“You’ll get him, mo chridhe,” I gritted, grabbing her hand with a firm grip before I defiled her in questionable ways on her family’s estate. “You’ll get all of him. But not here. Not yet.”
She whimpered, frustrated. Glorious. I caught her chin, kissed her rough, teeth and tongue and all of it. A collision of lust and need and ownership.
Then I pulled back, lips swollen, breath erratic. “You better pray this goes fast.”
She smirked. “If it doesn’t, I’ll just make it worse. And trust me, Iwillmisbehave in front of your in-laws if I don’t get my way.”
“Auri.”
She grinned like the brat she was, backing toward the steps that led to my judgment day, as if she hadn’t just destroyed me on the front lawn of her ancestral estate. And judging by the look on her face, she knew exactly how this night would end: bent over those fucking ancestral steps while I made her ancestors proud, covered in the soil that made this land sacred.
And just like that, everything inside me settled.
Even if her parents hated me. Even if the dinner was awkward. Even if I fumbled my French and made a mess of this whole thing—she was holding my hand, and I’d carry her boxes,meet her family, survive whatever interrogation they gave me. I’d even do the dishes afterward.
Because at the end of it all, we had each other.
I caughtup to Auri just as she started up the steps, my soul reaching for hers, seeking comfort.
The thing was, Ikneweverything would be fine, and mentally I was hanging onto that, but my body didn’t get the memo. My heart picked up pace, my stomach twisted into knots, my teeth chewed my bottom lip. I felt like I was losing control.
Suddenly, realization ofwheremy anxiety had come from crashed into me. This was her family, her history, her home. A place that held both wounds and warmth, ghosts and hope. I had watched her fall apart when she put her foot down with them. Saw how long she shrank behind her brother’s shadow while trying to carve a name for herself. Witnessed how bad her anxiety made her retreat inwards.
So Iknewhow big of a deal this was to her. Which added to the pressure, because the last thing I wanted was to fuck this up and have this weighherdown.
I’d stared down boardrooms full of billionaires, team principals who wanted my head, the FIA when they thought they could scare me into silence.
This felt worse.
We reached the steps, and just as I took the first one, ready to power through it on sheer momentum—my wife stopped and turned back to me, one step above, close enough that I could see the shift in her expression. The teasing faded, the playfulness softened. This was the real thing.
“Callum.”
The way she said my name hit straight through my chest. I exhaled slowly, shoulders still coiled and braced for the worst. “What?”
She stepped closer. Put her hands on my chest.
I felt it immediately—her palms warm, steady, grounding. Felt my heartbeat where she touched me, like she could physically feel my pain if she wanted to.
“You have nothing to be afraid of.”
I scoffed, looking away. An old reflex. “I’m not afraid.”
“Liar.” She smiled gently. Not calling me out. Calling mein. “But you don’t have to be.”
I swallowed.
“You are Callum Fraser,” she said softly, her hands sliding higher, fingers curling around the back of my neck. “You are a four-time world champion, soon to be five. A self-made man. Ruthless on and off the track. Untouchable to the rest of the world. A mega-millionaire-almost-billionaire and soon-to-be owner of a Formula 1 team.”
And somehow, I was standing on her family’s front steps, wondering if I was enough.
I rolled my eyes, but my mouth betrayed me with the twitch of a smile.
“Auri,” I murmured, my voice low, thick, honest in a way I wasn’t always good at. But—fuck—I was trying. “I love how strong you are. God knows it’s one of the first things I ever admired about you. But you don’t have to be strong right now. Not for me.”
Her brows pulled in just slightly—not confusion, but recognition.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s okay if this scares you, too. It’s okay if we both wobble a little. If I’ve learnedanythingsince my crash, it’s that you are never a burden, and I am never too weak to hold you up. I know how to survive things, Auri. I know how to take hits and keep going. You taught me that letting someone help doesn’t make you soft.”
