Page 6 of Faster
Chapter Three
Five years. Luca hadn’t been in the same room as Ethan for almost five years. Well, not intentionally. There was no way they could avoid each other completely while they were still on the grid together.
That was the one upside of getting fired. He wouldn’t have had to spend any time with Ethan Harrow. Especially since he’d fucked Ethan Harrow’s wife on New Year’s Eve and felt approximately zero remorse for it.
Well, he’d have had a clear conscience had he retired in ignominy as planned.
This sport had a funny way of pulling people back in, though.
Micaela Cartwright had planned to sign with Ethan’s team, Scuderia Lupo, for this season.
Everyone had assumed the deal was done, until she’d changed her mind at the last minute and signed with the upstart American team on the grid, Panther Motors.
Although the sport was rife with scandals and skulduggery, it was extremely rare to have a seat open up during winter break. Since every other team had pulled up the rookies they wanted and made the moves there were to make, Luca Bendetto became the only viable option.
Luca didn’t hesitate before saying yes. Even being a last-ditch option landed him a place on the grid, and that was better than being out in the cold.
The complicated past and present between him and Ethan faded into the distance when the chance to race again came knocking.
He could put his personal feelings—the ones that made him want to choke the shit out of Ethan—to the side for the sake of his career.
He looked forward to beating him on the track. It might even be as satisfying as it had been to take something from him off the track on New Year’s Eve.
God, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Cece since that morning.
He might have given up most of his excesses, but only one taste had him seriously addicted to her.
He hadn’t changed his sheets for a few days after she’d been there, not until he couldn’t catch whiffs of her scent on his pillow.
He still sat on his couch where she’d ridden him and imagined that she was there sometimes.
He wondered if she’d be there today at the car launch. These things hadn’t involved the sort of high spectacle they now did before Netflix, American fans, and American money found their way to the sport in the way they had the last few years.
Luca could play the game—he was a fan favorite on the documentary series—but he honestly preferred the way things had been before. He’d liked talking to sponsors at the factory about how great their logos looked on the new livery rather than the flashing lights and high drama.
But those days were gone. Now that he was back in the sport, he should really look at having his management team capitalize on the sport’s massive popularity. He wasn’t going to waste this second chance, even though returning to racing came with a price.
He checked himself in the mirror in his new team kit for the third time. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the nerves. Then, he checked his phone. He didn’t have anything to worry about. Ethan was here, but Cece was at Paris Fashion Week.
Once he knew he was joining the team, Luca had set up a Google alert for mentions of her in the press and on social media. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to know where she was at all times. Like a fucking stalker.
He assured himself that he could conduct himself like a professional with Ethan. There was too much at stake for him to allow his personal feelings to get in the way of what he wanted to accomplish on the track.
When he’d steeled himself adequately, he went out to the podium area of the track.
Elevated above the pit lane, he felt like a king.
Even with the team and primary sponsored logos emblazoned on the bunting instead of the Grand Prix branding, he could almost smell the sparkling wine mixed with sweat on his race suit and see the team cheering his victory, even though he hadn’t been above P6 in two years.
He’d much rather be giving a victorious postrace interview than the gauntlet he’d been through of late.
The team had announced his signing three days ago, so he’d been fielding press calls and giving interviews almost continuously since.
He could say all of the right things and make all of the right noises.
“I’m delighted to be with the team,” in both English and Italian.
“Coming to Scuderia Lupo feels like coming home,” also in both English and Italian.
“Ethan and I have always had a strong working relationship. I don’t see how this second go-round will be any different.
” That part was only in English because his Italian wasn’t that good.
All of those pat phrases left him when he saw Ethan standing next to Alessandro, the team principal.
Ethan hadn’t spotted him yet because his smile was the real one, rather than the fake one he gave when he was uncomfortable.
He loved the marketing shit. Mostly he’d always loved being in the spotlight.
Luca could tell when Ethan noticed his presence as a shadow crossed his face.
No one else knew that the fake Ethan smile had come online.
He wished it wasn’t like that. He wished Ethan’s face still lit up when Luca walked into a room. When they were younger, they’d been each other’s person. For years, it had been totally platonic. And Luca hadn’t noticed precisely when things shifted to something romantic.
Probably the first time they’d had sex with the same girl at the same time. It was callous to say, but it was as though that girl hadn’t even mattered. It had been like she wasn’t even there, and it was just the two of them together.
They had never talked about it, but they’d started sharing girls on a regular basis. And then, they’d started touching each other during their threesomes. It probably wasn’t even intentional the first few times it had happened, but then they’d started kissing.
On the track, they’d remained teammates and rivals. But, off the grid, they were something else that neither of them made any effort to define entirely.
Luca hadn’t realized that he was in a relationship with—in love with—his best friend until they’d met Cece. And Ethan hadn’t wanted to share. He’d wanted to win her. Suddenly, their personal relationship had started to feel like their professional rivalry on the track.
When it became clear that Ethan was serious about Cece, when he’d proposed, Luca had lost his shit a little.
He’d been a jealous lover before the engagement, but he’d acted like one after.
Part of it was that he’d had feelings for Cece too.
And he’d thought it was going to be perfect—all three of them together.
They could all just go on and pretend it was just about sex, and nothing had to change.
But apparently, Ethan hadn’t liked that idea. He’d wanted things to change. He’d wanted to be in an ordinary, hetero marriage with the girl they were both in love with. And he’d wanted to end things with Luca without even ever saying what they had together.
The car—well at least the shell of the car—came up to meet the three men on a hydraulic lift.
Luca tried to tear his gaze from Ethan, but Ethan needed to look away first. Their smiles never faltered, but there were decades of history, anger, and yearning passing between them at that moment.
It was going to be a long season.