Page 77 of Racing Hearts
“When this article comes out, how are we going to manage our sponsors?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Isabelle responded. “With any luck, this will blow over quickly. The JOULE article is meant to come out that weekend. I think it could work in our favor.”
I gave her a skeptical smile.
She returned it with a small, tired shrug. We both knew there were no guarantees. Not when it came to Valkyrie and the media.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Georgia
Luca sat down on the deck next to me, both our legs now dangling off the side of the boat. “Here you are! Hiding from my parents, I see?” he teased, nudging his shoulder against mine. “Hope my family hasn’t driven you crazy these last few days.” He chuckled, brushing his fingers through his thick black hair.
“Probably not as much as mine is about to.”
It had been almost a week since we boarded the Rossi family yacht, and to his credit, Luca hadn’t brought up the impending tabloid article once. While I’d been quietly bracing for impact, he’d made it his mission to distract me with jet ski races, incredible meals, and long, sun-soaked days that made me forget we were supposed to be pretending.
A gentle gust of wind swept my hair into my face, but before I could reach for it, Luca leaned over and tucked it behind my ear. His fingers lingered just a second too long on my cheek, his smile lazy and soft and so unguarded it made my chest ache.
I was beginning to feelalmostrelaxed. Spending time with Luca and his family, enjoying the peacefulness of hiding from the media, had been a much-needed change of pace, but I knew this serene moment was about to be bombarded by my brother, Edward and Lily.
“So, Henri have any reason as to why you invited Edward?” I prodded.
“Don’t be silly,amore,” he said, far too quickly. “Edward is a close friend, and I figured the more the merrier.”
Liar. The truth was that Edward had this uncanny ability to ease the tension in any situation. He was an excellent buffer between Henri’s competitiveness and Luca’s desperation to reset and relax. After the intensity of last week, I couldn’t blame Luca for wanting his best friend around—he’d been forced to accept mine.
As if on cue, I heard Henri and Edward’s bickering from behind us as they approached the dock.
“Peaches!” Henri called out. “We were just discussing how today would be a lovely day to race jet skis.”
“Well, hello to you too, Henri,” I grumbled at my brother as Lily and Edward dumped their suitcases on the deck next to Henri’s. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luca roll his eyes, but I kept my laughter to myself. Not even on the boat for a minute and my brother was already challenging me to a race.
“Henri, have you ever contemplated that not everything in life is a competition?”
Edward and Luca tried to stifle their snickering behind cupped hands, while Luca’s lips curled up into a smile full of pride.
Did I just turn down a race?
“If it has an engine, we race it,” Henri replied with the conviction of someone quoting scripture. “Unless, of course, you’re scared I’m going to beat you.”
Fucking Henri. He always knows how to get a rise out of me. I had every intention ofactuallyrelaxing this weekend, but after watching my brother’s smug face taunt me, that option started to feel less and less appealing.
“Happy to show that I’m the better Dubois both on the trackandon the water.”
“Well, fortunately, the jet skis are fueled and ready to go,” Luca’s father announced. “There’s only two of them, so you’ll need to pair up.”
“Right, Lily, you ready to take these guys on?” Henri nodded towards Luca and me.
Lily didn’t even hesitate. “Let’s show these losers who the real racers are!” She enthusiastically grabbed my brother’s hand as she sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Lily and Henri had gotten closer over the last few months, but watching the two of them on the jet ski, giggling away as my teammate whispered something into my brother’s ears, it was hard not to wonder if something more was developing between them.
Before I could think too hard about that, a pair of strong arms lifted me clean off the dock.
“Excuse me? Who said you get to drive?” Shifting to the front of the seat, I patted the spot behind me. “Maybe we should let the Formula 1 leader take this one.”
Sitting down, Luca wrapped his hands around my waist, whispering, “Fine by me,amore. Any chance I get to be close to you is a win for me.”
Luca closed the gap between our bodies as his grip tightened, pulling me flush against his chest. At the feeling of Luca’s firm abs and hardening cock, my mind flashed back to the night of my Monaco Grand Prix win where Luca’s hands were somewhere else entirely. His fingers started rubbing soft circles on my hips and under the life jacket, and I leaned into his hold, enjoying the feeling of Luca’s lips ghosting my neck.
