Page 8 of Racing Hearts
“I eat, sleep, and breath racing, and yet when I say that in interviews, I’m consideredobsessive. I must constantly practice to keep up with the tracks, but I can’t practice too much or I’mboring. I’m supposed to be a team leader, but whenever I give advice, the media labels me as thebossydriver. It’s a never-ending bout of criticism. I’m just a 25-year-old who wants to race fast cars with her friends.”
Éliott grabbed my hand for a moment, giving it a small squeeze, and Henri, to his credit, sat quietly and listened to me rant, his kind hazel eyes watching me like they hung on my every word. A few tears rolled down my cheeks, and Éliott reached into his pocket, handing me a tissue.
“You’re not obsessive or bossy, Georgia, but maybe when the media asks if you plan on doing something other than racing, you don’t tell themmore racing?” He gave me a small, pleading laugh, trying to soften the blow.
“I’m a professional athlete who wants to win the most competitive driving championship in the world. I’m pretty sure if the press caught me shopping before a Grand Prix, they’d roast me for not being focused on the race.”
“It’s more that—” Henri started.
“No! Valkyrie hired me to win the championship. These women depend on me. The other drivers might be open to spending time visiting Disney World before next week’s race in Miami, but I want to be the first driver to win on this new track layout. I’m not going to put the Valkyrie mission at risk because I want to go galivanting around the US before a race.”
Henri laughed, raising his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright. I get it. Look, Peaches, we just want what’s best for you, yeah? That’s all. I finally get to race with my sister, and I don’t want that to end after a season. We’re here to support you.”
“Would some paddock gossip about Luca make you feel any better?” Éliott asked with a smile, nudging my brother who gave him an annoyed eye roll. Considering Éliott knew my past with Luca, he was always a little too eager to gossip about my brother’s teammate, a trait I very much appreciated.
I downed my champagne, holding out my glass for a refill. “Obviously, yes.”
Henri sighed begrudgingly, pouring a second refill into his glass, before topping up mine. Even though Henri found his teammate rather infuriating, his unwavering loyalty to Hermes usually stopped him from oversharing the team’s drama.
“Fine. Just before I headed over here, I heard my team principal and Luca’s father whispering in Francesco’s office. They were discussing Luca’s… reputation. One of our largest sponsors is threatening to back out, and the team hasn’t renewed Luca’s contract. With his dad being a former World Champion for Hermes, the team are willing to cut Luca some slack, but there’s only so much they can do about his crumbling reputation.”
“Hah, good luck to them,” I sneered. “That man is incredibly cocky and self-absorbed. He’s always hitting on the women’s F1 Academy drivers, which is just insulting. He shows up each week with a different woman on his arm, just like theplayboyeveryone thinks he is. I mean, the man commandeered, no, I’m sorry,stolea yacht, and all he got was a wrist slap,” I grumbled. “I give one-word answers at a press conference, and I’m made out to be a villain accused of bringing down motorsport. Luca Rossiliterallysteals a boat and gets a headline. I could start my own online magazine with the amount written about me.”
“Geez, Georgia, tell us how you really feel.” Henri looked taken aback.
“Oh, please, you complain about him all the time.”
“I know,” Henri admitted, “but you have to also consider the intense pressure he’s under.”
“And I’m not? Life’s just a walk in the park for me, huh?”
Éliott shot Henri a look that saiddrop it. “I think what Henri is trying to say is having a World Champion as a father, especially one like Michael Rossi, that’s not something anyone can live up to. It can’t be easy.”
My head started to spin. Not three hours ago Luca was staring me down after the greatest achievement of my life, and here were my brother and friend,defendinghim.
“Imagine howamazingit must be to have a father who was a three-time World Champion,” I retorted, throwing my finished plate down onto the coffee table. “The racing advice alone is invaluable, and yet he can’t even turn that into a podium finish. No, let me rephrase that, Luca doesn’twantto turn that into a podium finish.”
Frustration bubbled in my throat, making it hard to get the words out. All week I’d heard about how it was my fault that Luca was run off the track during last week’s Grand Prix, even though the stewards had ruled in my favor.
But I was used to this sort of criticism. From a young age, I’d never backed down from a challenge. At each karting race I’d fight tooth and nail with the boys, never relenting, and I wasn’t going to stop now, no matter how much they whined.
“Last week Luca was late to the apex. I earned that overtake fair and square. But all Luca could talk about wasmyaggressive moves. He’s incapable of accepting that his poor performance is from his pathetic driving. Plus, he—” I caught myself, shaking my head as I caught my breath.
“He what?” Henri asked, arms folded. Éliott shook his head behind my brother.
“Nothing.” Best not to go there. Henri and Luca were teammates, and my brother had to deal with him on a daily basis. Sometimes it was better to leave the past alone, especially since there was enough in the present to determine my feelings on Luca.
“I think someone sounds a little jealous,” Henri teased. His champagne glass did nothing to hide his sly chuckle.
“Oh, come off it,” I laughed, giving my brother a shove. “Luca is full of so much talent, and if he wanted to, I bet he could beat either of us.”
Henri looked at me incredulously. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…” he laughed. “Now, I gotta go grab my jacket from my room. No more talk about this, yeah? We’re celebrating your win together, that’s all that matters. You and Éliott good to meet downstairs in five?”
Henri reached out and pulled me into a warm embrace, and as I leaned into his hug, I felt a sudden sense of calm envelop me. “See you in a few.”
As soon as the door clicked shut, Éliott plopped next to me on the couch, an expectant look on his face.
“Don’t start…” I warned.
