Page 5 of Full Throttle 2

During the melee, Marshall and Lawrence exchanged smug glances; their plan executed flawlessly. They pulled into the pit, exiting their cars and feigning concern as they watched the wreckage unfold on the giant monitors.

“Looks like she bit off more than she could chew,” Lawrence chuckled, wiping sweat from his brow.

Marshall leaned against his car, a satisfied grin spreading across his face. “Guess she didn’t see us coming. We still run this shit. Women don’t belong here, especially her.”

The pileup was extensive and would take some time to clear. As the announcer’s voice echoed throughout the stands, the fans erupted in cheers and boos, and the atmosphere was electric with shock and excitement.

As other drivers exited their cars, Colby sat in hers, shaken, but not about to let them get away with it. She would absolutely strike back.

Anger radiated off her body as Colby climbed out of her car. She snatched her headgear off and threw it into the seat. “Did you see that?! Did you see what just happened?” She couldn’t believe it.

After all the BS and dirty play, Colby still managed to pull off the impossible after the restart and crossed the finish line first.

She’d won. Only the officials hadn’t signaled her as the winner yet. Something was wrong, and right on cue, as uneasiness settled into the pit of her stomach, the announcers began to report that the tower was conferring.

Colby stood next to her Lockwood team and watched in horror as one of the officials started walking toward them. She could see by the look on his face that the news wasn’t good.

“Sorry, Ms. James.” His smirk portrayed a lot of things, but none of them conveyedsorry.“After careful review, it’s been determined that Team IHG will take the checkered flag, and due to your illegal move, Lockwood Racing will take a six-point penalty and will start in last place next race.”

Colby stood frozen, not daring to blink or even breathe as Team Lockwood went into full-on protest.

“What illegal move?” Brian was pissed. “You’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding me! They bumped into her and caused all the chaos. And how the hell can you count Lawrence’s free pass as a lap?! Team IHG should have been immediately tossed!”

Cyrus nodded in agreement. “This is a BS call, and you know it. All things being fair, you and I both know that when the race restarted, Lawrence should have been at the back of the field.”

Everything was surreal. Colby was having an out-of-body experience as she listened to her team argue her case in vain. Tears burned the back of her eyes, and her vision began to blur as she fought to beat them back.I had the lead.It was my race.At least it had been until those assholes set that trap, and the caution flag came out.

“This is not over.” Brian towered over the man. “We will lodge a formal complaint.” Those were the last words Colby heard before the raucous crowd, V8 engines, and teams shouting at Team IHG—furious over the unnecessary and reckless collision—all blended into one giant glob of white noise.

Colby should have known something like this could happen and been better prepared. It’s never easy when history is on the line. Unfortunately, the lightbulb came on too late, especially after yesterday’s pre-race meeting when Colby overheard the words “Operation James.” She’d tried to hear more, but the crush of other drivers leaving the room had swept her up and out.

Clearly, there was an organized effort to keep her from winning.Dammit! I needed those points.

Shenanigans had been par for the course since her win over a year ago but today had been unusually reckless. Colby had escaped several direct attacks and rule violations. As a matter-of-fact, in the past three races, things had been escalating todangerous levels and had now reached a crescendo that was impossible to ignore.

They. Want. Me. OUT!

Too bad for them because even with all the craziness, they had to cheat to keep her from winning the entire thing.

Liam had to watch the race from the VIP suite. He couldn’t stomach the bullshit from the pit, like Brian and Lila. He needed the privacy of the suite so that he could react honestly. And the truth was, this race had aged him by a decade.

He began to make it down to pit row just before the final lap. He thought they’d be celebrating a win. Instead, all hell was breaking loose. Liam watched in horror as the final lap replayed on the monitors.

The second Lucky #12 rolled into their Lockwood space, it took everything within him not to pull Colby out of the car window and wrap her up into the safety of his arms.

Be patient,he told himself.

Liam exhaled a long breath. He was both relieved the race was over and seething about the entire fiasco but did his best to mask it.

He spotted her first. Colby’s back was facing him, but Liam could tell by how rigid she was that him losing his shit wasn’t what Colby needed.

He wondered if she had been searching for him because her eyes found his the second Colby turned around.

The broken look reflected in her beautiful brown eyes caused Liam’s chest to feel like it was gripped inside a large iron vice. He put his emotions to the side and walked over toward her.

“You okay?” Liam may not have been able to pull her into a tight embrace, but he had to at least touch her.

Colby felt the weight of his hand on the center of her lower back just as a large salty tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. Angrily, she swiped it away.

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