Page 159 of Knot So Fast
"Is this connected to the sabotage?"
"Has Lucius been planning this all along?"
I don't answer any of them. Can't. Because my mind is racing through possibilities, each more troubling than the last.
Lucius taking Dimitri's seat isn't just about racing. It's about positioning. About choosing sides in a game I'm only beginning to understand the rules of. Someone sabotaged both cars—Auren's and Dimitri's. Someone wanted them out of the way. And now my brother is stepping into the vacancy that violence created.
The coincidence is too convenient, the timing too perfect.
"No comment," I finally manage, my voice rough. "Titan Racing will release a statement when appropriate."
I push through the crowd, ignoring the shouted questions and grasping hands. I need to get to Auren. Need to see her, to tell her about this development, to figure out what the hell is really going on.
Because Dimitri was right—I don't like how this is playing out. Don't like the pieces that are moving on the board, the shadows that seem to be pulling strings from places I can't see.
In the hallway, my phone buzzes with a text from Luke: "She's awake. Asking for you."
I practically run to the medical center, my mind churning through everything that's happened. The brake failure. Dimitri's sacrifice. Lucius taking his seat. The memory Auren mentioned before the sedatives took her.
There's a pattern here, a design I can almost see but can't quite grasp. Someone orchestrated this—the sabotage, the timing, maybe even Lucius's involvement. But who? And more importantly, why?
The medical center is quiet when I arrive, that artificial calm that hospitals perfect. Auren's room is at the end of the hall, andthrough the small window, I can see her propped up in bed, Luke on one side, Kieran on the other.
She looks small, fragile in a way that makes my chest ache. Bandages wrap around her ribs, her face is bruised, and there's an IV dripping steadily into her arm. But she's alive. Breathing. Here.
When I enter, her eyes find mine immediately. There's something in them—knowledge, fear, determination—that tells me whatever she remembered is important.
"Lachlan," she says, her voice rough from smoke inhalation. "We need to talk about Lucius."
And just like that, I know the real game is just beginning.
The sabotage wasn't random. Dimitri's replacement isn't coincidence. And whatever Auren remembered might be the key to understanding why someone wanted her dead—and why my brother is now positioned exactly where our enemies want him.
I cross to her bed, taking her hand carefully, mindful of her injuries. "Tell me everything."
She squeezes back, weak but determined. "I remembered an argument. With Lucius. About him working with... someone. I told him he was going to lose everything—you, the pack, me. And he said he was sticking with it anyway."
The room goes quiet as we all process this. Luke's expression has gone dark, Kieran's hands are clenched into fists, and I feel something cold settle in my chest.
"When was this?" I ask.
"I don't know exactly. But it felt recent. Within the last year, maybe right before the accident."
Before her first accident. The one that stole her memories and nearly killed her. The one that changed everything.
"He knew," I breathe, the pieces clicking together with horrible clarity. "He knew something was going to happen."
Auren nods, tears tracking down her cheeks. "I think... I think I knew too. That's why I was so angry. Why I was threatening to leave him. Because whatever he was involved in, I knew it was dangerous."
The monitor beside her bed beeps steadily, marking each heartbeat like a countdown. Outside, I can hear reporters still shouting questions, still hungry for their story. But in this room, in this moment, the only story that matters is the one we're just beginning to uncover.
My twin brother isn't just racing for Ferrari. He's playing a different game entirely, one that's already cost Dimitri his career and nearly cost Auren her life.
The question now is:which side is he really on?
And more terrifying…
What's the endgame that's worth all this destruction?
