Page 169 of Green Flag
But would he? He was driven. He’d had a wobble over the tail end of the last championship, but if there was a possibility of winning…
If Luca got hurt over this decision, I would never forgive Nix.
But I did trust him.
“If anything happens to him,” I warned, eyes stinging just at the thought of it.
“Then I will be at your mercy.”
I exhaled deeply. He was going to be okay. He didn’t have any choice.
Every other racer pulled into the pit lane to change their bikes for the wet tyres, putting Luca in first place.
My stomach churned for the final seven laps. With the different tyres and the fluctuating weather, the racers were less likely to risk pushing their speeds and overtaking each other.
As Luca neared the final finish line, my heart was beating erratically, and tears were now blurring my vision. I was desperate for him to be okay.
Desperate for him to win.
To get what he wanted most.
To make his cousin proud.
And he did.
But I couldn’t bring myself to go and see him in the winner’s box.
* * *
Livie had told me how to access the key to her and Nix’s second home in Australia. I used my French-tip nails to press the buttons on the outdoor lock one at a time.
My nail tech had questioned my decision to replace what she called my ‘lover nails’ with the 68.
I’d given multiple excuses, including multiple weddings.
As if I could celebrate love even if I were invited to such an event.
The house was huge. I’d had to wave some sort of key at the gate and then speak to a security guard to even be allowed into the property grounds, but when I saw the building, hidden behind the exotic plantation and bright flowers, I understood why.
Damn Nix’s pay was good.
It was a mansion. Intimidating in its size and beauty.
It screamed ‘Livie’ by the neutral colours throughout the house and I knew I was going to get lost in the week I spent here.
And lonely.
They wouldn’t get here until Thursday as her brother was adopting a baby.
And when I’d told Livie how everything with Luca and I had fallen apart, she offered her and Nix’s home for me to stay instead of pretending in a hotel room with a man who’d once known every inch of me.
Sometimes, I was overwhelmed with my new friendships. It stunned me—how generous people could be without expecting anything back.
Arabella was my first true friend. She gained nothing from our friendship.
We may have to work together and she might have no choice but to be my friend, but she’d also offered to share a room with me every week to avoid Luca, without prying for details.
Though her affinity for a bottle of perfume a day definitely encouraged me to find accommodation elsewhere.
