Page 93 of Racing Hearts
Thrown insults had never rattled me, but something about Luca dragging me in front of this man, refusing to let me hide from it—refusing to let me shoulder it alone—it sparked something in me. My spine straightened.
“Cat got your tongue?” I taunted.
The man sneered. “I said what I said. Why would they lie?”
“Because cash is king, darling,” I said coolly, “and these journalists know they can con idiots like you into buying their lyingtrash.”
The man finally backed away, his shoulders slumped and his lips moving in silent frustration as he disappeared into the bustling crowd. Shaking my head in amazement, I glanced around at all of the cameras filming me, and I couldn’t help but smile.
As the hotel staff began clearing the lobby, I turned to Luca, my adrenaline still thrumming. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand, pulling him closer to the elevator and away from prying eyes.
“Th-thank you,” I whispered.
He looked at me, then cupped my chin, tilting my face toward his. “You shouldn’t ever back down from a fight, Georgia,” he said finally. “And I know that sort of goes against everything I’ve been teaching all season. Hell, even the purpose ofthis.” He motioned vaguely between us. The fake relationship. “But I don’t know if backing down is the right thing anymore. Not after that article. You should fight back. You should beloud. You’re stronger than all of them, and you should face your critics like the champion that you are. You’re incredibly special. And unique. And strong. You shouldn’t back down from the press, because they’re wrong about you.” His voice faded, and he looked away from me. “Just like I was.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just stood there, dumbfounded. Luca rubbed his face, threading his hand through his thick waves.
“In the press conferences this weekend, just beyourselfthis time.”
My chest ached with all the words I wanted to say. All the questions I still had. But before I could respond, Lily’s voice called out behind me and I turned.
“Are you ready to go upstairs, Georgia? We have an early start tomorrow.”
I put my hand up, asking her for a minute, but when I turned back to Luca he was already making his way over to Edward. As the elevator doors closed behind us, I watched him return to Edward’s side, a nightcap waiting for them at the bar.
His words ran deep in my chest.
Maybe Luca was right, I contemplated.Maybe I had been approaching this all wrong.
If watching Isabelle take on Giovanni today taught me one thing, it was that backing down was no longer an option.
Chapter Forty-Two
Georgia
I pulled into the track before dawn on Sunday morning, the sun only just beginning to bleed gold across the peaks. The air was crisp, almost too clean, like the universe was daring me to breathe deeply when all I wanted to do was scream. A few engineers milled around like ghosts, half-awake with coffees in hand, and the silence clung to everything like a film.
After a quick strategy meeting with Mel, I walked outside of the engineering office to see Nora and Isabelle waving at me ecstatically, both of them looking like they’d won the lottery.
“It’s here! It’s here!” Nora gushed, holding up her phone as she waved it around erratically. “The JOULE article is out, and it’s amazing!”
Fuck. With everything else going on, I had completely forgotten about the article.
Nora hurried me into the conference room, with an insistent Lily trailing behind. Nora already had the article pulled up on her laptop, and she all but shoved me into a seat, gesturing for me to read the glowing paragraph she’d highlighted in bright yellow.
It was not hard to see that Georgia was extremely nervous during thephoto shoot, which I found to be interesting considering the public lifeshe leads. As I watched Georgia nervously navigate my questions, itallowed me to see how someone like Luca complements her. His infectiouslaugh and ability to turn anything into a joke truly is a wonderfulcomplement to Georgia’s quick wit and cheekiness. It’s hard not to havea smile on when you’re around Georgia and Luca. There was a genuinewarmth and connection between them that shone through in every sharedglance and inside joke, and as I continued to watch them together, Icouldn’t help but feel privileged to witness such an intimate momentunfold between them.
Lily pointed to one of the photographs. “You know, for a couple that’s meant to be fake dating, you sure do look real.”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
The photo of the happy couple staring at me from the screen seemed to mock me as I contemplated how we were nothing like what was described in the article. It felt like staring into someone else’s life. Someone who had it all figured out. Someone who wasn’t standing in a white-knuckle tug-of-war between what she felt and what she feared. And my heart ached as a certain realization set in.
I wanted this article to be true.
As I had got to know a deeper side of Luca, I’d realized that there was so much more to him than I’d thought. Luca’s cocky, devil-may-care attitude was just a mask, something worn to protect himself.
Like I was doing now.
