CHAPTER 25

Tony took all of his closest friends and associates to Monaco for the big race. While Happy parked the limousine, Tony and Pepper went into a fancy hotel restaurant to watch the race. Natalie was waiting inside. Tony had overruled Pepper and hired her as his assistant, and he was pleased with his decision so far. Natalie’s fluent French came in handy.

As Pepper looked around the room, she saw TVs mounted everywhere, airing prerace coverage. Then she spied Justin Hammer walking across the room. Tony spotted him, too, and sniffed in disgust.

“Anthony!” Hammer boomed on his way to the table. He nodded at Pepper and said, “Is that you? Hey, pal, I’m not the only rich guy here with a fancy car. I just wanted to pop over and congratulate Ms. Potts on her promotion.”

“Thank you,” Pepper said.

“And you know Christine Everhart? She’s doing a spread on me for her magazine.”

They bantered for a minute as Tony wondered what Everhart was doing there. She’d already gone after him for making weapons, and inadvertently helped him start to figure out what Obadiah Stane was up to. What was her angle now? Was it that Hammer Industries was trying to pick up the defense contracts Stark had let lapse?

Hammer turned to Tony. “I’m actually hoping to present something at your Expo before it’s over,” he said.

“Love it!” Tony said. “Just so you know, we’re mostly highlighting inventions that work. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to freshen up before the ball.”

Tony zipped out of the room for a quick trip to the head. While in there, he checked his blood toxicity.

It was 53 percent. He’d made it halfway from Awesome to Dead. Tony sighed and considered the fact that it might not have been the best idea he’d ever had to go to Monaco while he was dying of palladium toxicity.

But what the heck? Race day! He planned to enjoy it.

A few minutes later, Hammer was talking to Christine, who he’d been surprised to find out also knew Tony better than she had let on before. But he wasn’t going to let that bother him.

“Tony and I,” Hammer said. “I love Tony. We’re not competitors.” Her gaze floated up over his shoulder and at the same time he heard the announcers—in several languages—get excited. Had the race started?

What he saw on the screen made him gasp.

On the screen, in high def, big as life, Tony Stark was getting into the Stark Industries car. He was suited up like the other drivers. He adjusted the steering wheel, shot a thumbs-up at the worldwide audience, then roared off toward the starting line. Although he couldn’t understand a word of French, Hammer could hear tone of voice in any language, and he could tell that the French announcers were going crazy. He heard another gasp across the room and noticed that Pepper had just seen the television screen, too. She must not have known about it. She and Tony’s hot new assistant were conferring over something. Probably what they were going to do about their attention-seeking nut of a boss. Who wasn’t even Pepper’s boss anymore. She ought to fire him.

“Can you excuse me?” Christine said.

“Where you going?” Hammer said. “I have some caviar coming.”

But she was gone. That Tony Stark, thought Hammer, really knows how to keep a secret. He did not like that guy at all.