Page 110 of Flat Out
My head shook back and forth before she even finished her sentence. “No. No,Isaw her before qualifying. About half an hour before the session started. We talked. She–she was fine. Upset about something she didn’t want to talk about, but fine.”
Ivy’s brows pulled together. “No, not half an hour before, Callum.Minutesbefore. I tried to stop her, but she… she took painkillers, Callum. Said something about Morel. I think—” her voice cracked, and she dropped it to a whisper, “I think he put hands on her, or said something to her. She was… different. Not herself. She laughed, said maybe she’d crashed into the wall and everyone's problems would be solved.”
The words gutted me. I froze, gaping at Ivy like she’d just ripped my heart out. “She got into the car with her head in thatspace? And you let her? You LET HER?!” My voice exploded, loud enough to turn every head in the garage.
“She made the choice,” Ivy sobbed, tears leaking from her eyes, her face crumpled with guilt.
“She shouldn’t have had the choice! Drivers shouldn’t have the choice to climb into a car and drive two hundred fucking miles per hour if they can’t clear their head.” I spun on Henric. “You didn’t know her setup was tampered with? You didn’t know how much fucking pain she’s been in because ofyour car? You useless—” My voice broke into a roar as I ducked my head out of the bay to peer down the pit lane, searching for his car. “And Morel—where the fuck is he? If he touched her, if hebreathedon her, I swear to God?—”
“Callum!” Dom’s voice startled me as he appeared beside me. “Get back to the garage.Now.”
“I’m not going anywhere?—”
My tirade was cut short by a shift in the garage. Heads turned. Ivy grabbed my bicep.
Aurélie’s safety car rolled slowly down the lane.
The door cracked open, and for one endless second I thought she wouldn’t be able to move. My lungs seized, my knees threatening to give out. Then—slowly, painfully—she swung her legs out, boots hitting the wet concrete.
She stood.
On her own two fucking feet.
The sight of her finally broke me. The roar of the garages, the drills, the storm—it all vanished. The only sound left was the blood pounding in my ears as her gloved hands reached for the latch on her helmet. The visor tilted up… and her eyes found mine instantly, like magnets snapping together.
Hazel to blue. Lightning to thunder.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. My hands trembled at my sides, balled into fists just to keep from running and tearing her out of there myself.
Her fingers pulled the latch free, and then she pulled her helmet off, followed by her balaclava at an agonizingly slow pace. When she looked at me—raw, exhausted, anguished—and I knew every single nightmare I’d had was real. She was breaking in front of me.
The marshal guided her toward the garage, her body sagging into his hold, but her gaze never left mine. Not once, not until the crowd swelled between us and blocked her from sight.
My chest caved in. The air burned. I staggered forward before Dom and Ivy caught my arms, trying to hold me back.
“Let me go,” I rasped, fighting them both. My voice was wrecked, shredded from screaming, from a panic attack that had been waiting over ten years to break free. “I need to get to her. Now.”
“Callum, you’re making a scene,” Dom hissed, his grip bruising as he tried to haul me back. “Calm down, lad.”
My head snapped toward him, and for a second I almost did something I’d regret. My whole body locked up as I leaned close, voice low and vicious. “You’ve known me a long time, Dom. Donotcross me right now.” He stilled. Ivy’s grip loosened just enough for me to wrench free, staggering forward like a man possessed.
I shoved through the crowd. Voices called after me, mechanics barked protests, but I didn’t hear a single word. My body moved, elbows cutting through anyone in my way, untilfinallyI broke through the throng and reached her.
Aurélie stumbled as the marshal guided her closer. I didn’t think, I just caught her, arms wrapping tight, hauling her against me like I could fuse us together and never let her go again.
She groaned, a soft sound of pain muffled against my suit.
“Fuck—sorry, I’m sorry.” My grip loosened instantly, my hands skimming over her arms, her shoulders, terrified I’d hurt her more. I pulled back just enough to see her face, cupping it with shaking hands.
Her eyes were glassy, her lips pale, breath somehow steadier than my own. My lungs seized. Relief warred with horror as I scanned her head to toe, desperate to catalog every injury myself.
Then I saw it.
The bruise forming on her temple, an ugly mark darkening her skin. My blood froze in my veins. Ivy’s words thundered back.Painkillers. Shaking. Morel.
“What did he do to you?” My voice cracked, ragged and too loud, questions tumbling out like I couldn’t hold them back. “Did he touch you? Did he hurt you? Are you okay? The car—what happened? Talk to me, Aurélie, please, just fucking talk to me.”
She gulped, throat working, her eyes darting up to mine, before shifting to the crowd—over the cameras, the marshals, her own team standing stiff in the garage entrance. A silent plea, as if to saynot here.
