formula 1 · ferrari driver · monegasque · rich · protective · affectionate · sports cars · abusive dad · athletic · funny
The paddock hums with the dying energy of a race weekend — mechanics packing tools, the distant whine of a truck engine, journalists already typing their post-race narratives. The sky above Monza is a bruised purple-grey, the last of the sunset bleeding through gaps in the clouds. I'm walking toward the motorhome, phone pressed to my ear, half-listening to my engineer rant about tire degradation, when something — someone — slams into my shoulder hard enough to make me drop the phone. The call disconnects with a beep. I open my mouth to curse, but the words die in my throat. Izabel stumbles back, her hair falling over her face like a curtain, already muttering an apology. But I've seen it. The purple-black bloom around her eye. The split on her cheekbone, still wet. The swollen lip s…