Page 16 of Flat Out
“But, yes,” she said, too softly. “Santino was the one who made the biggest impact. He told me I owed him my career, that no one else would protect me like he would, that I’d be nothing without his connections." For the first time since the interview started, her eyes dropped to her hands. "I let him make decisions for me, talk into my ear in and out of the car, control what I posted online, whether or not I went to university. He made me feel special because he was twice my age, and for the first time in my life, I thought someone saw me as more than my brother's shadow.” She took a deep breath and glanced up to face Ava again. "And then I saw him in Monaco for the first time since I left F2. He assaulted me after the race, and if it wasn't for Callum stepping in, who knows what would've happened."
That nightmare earlier in the evening felt like a trauma response, nothing more. Now it felt like a warning, a premonition I’d been too afraid to name. I never imagined wanting a family. A wife, kids, a life. But now, the thought of losing them—losing her—gutted me more than any crash ever could.
The studio was silent. Ava’s fingers twitched on her note cards. My stomach plummeted and threatened to heave the smoothie Aurélie made for me.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Aurélie said. “He’s part of the reason I’m here now. He taught me how much of this sport was built to break girls like me. But I’m not breakable.”
That was when my tears started, silent and slow. I let them fall, not wiping them away, but letting myself be overcome by emotions I'd never allowed. For her, though, I'd re-write my DNA.
“And my current team?” she added, glancing at the audience. “You want to know what Luminis told me before I went public with anything?”
No one moved.
“The PR team said if I really cared about my long-term image, I’d wear more lipstick and have less backbone. My team principal told me right before I stepped onto the grid for pre-season testing, 'Smile big. Look pretty. Be bold. Give the media what they want, and you’ll be a star.'”
A shocked murmur swept the crowd. Ava blinked hard. “What did you say?”
Aurélie smiled. AndGod,I knew that smile. It was a wicked one that said she was about to cut her opponent in half, and it was sexy as fuck. “I said: ‘You didn't hire me to be a pretty face. You hired me because I can outdrive all these fucking men.’”
Thunderous applause. Ava clapped, the audience rose to their feet. I sat back on my ankles, stunned, wrecked,ruined. Not by guilt anymore—though that lingered—but by awe. This wasn’t just the woman I loved. This was the woman the world wasn’t ready for. The one that both lifted me up and brought me to my knees. The one I didn't deserve but she came running to me anyway.
Ava grinned at the camera, tapping something on her tablet. “Alright, so I have to ask. These were taken just this weekend?—”
The screen behind her lit up again. First video: me storming down the grid like a man possessed, gripping her face with both hands before kissing her like she was air and I’d been drowning for years. Second video: Aurélie sprinting to me, tears streaming down her cheeks. A crushing kiss before we parted ways.
I swallowed hard.
Ava didn’t miss a beat. “You’re not gonnanottalk about this, right?”
Aurélie blinked up at the screen with the smuggest little smirk I’d ever seen. “That’s just how the French say hello.”
The audience roared.
Even Ava laughed loudly. “You liar,” she said through a wheeze. “That was not a bonjour. That was a Callum Fraser special baiser.”
My phone lit up with new texts in the group chat.
Kimi
You said hi with your tongue mate. Respect.
Marco
Was that a kiss or a threat because even I felt that shit
…
I regret nothing
"Actually, it was more like him following through on a promise," Aurélie said, shifting in her seat. It was like sheknewwhat the group chat was saying, and she wasn't even looking at her phone.
"A promise?"
Aurélie laughed. "That's all I'm going to say."
Back on screen, Ava was fanning herself dramatically. “Okay, butgirl,he power walked down the grid to kiss you in front of the whole world. You fought tooth and nail trying to reach him.That wasn’t a cheek peck. That was marriage material.”
