“We take care of our own here, and you are a part of the Moretti family, whether you expected it or not.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “So get used to it.” I could feel the emotions rattling around in front of me. Overwhelmed at the idea of anyone thinking about what I could need, I was so used to taking care of myself. I had felt so alone for years. While my parents had been wonderful the last three years, being a single mother in the countryside could be lonely. More often than not I just wanted to be home with Gianna. We loved our routine, our slow mornings, playing in the pastures and by the lake when the weather was warm.
“You made it so cozy in here too. It’s perfect.” Gia had pulled a pink fuzzy blanket onto the ground with her, huddled under the huge blanket, and waved a wand around Monty’s head, who was sleeping in a fluffy dog bed on the ground. It made her feel safe, probably reminded her of home. Our favorite spot was in the living room on the overly large sofa my mom had imported from who knows where, because coziness was a requirement in the DeLuca family.
We sat on the couch, watching the middle of the race from our quiet room. The entire race I was clutching the blanket, on the edge of my seat, but the last half was something else. Matteo had secured fourth place, too far from the third place driver to catch up, and Alexander was neck and neck with Carlos for first.
It was five laps to go when Anna appeared, three cups in her hand. Hot cocoa for me and Gia, coffee for Nicola. We walked out to the garage, sitting with the other crew members. Everyone was cheering for Carlos, but I was biting at my nails, hoping for a pink and blue finish instead of a red one.
“Is Alex going to win?” Gia asked me, she was watching the screen, her attention more focused than it had been most of the race. “That’s his car!” She pointed to the electric blue striped car on the screen. Less than a second in front of him was a red one.
“Let’s go red!” someone shouted, and I swear Gianna glared.
“I hope Alex wins,” she said, crossing her little arms over her chest. I smiled at her and leaned in.
“Me too,” I whispered. On the third to last lap, Alexander went ahead of Carlos at the apex, the shiny black car shooting forward, electric blue blurring across the screen. It was the last moment for him to overtake, now all Alexander needed to do was hold the position.
The room erupted in frustrated groans, but my heart lurched with excitement. Alexander was first. The next two laps passed quickly, and soon it was his car that crossed the finish line. The room was clapping for the second place podium finish of Carlos, and Matteo scoring good points in fourth. I was cheering alongside, but my eyes glued to the screen where the cameras zoomed in on Alex. His fist was in the sky, pumping into the air, he touched his heart then pointed to the sky, and I knew the familiar smile was beaming under his helmet.
8
ALEXANDER
We did it. We fucking did it.
My cooldown lap was a blur, tears were in my eyes. It had been six races since I had stood on the top step at the podium. After some changes to the car, FIA penalties, and growing pains, the car had been giving me hell. I had managed to scrap by a third place and second place, a few times not placing at all in the top three. The weight of it all was heavy. I needed the points to secure my next championship, and this win was exactly what we needed today.
“Congrats, mate, a good run, a real good run,” my engineer said over the radio.
“Thank you to the team. Good work today! Let’s keep ’em coming!” I replied. Pulling behind the first-place marker, I got out of the car and stepped onto the front, raising my hands in the air for a cheer. I could hear my team’s loud screams of victory. I closed my eyes to soak it all in. When I opened them, there was a sea of black, blue, and pink. I jumped down, walking over to Carlos and shaking his hand.
“Nice job.” He congratulated me.
In third was my own teammate, James, and we ran to each other and collided in a hug.
“Let’s fucking go!” he cheered.
The cameras clicked off rapidly around us. They loved our bromance. It was rare to be close to a teammate, since they were, in a sense, your biggest competitor. He had a long way to go, but I was in his corner nonetheless. He would be one of the legends, I felt it in my bones. Plus, the barely twenty-year-old was one of the youngest drivers on the circuit. He was already cementing his status.
After congratulating James, I ran to my team, throwing myself over the barrier and into their arms. The cheers and shouts took over my senses, a few were chanting my name, and I was on cloud fucking nine. Someone came over, pleading with me to get down, to finish my weigh-in before celebrating. But I took the moment to soak it in. I needed this, needed this win. These winning points would get me within arm’s reach of Theo Bauer, who was sitting in first for the Drivers’ Championship.
Over by weigh-in, Matteo was grinning like an idiot. “Proud of you, mate,” he said, knocking me with his shoulder.
“Did you expect anything else?” I shrugged, stepping off the scale.
“Was waiting for you to get your head out of your ass.” He laughed. It was a true Matteo laugh, a deep belly laugh. He was like his sister, sunshine incarnate. Lucia filtered into my mind and I couldn’t stop myself from looking around, hoping to see a familiar blonde and a mini version in her arms. I knew they were out of the way, out of the center of attention, but I still found myself looking forward to seeing Lucia, getting an excuse to have her in my arms.Fuck, snap out of it, Wright.The thought sent me into a state of shock as I walked to the cooldown room. I had always enjoyed spending time with the DeLucas. I loved Gia like she was my own family and would do anything for that girl, but the whole wanting to have Lucia in my arms thing?What the fuck was that.
My mind was occupied during the post-race interviews. I smiled and answered the questions, PR training was no joke, and we were all threatened with bodily harm from the Belen PR team. Anna had cleaned up my reputation for sure, but it was also a big push from Belen Racing. They were over me getting into messes. I had been with Belen for five years now, won the championship in all five of them. Year one and two were an actual blur. I remembered little of it. Parties and high-end lifestyle, I was the first to admit that the money alone went straight to my head. It was life changing; for the first time in my life, I was in control. I could do what I wanted when I wanted. But it caught up to me fast—the drinking, partying, and the high-adrenaline lifestyle. But when Matteo was brought up as a reserve driver for his rookie year, I accidentally became somewhat of a mentor to him, which helped slow me down. We had known each other in F2 and karting back in the day. Once he was pulled up, he just kind of appeared like a lost puppy and began following me around. It was annoying as hell in the beginning, but Anna had liked him, and while she wouldn’t admit it, she definitely had a hand in me unceremoniously becoming his mentor. Mentorship turned to friends, after he invited me to the DeLuca Vineyards, the whole brother-for-life thing kind of cemented itself. I was damn lucky to have him and his incessantly positive attitude. It had been a long time since anyone felt like family, until Matteo came around.
I finished getting my things and went to find the DeLucas.
9
LUCIA
The roar of the engines still echoed in my ears, even though the race was over and the crowd had long since started to thin out. Standing by the barriers with my daughter perched on my hip, I felt the cool wind of the evening sweeping in. Gia was clinging to me, her big eyes wide as they tracked the colorful blur of chaos along the tracks. She might not know much about Formula One yet, but her Uncle Matteo was already her hero, and Alexander was a close second.
Matteo strode toward us, still in his racing suit half folded down, helmet under one arm and a grin breaking across his face when he spotted us. His hair was a mess of loose, chocolate curls, the perfect match to our father’s, all espresso eyed and olive skin. Gia’s little hands clapped with excitement, and I couldn’t help but smile as he lifted her out of my arms, spinning her around in a moment that made the long hours, the travel, and the noise worth it.
“So, what did you think of your first race, G?” he asked, settling her on his hip. She rambled about her day, filled with jittery excitement and joy. Matteo nodded along, the way he always did, like she was speaking the most important words in the world, giving her his undivided attention. I loved that about my brother, how he gave everyone his full attention, made you feel loved and important.
