Page 4 of Formula Freedom (Race Fever #3)

Reid

I spot her before she sees me.

Lara’s standing near the lounge in the Ritz-Carlton lobby, half tucked into the shadows between a column and a potted plant like she doesn’t want to be noticed.

A small suitcase sits at her side, her hand resting on the handle with a white-knuckled grip.

Her eyes sweep the space in slow, anxious movements.

She looks like someone on the run and knowing she was with my brother this evening, I can only conclude that he’s the one chasing her. It makes me queasy as I move her way.

My eyes rake over her and then it’s like a punch to the gut when I see the red mark blooming across her left cheek.

Fresh. Obvious.

My eyes scan her entire body and there… on her arm… the faint outline of finger marks on her pale skin.

My chest tightens with something violent.

“Lara,” I say softly.

She jerks when she hears her name, then exhales when she sees me. A shaky kind of relief washes over her features. She moves toward me quickly, and I reach her in three long strides.

Up close, it’s worse.

The red across her cheek is angry and raised. The skin near her eye is starting to swell.

“What the fuck happened?” I ask, voice low but sharp.

Her eyes shine with emotion. “Please don’t—don’t make a scene here.”

“I’m not,” I say tightly. “But if you tell me Lance did that, I swear to God, I’m going to kill him.”

“Then I won’t tell you he did it,” she snaps angrily, then her voice immediately fills with contrition, cracking with emotion. “I’m sorry… I just need a place to breathe, okay? I’m not asking for anything else. I don’t need you to fix it. I just… I didn’t know who else to call.”

I take a breath. I know Lance did this and every instinct in me says to go over to his hotel right now and handle things. I want to kill him. No question. But this moment isn’t about me—it’s about her, so I table my plans for murder.

Besides, right now, she looks like she might shatter and that must take priority.

“I’ve got a two-bedroom suite upstairs,” I say. “Come up. You can stay as long as you need. No pressure. Just talk to me.”

She hesitates, then nods.

I take her suitcase, turn for the elevator, and she follows me. I don’t miss the way her eyes scan the lobby, cutting back more than once to the door.

It prompts me to ask, “Does he know you came here?” She shakes her head and that right there confirms what I knew in my heart… Lance did this to her. “Where is he now?”

“He probably thinks I got a rental car and I’m headed back to Torquay, but I don’t know. Maybe he’ll guess I came to you.”

“You’re safe here,” I reassure her. “He doesn’t know where I’m staying.”

She only nods again, quiet as a mouse as we step into the elevator.

The suite is still, perched on one of the upper floors with wide windows overlooking the city skyline. Leaving her suitcase by the door of one of the bedrooms, I lead her into the living room and gesture toward the couch. “I’ll get you some water.”

She sinks down slowly, her shoulders hunched. Lara’s hands are clasped tight on her lap and she looks so brittle, I fear she’d shatter into a thousand pieces in a light wind.

I come back with a cold bottle, and she takes it with a whispered “Thanks,” holding it in both hands but not opening it. She contemplates the bottle for a moment, then touches the cold plastic to the red imprint on her cheek.

“I’m not trying to push,” I say, easing onto the opposite end of the couch. “But I need to understand what I’m looking at.”

Lara’s eyes close, and she draws in a long breath. When she speaks, her voice is quiet. Controlled. “I have to tell you… I’m just so embarrassed by all this.”

“Don’t be,” I admonish. “You can’t control what he does to you.”

Her eyes flash with anger. “See… that’s just it. I let him do this. I’ve allowed him to treat me horribly, and then tonight, he thought he had the right to slap me.”

My hands curl into fists, but I don’t say a word. I let her get it out.

“It didn’t start like this. Not even close. Lance was… charming. Supportive. He was there for me after uni when I wasn’t sure what I was doing or where I wanted to go. And he made it easy. Familiar.”

I ignore the tightening in my gut. I could have been the one who was there for her, but I didn’t take the chance when I had it.

“It wasn’t bad at first. Little comments, possessive moments, but nothing that felt serious. And then we got engaged.” Her laugh is humorless. “That’s when it shifted. Like a switch was flipped inside of him and suddenly I became… property.”

She rubs her arm absently, her fingers brushing over the fresh bruises like she’s trying to convince herself they’re really there.

“He started checking my texts. Asking where I was all the time. Didn’t want me traveling for work.

Said it wasn’t necessary. The behavior was concerning but I made excuses for him.

I told myself he was stressed, that he loved me too much.

” She looks up, eyes full of quiet shame.

“And I didn’t want to let down my parents.

Or yours, for that matter. Our families are so entangled I didn’t even know how to end it without causing fallout. ”

“You don’t have to explain that part to me,” I murmur. “I know exactly how tight our families are.”

“I wanted out, Reid. I have for a while, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it and not… set him off.”

“Tonight was the first time he’s ever hit you?” I ask tentatively.

She nods. “It’s mostly been just verbal abuse. Sometimes he’ll grab me hard, but he’s never struck me until tonight.”

“What happened after you two left the party?”

Lara shudders over my question. “He thought I was flirting with you. He was accusing me of all kinds of horrid things, and I had no idea what he was talking about. I mean… you and I talked, but it was just… friendly talk, right?”

There was absolutely no flirting. I can attest to that because I know what flirting with Lara looks like. It’s something I stopped doing when we parted ways the last time. “There was no flirting.”

She nods. “The argument escalated, all his false accusations, and I got so mad at him, I snapped. Decided to confront him about his cheating.”

My eyes bug out. “He’s cheating on you?”

What a fucking idiot. I mean… who would ever cheat on this amazing, beautiful, talented and loving soul?

Lara snorts with laughter, claps her hand over her mouth as if she realizes this isn’t funny.

“That really pissed him off. He turned it around on me. Made me seem like the bad guy because I saw his text messages. That’s when he slapped me and then told me he wasn’t going to talk about it anymore.

When he went into the shower, I packed my bag and lit out of there. ”

She says it plainly. A statement. Not a plea for sympathy.

But I still feel sick.

“You were right to leave,” I say softly.

“It’s long overdue. It was solidified when I realized he was unfaithful, but after tonight… he crossed a line. This will never get better, and I knew if I didn’t leave now, I might not get the chance again.”

“I’m glad you came to me.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she whispers. “I packed and ran, and now I’m here and I have no clue what the next move is.”

I nod toward the guest room down the hall. “The next move is getting some sleep. You’re safe here, Lara. We’ll figure out a game plan in the morning.”

Her eyes fill with tears. She blinks fast and swallows hard, forcing them down. “Thank you, Reid.”

I’m about to offer to grab her some tea when her phone rings. She flinches, then picks it up off the coffee table.

“It’s Lance.”

Her thumb hovers over the screen.

“Don’t,” I say. “You don’t owe him anything.”

She nods, sets the phone back down.

It rings again and Lara stares at it like it might explode.

Then a series of chimes start. A text. Then another. And another.

We watch as the messages light up the screen in a long tirade.

Lara doesn’t make a move to look at them, but I can’t help myself. I grab the phone. “What’s your password?”

She rattles it off without hesitation.

I pull up her messages and take in each one.

Where the fuck are you?

You better come back now.

I’ll make you regret this.

You know I didn’t mean it. Let’s talk. We can fix this.

Answer me, Lara. Now.

I’m going back to Torquay in the morning. You better be home to sort this out.

Bloody hell, he’s off his rocker. “I’m going to block him, okay?”

“No, don’t,” she says quickly. “I don’t want to cut off his communications.”

I frown at her, wondering why she would ever want to talk to him again, but she gives me an accommodating smile. “I only mean… I want those messages as evidence. I don’t know how far he’ll go, Reid, but I’m afraid this isn’t going to end easily.”

That actually makes good sense.

“Well,” I say, standing and handing her the phone, “that settles that.”

She looks up at me with a frown marring her pretty face.

“You’re definitely not going back to Torquay anytime soon,” I say firmly. “You’re staying here. Through the weekend. At least until the race is over.”

“I can’t just hide out—”

“You’re not hiding. You’re resting. Processing. You’ve been through hell, Lara. Let someone help carry the load for a while.”

“He’ll wonder where I am,” she says with no small amount of fear on her face. “And eventually, he’ll find out, because I can’t keep this secret from Mum and Dad.”

I rub at my chin, considering her point.

“Then we’ll have to let the parents know what’s happening.

You handle telling Colin and Margot, and I’ll call my parents.

I’m going to ask them not to reveal that you’re here with me.

They won’t, of course. They’ll protect you, and I imagine my brother’s going to get it, especially from our dad. ”

She opens her mouth like she’s about to argue, but instead just exhales and nods. “I hate this. I don’t want it to tear us all apart.”

I move over to where she’s sitting and reach out a hand.

She puts hers in mine without hesitation.

“Lara… I’m sorry, but this is going to change things in our family dynamics.

Now, I know my parents will always love Lance, no matter what he did to you.

But they are going to be so very disappointed, and I know it will hurt their relationship.

I also know they will continue to love you as much as they always have.

You were like a daughter to them long before you got engaged to Lance. ”

“I know. I trust that about Graham and Leanne. But Reid… my parents aren’t going to be as forgiving toward Lance. I don’t want that to cause friction between your parents, especially since our dads are business partners.”

“I doubt that will happen, but here’s the thing… that’s not your problem. You didn’t cause this mess. Lance did.”

She watches me for a few seconds and finally nods. She looks utterly defeated and exhausted.

I gesture toward the hallway. “Second bedroom’s yours. Clean towels in the en suite. There’s a robe if you want one.”

She stands, still gripping the water bottle. As she walks past, she pauses beside me.

“Reid?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for being my friend. I knew you’d be there for me. Never even questioned it.”

“That’s because you’re an incredibly smart woman,” I tease and I’m happy with the small smile I get.

I watch her disappear into the bedroom, the soft click of the door the only sound.

I stop and stand there, noting the anger I felt in the lobby hasn’t dissipated.

If anything, it’s getting sharper.

Lara was right about one thing though. This is going to change things between the families.

I close my eyes, trying to settle the fury still crawling beneath my skin, and instead of the city skyline outside the window, I see sunlight bouncing off the water. The memory comes fast and full, like a wave breaking just before you’re ready.

We were fifteen, Lance seventeen, and it was one of those summer mornings where the air smelled like salt and coconut sunscreen.

The three of us were out past the break at Jan Juc Beach—known for its stronger surf and steeper cliffs—stretched across our boards, waiting for the next good set to roll in.

The sea was glassy out beyond the break, the horizon lazy and golden under the morning sun. The waves weren’t spectacular, but we were happy just hanging.

“Bet you two are glad I let you tag along,” Lance said, pushing his damp hair back with both hands like he was posing for a magazine shoot. His voice carried across the water, smug and teasing.

Lara rolled her eyes from her board beside me. “Let us? I distinctly remember inviting you , Hemsworth.”

“You were fifteen minutes behind me getting out here,” he shot back. “Clearly chasing greatness.”

“You’re not great,” she said flatly. “You’re just tall.”

“I am very tall,” Lance said, as if she’d proven his point.

I grinned, balancing easily on my board. “I don’t know, Lara. You’ve got to admit—his ego does keep him afloat.”

Lara laughed, the sound bright and full and everything summer should be. “That’s the only thing keeping him afloat.”

Lance shook his head but smiled anyway. “Jealousy is ugly on both of you.”

He paddled a little farther out, and when he turned his back, Lara glanced over at me and smirked, her eyes squinting in the sun. “He’s going to be unbearable if he catches the next set.”

“Guess we better catch it first.”

She bumped her board lightly against mine. “Race you.”

We paddled out together, arms slicing through the water in a rhythm that felt as natural as breathing. Always in sync. Always side by side.

The wave rolled in slow and steady—a clean wall of water that seemed to rise just for us.

I pushed into it, but Lara was faster. She popped up with that easy grace she always had—fluid and fearless—and carved down the face like she owned the ocean. Her hair whipped back in the wind, her stance solid, smile wide as she rode it all the way in.

Lance and I both watched her from where we floated.

“She makes that look way too easy,” he muttered, genuinely impressed.

“Yeah,” I said quietly.

He didn’t seem to notice the way I watched her—chest heaving from the paddle, cheeks pink from the sun, eyes lit with that wild, untamable joy that only came from salt water and speed.

She looked like pure joy.

And maybe even then, I already knew—my heart was a little lost to her.