Chapter Forty-Seven
Sabrina
The smell of petrol and burnt rubber lingered in the air long before we reached the industrial estate.
By the time Matteo pulled into the crowded lot, the race was already in full swing.
Music thundered through hidden speakers, engines roared from every direction, and people moved between rows of modified cars as though this were any other Saturday night instead of an illegal street race.
Bright headlights cut through the darkness while conversations blended into a constant hum beneath the revving engines.
New York's underground racing scene was still every bit as chaotic as I remembered.
“I'll find you before my race,” Matteo said as he climbed out of the driver's seat.
Carlo was already halfway across the car park before either of us could answer, disappearing into the crowd as familiar voices called his name. Matteo laughed under his breath, shook his head and followed after him, leaving me to make my way through the crowd.
Valeria wasn't difficult to find. She was leaning against her black Porsche with effortless confidence, one boot resting against the tyre while Asher animatedly explained something beside her.
Mario stood with his arms folded, wearing the long-suffering expression of someone who'd heard the same speech too many times, while Lillian looked as though she was only moments away from laughing.
“There she is,” Valeria called, straightening as I approached.
She pulled me into a hug before stepping back to study me.
“I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us.”
“It's been three days.”
“I know,” she replied. “Far too long.”
Mario laughed. “I genuinely don't know how the two of you survived before you met.”
“We didn't,” Valeria said matter-of-factly. “Life was painfully dull.”
Asher's attention drifted towards the starting grid.
“The GT-R takes the first race.”
Mario sighed. “Don't.”
“What?”
“I know that look.”
“I've nearly won all my money back.”
“Nearly,” Lillian muttered.
Valeria folded her arms. “If you're planning to bet again, I'm telling your dad.”
Asher looked subtly offended. “I'm just going to the bathroom.”
Mario snorted. “You're going to find Tommy.”
“...Maybe.”
“Thought so.”
Without another word, Mario followed him into the crowd before Asher had the chance to disappear. Asher muttered something under his breath about trust issues, but Mario stayed close enough behind that there wasn't much chance of him disappearing into the crowd.
The moment they were gone, the conversation shifted. Valeria's gaze wandered over my shoulder before a knowing smile slowly spread across her face.
“Huh.”
I frowned. “What?”
Instead of answering, she nodded discreetly towards the opposite side of the street.
Curious, I glanced over my shoulder and found Luis standing amongst a group of racers, one hand tucked into the pocket of his jeans while someone beside him spoke animatedly. He appeared to be listening, but every few seconds his attention drifted back towards me.
I turned back to Valeria, who was watching me with a knowing smile.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Valeria.”
She nodded towards Luis. “He's been watching you since you arrived.”
I glanced back at him. Sure enough, his eyes were on me again. When he realised I'd caught him staring, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth before he turned his attention back to the man beside him.
I looked away, trying to ignore the strange flutter in my stomach.
“He's probably just looking around,” I said.
Lillian raised an eyebrow. “For the fifth time?”
“Maybe.”
Valeria laughed softly. “Sabrina, men don't spend half the evening watching a woman for no reason.”
“I highly doubt Luis Romero is interested in me.”
Lillian's smile widened. “That's interesting.”
“What is?”
“You didn't deny that he's been watching you. You denied that he's interested.”
Heat crept into my cheeks.
“There is nothing going on.”
The two of them exchanged a look that immediately made me suspicious.
“Sabrina,” Valeria said, drawing my name out slowly, “what happened?”
I sighed, already knowing I wasn't getting out of this conversation, so I told them.
I explained how Luis had climbed onto my balcony with Nebbia tucked in his arms and everything that had happened afterwards. By the time I'd finished, Valeria was staring at me as though I'd confessed to a crime.
“He gave you a kitten...”
I nodded.
“...Because she reminded him of you.”
Another nod.
She shook her head in disbelief. “Sabrina, no man gives a woman a kitten because it reminds him of her unless he's completely gone.”
“You're overthinking it.”
“Am I?” she asked. “Then answer one question.”
I sighed. “What?”
“How did you feel when he said she reminded him of you?”
The answer should have been simple, but I found myself searching for words.
“I don't know,” I admitted, but Valeria's expression told me she wasn't going to let me get away with that answer.
“Sabrina.”
I sighed. “My stomach... fluttered.”
Valeria stared at me before breaking into laughter.
“Oh, sweetheart. Those are butterflies.”
I frowned. “I don't get butterflies.”
“You do now.”
Before I could argue, the loudspeaker crackled overhead, cutting through the conversations around us.
“Drivers to the line.”
A ripple of excitement swept through the crowd as people surged towards the barriers, eager to get a better view of the starting line.
Valeria shot me a knowing look before hooking her arm through Lillian's.
“Looks like you've been saved.”
I smiled innocently. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” She laughed as Lillian pulled her towards the crowd. “We're finishing this conversation later.”
“I don't think we are.”
“You don't get a vote.”
Shaking my head, I followed them at a slower pace, weaving between spectators until I found a gap near the barriers. Matteo's Nissan sat beneath the floodlights opposite a dark blue Supra, both drivers making their final preparations as the crowd buzzed with anticipation.
Carlo was already somewhere near the front, shouting something that made Matteo laugh before he pulled on his helmet.
The familiar growl of engines vibrated through the ground beneath my feet as the noise around me gradually faded into eager silence.
“You made it.”
I glanced to my right and found Luis standing beside me, his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket. The flashing headlights swept across his face in brief bursts of light, but they couldn't disguise the faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“So did you.”
“I wasn't going to miss Matteo's race.”
A small smile escaped me. “Neither was I.”
We stopped a few feet behind the barrier, close enough to see the drivers making their final preparations but far enough from the crowd that we weren't constantly being jostled.
Around us, excitement buzzed through the air as spectators shouted predictions, argued over odds and placed last-minute bets before the race began.
Luis let the silence settle for a moment before speaking again.
“How's the kitten?”
The question caught me off guard, and before I realised it, I was smiling.
“She's settled in better than I expected.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “Dario's decided she belongs to him now. I don't think I've held her for more than five minutes without him appearing out of nowhere to steal her.”
A quiet laugh escaped him. “I had a feeling that would happen.”
“I named her.”
He turned his head slightly. “You did?”
“Nebbia.”
He repeated the name under his breath, as though testing how it sounded. “Nebbia,” he murmured. “It suits her.”
“It does.”
His gaze lingered on me for another second before returning to the starting line. The silence settled easily between us, comfortable in a way that should have been impossible considering how little we actually knew each other.
“I've been meaning to ask you something,” he said eventually.
I looked at him. “What?”
“I'd like to take you to dinner.”
I turned to him, caught off guard by the quiet certainty in his voice.
“That's not really a question.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “No.”
Heat unfurled beneath my ribs, warm and unfamiliar, making it suddenly difficult to hold his gaze. I looked back towards the track, pretending to study the cars lining up at the starting line.
“I'll... think about it.”
He nodded, accepting my answer without pushing.
I hesitated before asking the question that had been sitting in the back of my mind since the night he'd climbed onto my balcony.
“Why me?”
Luis was quiet for a moment, watching the drivers make their final preparations.
“Do you remember the convenience store?”
I nodded. “I remember.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“Matteo spent almost ten minutes talking.”
“That sounds like him.”
His eyes met mine.
“I couldn't tell you a single thing he said.”
“Why?”
His smile softened.
“Because I was busy watching you.”
He held my gaze.
“I've met a lot of people, Sabrina.”
His smile faded into something quieter.
“Most of them I forget.”
He paused.
“I never forgot you.”
The world around us seemed to blur into meaningless noise.
“I kept thinking about that moment. About you. Then every time I saw you after that, it became a little harder to convince myself I wasn't looking for another excuse to see you again.”
My heart was beating far too fast.
I lowered my gaze, hoping the darkness would hide the warmth creeping into my cheeks.
It didn't.
A quiet smile tugged at Luis's mouth.
“You're blushing.”
I looked away. “You weren't supposed to notice.”
“That would've been difficult.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven't stopped looking at you.”
My heart betrayed me all over again, beating so loudly I was convinced he could hear it. I shook my head with a quiet laugh, looking away before I embarrassed myself any further.
“You're impossible.”
“I've been told.”
He smiled, but this time he didn't say anything else.
I glanced back towards the track, trying to focus on the cars lined up beneath the floodlights.
“I'll think about dinner.”
His eyes returned to mine, a quiet smile appearing on his face.
“Okay.”
Before either of us could say anything else, the announcer's voice boomed across the industrial estate, followed by the deafening scream of engines launching from the starting line.
The crowd erupted around us as Matteo's Nissan disappeared down the straight in a blur of headlights, swallowed by the roar of the crowd.
It was the first time I'd ever watched him race, and I missed almost all of it. Every time I tried to focus on the track, I found myself looking back at Luis.