purple’s number one more time. But she was being stubborn as usual and letting it ring out.

“Hey, Bords,” Zane called out from the doorway with a confused look on his face. I walked over to him, furiously tapping out messages to Purple in the hopes she might actually read them.

Nate was with us, nothing happened.

Pick up and let’s talk.

And what the fuck do you mean "we look good together"?

“What’s wrong?” Zane asked. I threw my travel bag at him, and he caught it by reflex.

“How far is Saint Naman from here?”

“Uh… man, that’s the complete opposite direction from Bernoi.”

“Just tell me.”

He pulled out his phone, checked a few transit apps, and looked back up at me. “Two to three hours by train, but seriously, that’s the wrong way. Don’t even think about going over there right now,” he warned, narrowing his eyes. From here to Bernoi was a maximum two-hour drive, but if I detoured to St. Naman, I might not make it back in time for the race briefing tomorrow morning.

“Besides, your sister is already at the hotel waiting for you.”

Right. Despite all my attempts to talk her out of it, Nadia had insisted on coming to watch the race. I checked my phone again—still nothing from Purple. If she didn’t reply to my texts by evening, I might seriously consider hopping on a train anyway.

“Let’s go to the hotel.”

When I said that, Zane sighed in immense relief and handed me a spare helmet. We hopped on the bike and took off. Throughout the entire ride, I sent at least thirty more messages to Purple, but she didn’t respond to a single one. Eventually, my calls started going straight to voicemail.

We pulled up to the hotel—more of an upscale inn—and I barely registered what Zane was rambling on about, something concerning how half the racers were booked into this exact same place.

“Harry?”

A familiar voice cut through my thoughts. I looked toward the elevator and spotted Nadia. She had put on a little weight since I last saw her, and her hair was much longer. She flashed a wide smile and hurried over. “Look at my baby brother! You’ve grown so much.” She pulled me into a tight embrace, patting my back firmly.

I sighed and let her do her thing, even though she was always this overly dramatic.

“Hey, Harry,” a chorus of voices chimed in. Only then did I notice she wasn’t alone. Nadia broke the hug, looped her arm through mine, and gestured to the group behind her.

“These are the interns from work. We’ve been analyzing this new type of…” She paused, hitting that familiar mental brake whenever she suddenly remembered her work was classified. As if talking about their vacation plans to Mars or their dates with Aliens was such a national secret “Well, we happened to be nearby, so I mentioned I was coming to watch my baby brother race. When I showed them your pictures, they just had to tag along,” she explained proudly, and the younger girls giggled behind her.

“We know your brother is all that, Nadia, we just came for the adventure,” one of the interns teased with a playful eye roll.

Right then, Zane tapped my shoulder. I cleared my throat, deciding it was only polite to introduce him—maybe he’d click with one of the girls and leave me alone.

“This is Zane.” The idiot actually extended his hand to my sister, and right as she took it, he had the sheer audacity to bring her knuckles close to his lips like he was about to lay a kiss on them. I instantly grabbed Nadia’s arm and yanked her away from him.

Nadia just laughed, shaking her head. “Okay, bro. Go freshen up and find me later.”

“I’ll find you, too,” Zane winked. There were girls his exact age standing right in front of him who’d probably let him hook up with them no questions asked, yet he was out here trying to flirt with my older sister?

“Sure, kiddo.”

“Ouch, right in the rejection pile? What, you don’t like them young or something?” Zane joked.

She rolled her eyes. I stared at my sister, the tension thickening like a wet sponge, before muttering under my breath, “She likes them older... and maybe married.”

It was meant entirely for my own ears, but apparently, I hadn’t said it as quietly as I thought.

The entire lobby went dead silent. Everyone stared between me and Nadia, the awkwardness palpable, until Zane finally broke the tension with a low chuckle. “Well, let’s go review the track map,” he muttered, nudging me toward the elevators.

I cast one last look at Nadia, who offered a weak, tight-lipped smile before turning to walk down the hall with her interns trailing behind her.

“She is hot, man.”

“Fucking keep your opinions to yourself,” I growled, shoving my shoulder into his as we stepped into the opposite elevator to head up to our suite.