Page 61 of Full Throttle 2

“Be that as it may, I am a grown woman. I don’t need my dad telling my boyfriend my business as if you’re the boss of me.” Colby turned toward Liam. “Which brings me to my next point, I need to keep my racing career and my personal life separate. I can’t do that as long as I’m driving for Lockwood.”

Liam was confused. “What do you mean your racing career? If you leave Lockwood, doesn’t that mean you are retiring?”

Colby shook her head. “No. That’s not what it means.”

His jaw clenched in frustration.

“I will stay with the team long enough to help Brian find my replacement, but I plan to hire new representation and then find another team.”

Lockwood without Colby?It sounded blasphemous. Both Brian and Liam were left speechless. However, after a few awkward moments, Brian was the first to recover and break the silence. “I understand. I hate this, but I get it. You need more independence, and just like me, you have to find your own way.”

Colby was relieved that Brian seemed to be taking her decision better than she thought he would. However, her decision went down with Liam about as well as she had expected.

Frustrated, he paced back and forth. “I don’t.”

Brian took a step toward Liam, placing his hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I mean...yeah. I get it.” Brian tried to mediate the conversation because he knew Colby’s decision would be even tougher for Liam to deal with. “Living with a big personality like Liam ain’t easy. He’s so used to making all the decisions that it can be hard for him to step back and let you do things your own way.” Brian patted Liam’s arm. “It can be both a blessing and curse because he means well and, typically, is the smartest person in the room.”

Gently, Colby touched Brian’s arm. “Thank you for understanding, and although I may no longer be driving for Lockwood, we’ll always be family.”

Brian’s throat was thick. “This is going to be a huge change, and I won’t pretend to like it, but”—he turned to Liam, his words were meant more for him than Colby—“it’s imperative to have autonomy over your own life.”

Colby appreciated Brian more than even he knew. This was a big step for her, and while Brian might understand, it was clear that Liam didn’t. It was written all over his face. “Brian, can you give Liam and me a minute alone.”

He hesitated, then relented. “Yeah, I’ll be outside if you need anything.”

Colby followed him to the door and then closed it behind him. She pressed her palm flat against it before slowly turning around. “Liam, we need to talk.”

Liam watched Colby’s body movements and instinctively knew what was coming next. Maybe she was right. “You can’t be serious about leaving Lockwood.”

She wouldn’t make eye contact. Colby spoke softly, “I don’t want to talk about Lockwood. I want to talk about us.”

“They’re kind of interconnected.”

Sadly, Colby lifted her gaze to his. “And therein lies the problem.”

“Honestly, I don’t see the problem. You have people who you love and trust looking out for your best interest.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

Colby tilted her head slightly. “How many times have I gotten involved in your business deals?”

Liam thought about it. “That’s not the same, and you know it.”

“Liam! You’re not listening to me. Do you realize you saw the practice footage of my accident before I’d even seen it? And that my father had a discussion with you about it before talking to me? That is a problem.”

“He knows I care about you, so why wouldn’t we discuss it.”

“What if I didn’t want you to see it? Would that even matter?”

“Why wouldn’t you want me to see it?”

“You are purposely being obtuse.”

“You are purposely being stubborn.”

Colby needed to take another tack because Liam genuinely was not getting it. “Okay. Imagine you were working on a business deal, and it fell through, but the people on the other end of the deal decided to tell me all the reasons why before discussing it with you first.”

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