I held his gaze. “I’m good to her. I will always be good to her.”
“I know.” He clasped my shoulder, squeezing once. “Just making sure you know it too.”
Étienne’s hand was still on my shoulder when Auri drifted ahead toward her parents, her mother touching her arm lightly, her father leaning in to ask something in low French.
Their attention shifted.
For the first time since stepping through the door, no one was looking at me.
Except Étienne. His eyes narrowed—not threatening, not defensive, but perceptive. Racer eyes. Ones that never missed a tell.
I lifted my hand subtly. Casual to anyone who wasn’t paying attention. It was enough for the ring to catch Étienne’s gaze.
His dark brows pulled together in a quick, stunned blink—as if I’d thrown a punch he never saw coming. His throat worked once in a swallow, the muscles of his jaw flexing like he was swallowing about four different reactions at once.
He didn’t look at Auri. He didn’t look toward their parents.
He looked right at me.
Racer to racer. Twin brother to the woman I loved. Man to man.
There was no universe where he missed the meaning.
I didn’t hide the quiet challenge in my stare.
She’s my family now. I’m yours, too, if you want it. But I’ll protect her either way.
Auri turned at that exact second—her eyes widening when she saw my raised hand, the ring glinting. A tiny, startled yelp escaped her. But before she could speak, I lowered my hand smoothly, slipping it back into my pocket like the good boy she expected me to be.
I turned fully back to Étienne. Who huffed a disbelieving laugh under his breath and dragged a hand down his face.
“Putain,” he muttered, half awed, half scandalized. “You actually did it.”
I smirked. “Yeah, mate. I did.”
He glanced over at Auri—who was pretending to be engrossed in her mother’s words but absolutely failing to hide the flush rising in her cheeks—then back to me.
This time, when Étienne’s eyes met mine, there was no smirk. He stepped in closer and lowered his voice. “When?”
I lifted my left hand, this time openly. “Last week. In Greece.”
Étienne stared at the ring again with a long, quiet look that felt like its own kind of blessing. “Who knows?”
“Just Marco and Kimi.” I left Lucy out of this, because her involvement needed to stay a secret given the clauses of her contract. “And our friend Ivy.”
“Guessing she wanted to visit now before it leaked to the press.” He tipped his head in his sister’s direction.
“We just got home yesterday. Zandvoort is next weekend, which means more travel. And you and I both know that anything the press finds gossip-worthy will be smeared across the internet in a matter of hours. It made sense to come now.”
He nodded once, decisive, a soldier laying down his sword.
“Good,” he said softly, voice steadying. “She was always the strong one between the two of us. How differently she was treated growing up…” He frowned. “It wasn’t fair to her. She deserved someone who would prioritize her. I was worried when she got involved with Costa.”
I bristled at the mention of her ex. The time I’d beaten the shit out of him after he forced himself on Auri. God, I saw red. If Auri hadn’t been there, I’m not sure I would’ve stopped.
“I’ve already beaten the shit out of him once, mate,” I said plainly. “And I’ll do it to anyone who even thinks about laying so much as a finger on her without her consent.” I held his gaze, steady and certain. “She’s safe with me.”
Then I huffed a quiet, humorless laugh and shook my head. “But to be fair, she hardly needed rescuing. Kneed him straight in the balls. Saw it with my own two eyes, swear to God.”
