Page 72 of Full Throttle

“Technically,” Dominic said mildly, “it was just the one car.”

Juliette shot him a look. He looked remarkably unfazed for someone who had just been caught almost fornicating on company property. She picked up a pen. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Dominic. Ranya studied her with pursed lips, and Juliette resisted the urge to fidget. It would have been better, she thought, if Ranya had been angry. But the disappointment…

That was a blow.

“You’re both adults,” Ranya said. “What you do outside working hours is your own business. I’d only ask that you consider the consequences.” Her gaze lingered over Juliette for a moment, then she cleared her throat. “Now. Can we move to the issue at hand? I have a flight to catch.”

Dominic laced his hands behind his head, as if inviting her to continue. Juliette gripped the pen harder. She couldn’t imagine an issue worse than what Ranya had just witnessed. What were they dealing with here? An impending solar flare? Nuclear warfare? The sky opening up and raining man-eating armadillos?

“Firstly,” Ranya said, “I’d like to apologize for the late hour. My meeting with the shareholders ran late.”

Juliette’s eyes flicked to the clock. It was almost one o’clock, and she squeezed the pen tighter. In her experience, no good news was delivered after midnight. “I didn’t know there was a meeting scheduled.”

“There wasn’t.” Ranya zipped up a suitcase. “I’ll cut to the chase. Unsurprisingly, none of them are happy with your performance today.”

“It was an accident,” she said.

“Even so,” Ranya said. “The shareholders feel that having you both on the same team is too much of a risk, considering your…disagreements.” She lingered over the last word, as if she’d almost chosen another one. “They feel that having another driver on the team would be better for morale. Reduce the chance of crashing.”

Realization struck her. “You’re replacing one of us.”

Ranya’s mouth thinned. “Yes.”

Juliette glanced at Dominic, but he was looking straight ahead, his expression impassive. And even though it was stupid—even though he owed her nothing—betrayal punched her in the gut. He’d known. He’d probably worked it out on the walk over, while she’d been mentally rehearsing an impassioned speech in their defense. Like an idiot.

God.

She’d rather take her chances with the man-eating armadillos.

“When?”

“At the end of the season,” Ranya said.

She kept her gaze away from Dominic. “Which driver are you keeping?”

Ranya paused. “That’s why I wanted to speak with you. It’s better if it comes from me.” She closed her laptop. “We’re keeping whichever driver does better this year.”

Juliette stared. “You’re going to make us compete?”

As soon as she said it, she realized that it made sense: It was the fairest way to do it. Not to mention that—

“Strategically,” Ranya said, anticipating her next thought, “it makes sense.” She laced her hands. “That way we’ll get the best driving out of both of you this season. Not to mention that it might discourage any more…personal entanglements.”

Ah. So Ranya was annoyed about the kissing-on-team-property thing. Not that she blamed her. Juliette stared down at a mug; it had a sparkly rainbow with the words You Can Do Anything!, which felt like a real slap to the face.

Dominic frowned. “You really want us to try to overtake each other at every opportunity? Take risky gambles just to score points?”

Ranya’s mouth was bloodless. “Obviously not.”

“Let us talk to the shareholders,” Dominic said. “We can change their minds.”

A muscle jumped in his cheek: the only sign of his discomposure. But Ranya was already shaking her head. “It’s too late. They’ve offered Tucker Davies a contract. He’s due to sign it at the end of the season.”

Juliette leaned back. Tucker was an Australian F2 driver; she’d raced against him for the last three years. Something about hearing his name…about knowing that one of them really would be replaced at the end of the season…

Her chest tightened.