Epilogue
When Lana wins, I don’t hesitate to jump the railing onto the track, despite the cacophony of voices arguing against it.
What are they going to do, suspend me?
Decked out in a completely pink and purple outfit Demi picked out for me, I bolt across the dirt to where Lana is sliding out of her truck. She removes her helmet before catching sight of me below. Without hesitation, she jumps, expecting me to catch her without a word. Which I do, of course.
I’ll always catch Lana Carson.
I press my lips to hers as she throws her helmet to the ground, spinning her around me as I do. In another lifetime, I’d freak about the helmet falling, about the potential damage to it, but who the fuck cares right now?
Lana’s a fucking national champion.
I’ll buy her a dozen new helmets. Hell, there are going to be sponsors lining up to gift her a new one starting tomorrow.
“You did it!” I shout over the loud noise around us.
It’s been three months since she decided to quit the Mavens and join Monster Smash full-time, and despite the odds since this was her first season, despite the nonstop misogyny and rude behavior from announcers and fans, Lana took the entire thing.
My heartbreaker is a champion.
“I did it!” she shouts back, eyes watering as I set her feet to the ground.
My hand cups her cheek as she finally cracks, letting the emotion take over her.
I pull her into me, knowing she won’t want everyone to see her crying.
She’s gotten better about it, but only with me, and it’s something I hold dear.
Her trust and comfort with me have only grown, and I’m so grateful for it.
“I’m such a girl,” she says through a sniffle as she pulls back. I press my forehead against hers and wipe at her cheek.
“My girl. You’re my girl, Lana.”
“I am.” I grin at her, and she returns it. I press my lips to hers once more, then whisper, “I love you, heartbreaker.” She hears it, though, evidenced by the new wave of shimmering tears in her eyes.
“I love you, Roman.” As always, when she says those words, my chest settles, warming through, and I kiss her again. I intend this one to be longer, hotter, more consuming, but a shout of her name over my shoulder distracts her.
“Lana!” Behind us in the stands are a handful of women, all of them strikingly beautiful, with Demi in the middle, carrying a giant Team Heartbreaker banner they made.
They’re all wearing custom Heartbreaker shirts, and while I knew they would all be here—I was the one who made sure our huge cheering section would have the seats we needed all together—Lana did not.
Her eyes are wide as she runs to the edge of the stadium, staring up at the Mavens.
“What are you guys doing here?” Lana asks, in awe.
“Did you think we’d miss this?” Demi asks, smiling down at her. “Hell no.”
“But you were all on assignments!” she says. “I literally called you and Rory yesterday!”
“We lied,” Josie, who I learned to be the Maneater of the group, says with a wide grin.
“Gabriel gave us all leave to come. He says congratulations,” Rory, Josie’s partner, says.
“Why does he always give you the information?” Josie asks, sounding annoyed.
“Because I’m not afraid of him like the rest of you,” she counters with a shrug. Lana opens her mouth, but a new set of voices comes through, and her attention is once again stolen as her brothers jump the railing.
“Lookin’ good, little sis,” Archer says, pulling her away from me and into his side. “Fucking badass.”
“With this crowd, soon you’re going to need to hire me to protect you,” Drew says.
“That’s actually—” I start, contemplatively, since the idea of not being by her side 24/7 admittedly gives me some anxiety.
She goes along with it since we both went through a lot, and she’s allowed the inspectors I hired to perform routine inspections of her truck to ease my nerves.
Hiring her brother might be too much for her.
“Absolutely not. I would fucking kill him,” she says, giving me a cutting glance. “Plus, you’re busy with your pop star, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah. She wanted to come, but she didn’t want to take away from your big moment.
” Lana’s brother works for Wilde Security, and his primary client is world-famous pop star Willa Stone.
“But I was instructed to buy everyone a shirt from the merch booth, and Emma is demanding tickets to the next race.” Lana nods.
“Deal. Tell her I’ll let her drive my truck if she can convince her dad to let her.” Drew lets out a loud laugh.
“Oh, I’m sure Jesse will just love that.”
“Heartbreaker!” a new voice calls, and when Lana turns, Tyler and Oliver are running toward her, grinning wide.
“You fucking did it!” Tyler pulls her in for a hard hug, one that a few months ago would have pissed me off.
Since then, Tyler has become like a third brother to her, something I appreciate since it makes me feel better to know someone is looking out for her.
“I told you I’d kick your ass,” she taunts.
“You sure did,” he says. Phil walks over then with a crew of reporters, holding a trophy as big as her head, and Lana grins wide.
“You look proud,” my dad says, appearing out of nowhere.
“Never been prouder,” I say, watching as my winner is handed her trophy and is whisked away by Courtney for photos and press.
A few hours later, we’re out celebrating.
We have a private area where the Monster Smash drivers, all of Lana’s friends and family, and a few Indy drivers are hanging out, but Demi and the Mavens pulled a very tipsy Lana out onto the dance floor earlier.
I thought that after months of space between the sabotages and frequent separation, some of my protectiveness would have died down.
Still, I’m beginning to think I’ll always be wildly protective of Lana Carson, and I can’t help but watch her from afar.
“She’s having fun,” Drew says, stepping over to me, eyes also on his sister as Demi spins her around. She stumbles, and they both nearly fall before Oliver catches them. Both women explode into a fit of giggles I can’t hear, but wish I could. I love her laugh.
“She deserves it,” I say, taking a sip of my drink.
“She does. I don’t know the last time I saw her this free,” he says.
He’s still watching Lana with an intrigued look on his face.
“She was always trying to show off. To fit in. Given that she grew up with Arch and me, it was inevitable. She didn’t have anyone else to look up to, and we were kind of assholes about it. ”
“You were kids,” I say. Even though I still hold some of Lana’s old issues against the brothers, if anyone knows about how you can grow and change, it’s me.
“Yeah, but so was she.” There’s regret in his words, and it twists my gut, but still, I know that I’ve done what I can to heal Lana’s inner child, and I’ll continue to do that for years and years to come.
“You’re good for her, you know,” he says after a moment.
I look to him, confused. “You bring out something in her. Make her more… her.” He looks back to his sister.
“I thought it was joining the circuit, but it’s not.
It’s you. There’s something about you that makes her feel comfortable. ”
“I’ve made it my goal to take care of every side of her, make sure she feels safe being who she wants to be.” He takes a long sip of his drink before nodding.
“Good. Keep it up.” Finally, he gives me a devious smile.
“If not, I’m sure Jaime would be fine with helping me hide a body.
” I blink, unsure if he’s joking, but considering he works for Jaime Wilde, a man not known for his sense of humor who probably does know where and how to hide a body, I’m not completely sure.
I open my mouth, but he tips his chin toward Lana.
“Might want to go down there, claim your girl.” Tyler is standing behind Lana, hands on her hips, dancing.
He looks up to where he knows we are, even if he can’t see me watching, and flips off the private area.
With a groan, I move, setting my drink down and heading to the main dance floor. I hear Drew’s laughter behind me.
“Get the fuck away from her,” I tell my best friend, who laughs.
“That worked quicker than I thought,” Lana says with a laugh.
I look at her, confused. “I wanted you to come dance with me.” Her hands slide up my chest and loop around my neck.
“Knew if you saw someone coming in on your territory, you’d come down and be all caveman.
” My cock twitches with her words, and her smile grows wider.
A fucking troublemaker.
“Be good, heartbreaker,” I say, turning her in my arms, her back to my chest, and starting to sway with her before I press my lips to her neck right below her ear. “I know this is your party, but you’re still my girl.” She looks over her shoulder, lips tipping just a bit.
“Or what?” A groan leaves my lips involuntarily, swallowed by the noise of the club as I pull her hips forward into mine, where I’m sure she can feel cock rise to attention.
“Or else when I get you come, you’re going to be laid on my lap and spanked for teasing me.” She licks her lips, and I question my sanity.
“That’s really not the best way to get me to act right, Roman. You should know that by now,” she says, grinding her ass into me.
“You’re playing with fire, Lana,” I groan.
“That’s the goal, pretty boy. Now dance with me. You’ve got at least an hour before Demi will let you drag me out of here.”
And then, because I’ve made it my life goal to give Alana Carson whatever she wants, I do just that.
My stomach is in knots.
I had a pretty manicure this morning, but it’s long gone, chipped away, and probably making its way through my stomach as we speak. There’s nothing in there but coffee anyway, which probably explains why I’m so jittery.
Or maybe it’s that Rome is on the last two laps of the IndyCar Grand Prix. He’s in the lead, though it keeps bumping between him and the lead driver of another team.