“So I’m to be your guinea pig.” Leonidas’s tone was sardonic. “Let you turn Formula One into one big experimental stress test.”
“I prefer ‘pioneer,’” Aivan drawled.
“And why should I sign up for this?”
“You mean aside from the fact that we both know you’re meant to return to the track?” Aivan leaned forward. “If we can make this technology work, it won’t just change racing. It can be applied to other fields. Medical. Military. Emergency response. We’re talking about adaptive systems that could save limbs. Save lives.” A pause. “Your return to racing would be the proof of concept that opens those doors.”
The silence that followed his words was expected, and the thought of trying to persuade his friend with the usual promises of fame and fortune didn’t even cross Aivan’s mind. Leonidas was not like the usual crop of young racers that came knocking on his door, eager for fame and fortune. His friend already had it all...and more. In the world of finance, his friend was a modern-day monarch, but with a business empire to run rather than his own kingdom. In the eyes of high society, Leonidas was an enigma whose attention they slavishly tried but failed to capture, a man who had a lion for a soul, and as with all predators—Leonidas only cared about its next prey.
And yet...here he was, asking for Leonidas to consider turning his world upside down and risking everything he had worked hard for. If everything went right, Leonidas would claim what should have always been his. But if just one thing were to go wrong...
Leonidas knew there was a lot at stake if he were to accept his friend’s offer, and these were things he knew heshouldcare about. The racing world had a long memory. Many would celebrate his return: the prodigal champion, finally healed, racing to a podium finish that was so many years delayed. But he also knew just as many would pray for his failure. The sponsors who’d written him off. The rivals who’d risen in his absence. The journalists who’d built careers on his tragedy and wouldn’t appreciate having their narrative disrupted.
If he failed publicly, spectacularly, it wouldn’t just end his dream. It would bury the technology that might have helped countless others. These were the factors he should deem most important. And yet...all he could think of was something else.
Or rather,someoneelse.
“The moment people find out I’ve returned,” Leonidas said slowly, “my life becomes public again. Every move scrutinized. Every relationship examined.”
And if all eyes were on him, so they would also be on his wife, whose quiet life and peaceful anonymity would be inevitably disrupted, through no fault of her own.
“What exactly are you worried about?” Aivan did not believe for one moment that life outside racing had so changed his friend that he had suddenly become sensitive to public scrutiny.
“It is not like before,” Leonidas said grimly. “Just like you, I have a wife to think about, and I do not think it is fair—” He stopped speaking, his gaze narrowing at the subtle shift of expression on his friend’s face. “What is it?”
Instead of answering, Aivan rose from his chair and moved to the sleek cabinet behind his desk, withdrawing a second set of documents.
“I was asked to keep this confidential for as long as it was financially feasible.”
Leonidas accepted the folder with no particular expectation, but when he flipped it open, the first page alone had him frowning. This contract had to do with the patented technology that Aivan wanted him to try.
“Did you not tell me in the past that the patent owner wishes to remain anonymous?”
“You remember correctly,” Aivan acknowledged, “and just as I said earlier—we both agreed that anonymity would only be maintained as long as it was financially feasible.”
“I take it that is no longer the case?”
“Because of you.”
What did that even mean?
Leonidas began flipping through the contract, skimming impatiently in search for more answers even as his mind went through a series of names. Perhaps Leonidas wanted him to work with a former rival or—
What the—
The name.
Typed in clean black letters on the signature line.
Lexina Aryanis Gazis.
Leonidas stared at the page.
Read the name again.
Lexina Aryanis Gazis.
His wife.
