Simon walked over, all smiles. “Wright, this your girlfriend?” he asked. My heart lurched and Lucia’s eyes widened dramatically.
“No-no!” She smiled. “Just friends. I am Matteo’s sister, Lucia.” She held out her free hand to shake his. Simon was a blunt man. He asked things straight up, said things how he saw them, which made him a strong race engineer, and I was lucky to have him. But I never had people in the pitfor me.
“Just a friend, mate.” I reinforced, hoping to make Lucia’s alarmed look recede. Simon only nodded, shook her hand, and walked away. Lucia looked to me, our eyes locking before we both burst out laughing at the interaction.
“Gosh, is everyone going to think that? Do you bring girlfriends around at races?” she asked, a slight blush on her cheeks.
I shook my head. “Bloody hell, no,” I said. “Never brought anyone in here except my dad back when I was a rookie.” I missed my dad. Lucia nodded and reached out a hand, placing it gently on my own arm. The small act was comforting and grounding, all the things Lucia exuded. She and Matteo knew all about my dad’s diagnosis and how much worse it had become. It was one of the main reasons I slowed down; reality had a way of knocking you back down. I wanted to be more present, spend time with those who mattered. Nothing was guaranteed.
Lucia and Gianna stayed with me until one of my engineers needed me and prep was beginning for qualifying. After they left, I noticed the loud noise filtering back into my surroundings. I guess it had been there the whole time; we were standing in a pit, after all. But those fifteen minutes of quiet was enough to get my brain to reset. It was time to focus.
As I lowered myself into the car, pulling down the steering wheel and clicking it into place, I felt the adrenaline rush I always felt right before a race. My blood was pounding in my ears, but in the best way.
“Checking, one two.” Simon’s voice crackled alive over the radio.
“Copy, you are clear,” I responded.
“All right, mate, we’re going with plan A unless there is a crash and a safety car, then we switch to plan B. Rain in thirty.”
“Top five, baby,” I said, getting myself into position as they rolled out the car from the garage.
“Top five,” I heard back over the radio.
We got out early into Q1, trying to outpace the storm as only a trickle of rain was coming down at this time. Pulling out of the pit lane, only one thought was rattling around in my brain.
Let’s fucking go.
* * *
“And that’s a P2, Wright,” the voice over the radio sounds as I finish my last lap in the last leg of qualifying. I knew it would be a fight, but the strategy was top fucking tier today. We managed to stay out of the extreme rain. Two crashes from the lower teams gave us an advantage and knocked me up a few places. It really was all about timing, and on the last lap I had pushed with everything I had, going with barely any time left on the timer. I slowed my car and pulled in behind the second place marker. A familiar white car pulled up next to me, taking the spot behind the first-place marker, Theo Bauer. Kaze Energy Racing team was a formidable opponent. It was Belen and Kaze, neck and neck for the Constructors’ and the Drivers’ Championships. But then, pulling up in third was a bright red car, and as soon as the helmet came off, a beaming Matteo threw his fist into the air, his team cheering. I took off my own gear and made my way to him.
“Fuck yeah!” I shouted over the crowd as we hugged. “About damn time you joined me up here.”
“Godamn luck was what it was.” Matteo shook his head, his smile firmly in place as we pulled away from each other. I patted his back as we went through our routine of cooldown and semantics. Anna appeared by my side, giving me the rundown of the rest of the day, and I tried to hide the grimace on my face. I had been hoping to spend some time with Matteo and Lucia today after qualifying, but it seemed like there wouldn’t be time for that. Anna, ever aware, stopped her list mid-sentence.
“You know what”—she waved a hand and put her phone away—“one interview, the same one Matteo is doing, then I’ll clear the rest. Enjoy the day.” She smiled and walked away before I could even respond with a fakeNo, it’s okay.
I swear that woman could read minds. I let out a sigh of relief, as if it had been balled up in my throat. And right as I did, I saw Lucia across the way, Gia was throwing herself into Matteo’s arms. A pang of something hit me. I never had that tight-knit family like the DeLucas did. I admired it truly, hoped one day to even have my own. God, if I could hear myself three years ago. Settling down? I would have laughed at myself. Those thoughts had never crossed my mind before seeing how the DeLucas were. How much I felt like I missed out on. The gaping empty hole in my chest faltered as I looked up, familiar green eyes colliding with mine, and a soft smile forming over her expression as our eyes met.
Good Job, she mouthed at me. I put my hand to my heart to say thank you, and I felt a warmness inside me slowly creep over and dull out the emptiness. Having someone here who wasn’t being paid to care about where I placed or how I was racing.
Fuck, that was nice.
It only took another second for Gianna to see me, her eyes growing to giant orbs before her mouth opened and a screech cut through the noise of the track.
“Alex!” Each letter was drawn out, and she wiggled out of her uncle’s arms and took off toward me. It was not a clear path, and G was tiny, but it was like she parted the damn sea. People smiled at her, moving out of the way as her little legs carried her across the track and she launched herself into my arms right as I crouched down to meet her.
“I knew you’d beat Zio,” she whispered to me with an evil smile. I shook my head and laughed, squeezing her. In the chaos I did not notice who was around us. While Matteo and Lucia had been tucked in the corner, keeping Lucia and Gia slightly out of sight from the photographers, we were now in the middle of it all. I suddenly felt hyperaware. There were so many people around me as I looked around, all eyes on us, all cameras pointed at us. That same pressure reappeared, squeezing around my heart, gripping like a vice. I couldn’t even see Lucia through the crowd that had assembled. But I knew she didn’t want Gianna surrounded by photographers; it was overwhelming as an adult, I couldn’t imagine for a child.
I pulled Gia closer, shielding her face. It all happened so fast, cameras and people surrounding us, lenses being pushed way too close to Gia’s face.Fuck this.
“Okay, back up, back the bloody hell up,” I shouted at them as they closed in on me. Some looked slightly bewildered at my harsh tone, the others ignored me and pressed closer. Lenses of cameras felt like they were everywhere, and while I didn’t care about that on the track, knowing that it could affect Gia made bile rise in my throat and my heart pick up and thunder in my chest.
“She is a child, back the fuck up.” I seethed. The photographers paused and Anna pushed her way through the crowd, her hair slightly tousled, unlike her usual perfectionist lifestyle. She looked just as flustered as I felt.
“Back up, you do not have permission to publish a single one of those, delete them right now or you will be sued till your last goddamn penny.” She commanded the space, and the photographers froze, all looking down and pressing buttons, muttering apologies. I took the moment to see a clear path and get us the fuck out of there. I could hear Anna in the background, demanding each person show her proof they deleted the photos.
“Gianna DeLuca, you can’t run away from me like that!” Lucia’s voice was thick with worry as she ran up to us. We were tucked away in the Moretti area now.
