Page 25 of Shattered King

Fiorella

I understand why I love cars so much.

It’s not really a mystery. Anyone who knows what happened to me can figure it out in like ten seconds.

Cars are freedom.

They’re the open road, wind in my hair, nothing holding me back.

Normally, I’m a relatively small girl with pretty decent upper body strength, all things considered.

But in a car, I’m a few hundred pounds of steel and power.

I drive like an absolute maniac. Luca grips the handle above the window and grimaces every time I take a turn and let the tires spin out. I’m being reckless, and I just don’t care.

This is the best day of my life.

I open her up once we’re out of the city.

The suburbs are my playground. I find a highway and see how fast she can go, weaving in and out of traffic, borderline getting into multiple accidents.

It’s selfish and stupid, and I just don’t care.

Luca’s grinning as I find some back streets with lots of curves, and I take them going fast.

We roll past rivers and streams, over covered bridges, alongside canals with dirty brackish water. I honk at a biker. He flips me off. I laugh as I blow past him.

“Honestly, Fio, if I knew you’d end up being the most psychotic driver in the world, I never would’ve let you behind the wheel.”

“Don’t be such a baby.”

“Oh, no, trust me, I’m loving this. You look beautiful. You look alive.”

I laugh because I feel beautiful and alive.

We drive for a few hours. At some point, Luca has to check his phone’s GPS to figure out where the hell we are.

Somewhere north of the city, out in some little place called Doylestown.

I roll along a cute main street, pass the county courthouse, and end up at a crappy little greasy spoon diner set back in the middle of absolute nowhere.

I whip into a spot behind the building and smash on the brakes.

“Let’s eat,” I say, killing the engine and kicking the door open. “I’m starving .”

It’s around three in the afternoon. We’re seated toward the back. There are only a couple of old locals sitting at the counter, and the waitress is a sleepy younger girl with dyed black hair and thick eyeliner. I ask for a burger and fries. Luca wants pancakes and coffee.

“Slow down, I don’t want you to choke.”

I shove bits of burger and fries into my mouth and suck it all down with Diet Coke. “Driving makes me hungry.”

“I can see that.” He looks amused as he watches me go to town. “You really love it, don’t you?”

“I really, really do.” I clear my plate, barely taking a break to breathe or speak. When I’m done, I sit back with a deep, contented sigh. “Fuck, that’s good.”

“You’re a simple girl to please, Fio.”

“Take that back. I’m complex and full of mystery.”

“All you need is a burger and an expensive car to keep you happy.”

I tilt my head from side to side with a frown. “Well, yeah, when you put it that way.”

He laughs, eyes shining and happy, and I can’t help but grin back. I can’t remember the last time he looked like this. Like he was having fun without any hesitations or reservations. No worries, no problems, no murder weighing him down.

I have to admit, I like it.

He looks good, smiling at me like I’m the greatest thing he’s ever seen before.

It makes my belly feel warm.

“I have to ask, how’d you get into all this stuff?”

I shrug a little and lean back into the booth. “You know my family’s main thing is cars.”

“Right, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to love them the way you do. My family’s main thing is drugs. I don’t lose my shit over heroin.”

“Fair point.” I glance away toward the window and consider telling him everything.

But that would involve reliving those awful few days, and I don’t want to ruin what’s been an incredibly good afternoon.

“Something bad happened to me when I was younger. It was pretty terrible, and for a while after that, I was all kinds of messed up.”

His smile fades slightly. “You want to tell me what happened?”

I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter. That’s not really important. But like six months after it happened, my brother brought me to one of my family’s garages, and he showed me this car.” I smile again, almost smelling the interior all over again.

Leather, dirt, sweat, old flooring.

Perfection.

“What’d it look like?”

“Red, like the Spider. But it was something else. I don’t even remember the make and model anymore. That was back before I knew anything about cars. It was red and little though, probably a Jaguar or maybe a Mercedes. Raf gave me the keys and was like, ‘Want to drive it?’”

Luca’s smile is back. “How old were you?”

“Fourteen. Never driven a car before. I had no clue how. But I was so fucked up and depressed, and I just figured, why the hell not? I got behind the wheel, Raf showed me how to start it up, he explained the pedals, the steering, all that stuff, and then…” I mime the action in the air. “I put it in gear and went.”

“How’d that feel?” he asks, leaning forward.

“ Terrifying . I nearly hit a fire hydrant in the first ten seconds. I went around and around in a parking lot, and after a few minutes, I started to relax. I wasn’t thinking about what happened to me. I wasn’t focusing on all the bad stuff anymore. I had something better.”

I run my hands over the linoleum tabletop, feeling that first steering wheel all over again.

“How long did you drive?”

“Hours. Seriously. Raf let me go, he didn’t say a word, just sat there and let me drive.

I left the parking lot after like thirty minutes, and from there, it was like slipping my hand into a glove.

I was locked in. I could go anywhere. Nobody could stop me.

Nothing could get in my way. I’m always chasing that first drive.

The feeling of pure freedom going straight into my veins.

” I sigh, tilting my head back with a psycho grin. “It was bliss.”

“What happened after that?”

“I crashed the fucking thing.”

He barks a laugh, looking astonished. “You’re kidding me.”

“Nope, I’m serious. It was like two minutes from the garage too.

I made a stupid decision and went when I should have waited, and I ended up smashing through a fence and straight into a tree.

Luckily, we were going like twelve miles an hour at most, but the front end was trashed, and Raf was pissed . ”

“Bet you’re still living that one down.”

“Oh, absolutely. But the best part is he forced me to learn how to fix it.”

Luca nods slowly and sits back, crossing his arms over his chest. “And that’s how you got the bug.”

“That’s how I got the bug,” I echo, nodding along.

“Raf didn’t do it on purpose. I think he just wanted to punish me for being an idiot.

But the second I stepped foot in that garage and started taking something broken and making it whole again, I was straight up hooked . I’ve been rebuilding cars ever since.”

“That’s a good story,” he says softly, looking like he really means it. “You found something meaningful. A lot of people never get that.”

“I know they’re just cars. But when I can take something wrecked and worthless, and make it whole again—” I stop myself and finish my drink, leaving the last part unspoken.

It proves that maybe one day, I can be whole again too.

“We got a lot of light left,” he says, peering outside. “You want to keep going? I don’t have to get this thing back until tonight.”

“Fuck, yes.” I stand up and stretch. “Think you can handle more?”

“I’m absolutely sure I can.”

Luca pays, and we head back out to the car. There’s nobody else around. We’re alone in the Spider, and I stare at the ignition for a second before turning to him.

Then I throw myself across the seat again and kiss him like a maniac.

I don’t stop this time. I’m not thinking anymore. No more analyzing and worry. There’s no baby, no marriage, no tomorrow. It’s just me and Luca in a car I love, and that’s enough. There’s just right now.

I fumble with his belt. He laughs as he takes off my jeans.

It’s cramped and not easy, and anyone could walk back and catch us.

I don’t give a shit. He’s so hard it hurts when I finally get him inside me.

I kiss him and bite his lower lip, and the whole car shakes and the suspension creaks as he fucks me.

I ride him hard, arching down along his shaft, wanting him inside me so bad I’m willing to do anything for it.

“Stay in me,” I whisper, grinding as pleasure rips into my core. “Stay deep in me.”

“I’m all in you, baby,” he moans back. “Every inch of me. All of me. Fuck, Fio, I need this.”

“I need this too.”

We fuck like idiots, grinding and crashing into each other, mouths meeting and breaking apart.

I gasp and moan and whimper as his tongue rolls against mine and his cock spreads me apart, and I don’t last long.

Fear from getting caught, adrenaline from taking his dick in a car like this, it completely wrecks me.

I shatter on him. I come apart, and he doesn’t stop. He holds my hips and tells me I’m pretty and I’m a good girl and I’m all his, and I believe every single damn word he says as he comes too, filling me to the brim.

“Well, fuck,” I whisper, kissing him as we both breathe hard. He holds me tight against him.

“Yeah. Same.”

I don’t know how long we stay like that.

A few minutes, at least, until one of those locals comes out the back.

He’s in ratty jeans and a jean vest, and he limps along the parking lot, pausing only to squint over in our direction.

I look back at him over my shoulder, and Luca gently slides me from his lap and places me back into the driver’s seat.

“Do I gotta kill him?” he growls softly.

But the local guy only grins and gives us the thumbs-up before shuffling off, lighting a cigarette and keeping his head down.

“Let him go.” I yank my underwear up. They’re not doing much more than emotional support at this point. “I don’t want to get blood on the car.”

“Good point.” He scowls as he gets himself tucked away. “You ready?”

“I’m ready.” I start the engine, the purr sending a shiver down my spine. “You want a turn?”

His eyebrows raise. “Really? You’re offering?”

I think about it. This has been one of the best afternoons of my life, if I’m being completely honest with myself.

I hate it, but I really liked spending time with him.

Maybe it’d be nice to let him drive for a few miles.

“Nah, just kidding.”

I hit the gas and we shoot out of there like lightning.