Page 55 of Racing Hearts
“I won’tbea World Champion. The press made that clear. You and Henri are better drivers, and once the teams fix the reliability of your cars, I won’t be on podiums. I won’t win the Driver’s Championship. If we lose this Maison de Klotho sponsorship because of me, the team won’t forgive me. They won’t have to because we’ll be out of money.” The reality was, Hermes could give me a literal rocket ship, and I was still convinced Georgia would beat me.
“One outburst doesn’t erase a season of top finishes,” I said, brushing the hair from her cheek. “And you and Lily? Come on. No brand is walking away from that much brilliance and beauty.”
That earned a choked laugh. She wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her hoodie. “You’re a terrible liar, Luca Rossi.”
“And you’re an ugly crier,” I teased, gently poking her in the side. “A face as beautiful as yours shouldn’t have tears on it.” Cupping her chin, I forced her to look up at me.
There was an easy silence between us as I continued to stroke her back, watching her wipe away her tears. I knew I shouldn’t have enjoyed holding her when she was in this state, shouldn’t have enjoyed how perfectly she fit on my lap, but I couldn’t help how good it felt to be there for her. Comforting Georgia filled a piece of my heart that I didn’t know was missing.
She liked to make snide remarks here and there about me dating models or influencers, but the truth was, none of them compared to her. With her wavy dirty-blonde hair and sapphire eyes, she took my breath away. Throw in her hilarious wit, contagious laugh, and undeniable intelligence—Georgia Dubois was a catch.
It’s why I had asked her out all those years ago.
But then I’d let my pride, and anger, get in the way. I summoned up some bravery and asked her out, only to let my deflated ego win in the end. I’d accidentally overheard my father’s conversation with her agent the morning before our date as he offered to be her racing coach in F2.
Truthfully, the pain of that conversation still haunted me, and the more I thought about it, the more I considered how that was the beginning of the breakdown in my relationship with my father. Even back then my dad was enamored by Georgia. Listening to him offer his services away to a potential rival cut deep, and while she’d surprisingly ended up turning him down, a small part of me hadn’t let that jealousy go.
Over the past few years, I’d grumbled about how similar Georgia was to my dad, comparing her fierce ambition and aggressiveness on the track, but the more I got to know her, the more I saw that, unlike my father, Georgia’s ambition was rooted in hermission. It wasn’t at the expense of not caring for others. In fact, sometimes it felt like the opposite. Lily, Henri, even Éliott—they all came to her for advice and comfort, comfort that she provided to them without question, myself included.
My stomach soured as I considered how I’d judged her with the same lens that I judged my father. My father always dove straight into planning, had always been one to bulldoze over me when I just needed him to listen. But Georgia had done nothing but surprise me. I hadn’t expected her to be so open with me this morning. Hadn’t expected her to just sit and listen to me complain and vent.
But she listened diligently, and with the sort of patience one could only expect from a saint.
“I should get us back to the hotel. We’ve got your winner’s celebration tonight.” She hopped back into her seat, buckling her seat belt without looking at me. “Sorry I ruined your winner’s press conference.”
I leaned forward and touched her hand, wrapping mine around it before she could shift into gear. “Never apologize for standing up for yourself,amore. Never.”
She gave me a small, tired smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes, but I held on to it anyway. The rest of the drive back to the hotel passed in silence, but the kind that felt warm, steady. The kind where words weren’t needed.
And in the quiet, I knew something had shifted between us.
Something important.
Something real.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Luca
As soon as nine p.m. hit, Georgia and I made our way into the hotel lobby, immediately spotting Henri and Lily by a large limo that Henri had booked in celebration for my race win. Georgia hadn’t said anything more about her fight with Isabelle, and judging by the way Henri casually greeted her, either she hadn’t told him, or he was pretending not to know.
When we arrived at the club, Éliott greeted us with his typical eager golden-retriever energy that irked me to no end.
“That was a solid race today, Georgie!” He brought her into his embrace, and I reluctantly let her go, my eyes drifting to Henri’s best friend. “And congrats, Luca! Winning at home is an absolute dream. Let’s hope we get to see it next week with one of our favorite twins.” Georgia lightly punched his shoulder, batting her eyelashes at him a bit too much for my liking.
“I’m gonna go catch up with a couple of the other drivers, let me know if you need something!” Georgia yelled over the music. Before I could protest, she disappeared into the crowd.
I stayed back, making the rounds with Edward and Lily, but my eyes kept drifting to the back of the room where Georgia was now perched beside Éliott in a booth, her hand on his arm, her head thrown back in laughter. I couldn’t help but feel an unwarranted ache in my chest as I watched her lean into him, giggling away at whatever joke he was telling. She looked so comfortable with him, so relaxed. A staunch contrast to earlier today when she was sobbing in my car.
I fought back the urge to interrupt their conversation, attempting to shove down the petty part of me that wanted to tell Éliott to piss off before stealing Georgia back to our hotel room where I could have her all to myself. After our kiss earlier today, I couldn’t stop thinking about how desperately I wanted to drag her to my bed. Opting to listen to the angel on my shoulder, I headed to the bar for a refill.
“I gotta say, Luca, you’re a better man than me. When Georgia and I were dating, I was always annoyed about how close she was to Éliott,” Anthony sneered, grabbing my shoulder in a pretend bout of compassion.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leaning back against the bar, I took a sip of my drink as I spared another glance at Georgia whispering into Éliott’s ear.
“Well, they did go on thatonedate. You know that, right?”
Ah, so her earlier comment she’d made outside my driver’s room during Miami was starting to make sense. Anthony had a hook into me, and while I should have told him to piss off, something stopped me.
