Nova's POV.
We returned back to Monaco after our little trip. That perfect little trip.
Lando and Piper had to go to Canada pretty soon for the next race.
Which only meant one thing - traditional dinner time.
But I was more nervous for it than before. I was gonna see Lando again, were we gonna act as friends? Were we gonna tell them what happened?
Was he gonna bring Sofia?
Piper stormed into my apartment, as if she was ready for combat.
"What happened?" I asked, but unfortunately I was already suspecting it had something to do with Julian.
"You need to be honest with me right now" she said. "What does your brother do?"
"He uh-has a few clubs in London and Monaco" I put my glass down on the kitchen counter.
"What does he do as his main job Nova?"
Okay - this was really happening.
I walked to her, grabbed her hand and sat down on my couch together.
I had to rip the plaster off. Quick.
"He's a ganglord"
She blinked a few times. Maybe she was expecting something like that already but probably not this big.
"What does that mean?" She asked softly.
It means that he's dangerous, he steals, made his fortune stealing antiques, art, old necklaces.
The clubs were just a way to make that dirty money clean again.
It means that he's the most dangerous guy in every room.
It means that you can't walk around London without security, without having to watch your back.
That's the reason why I ran away - why I moved to Monaco.
I shrugged my shoulders. "He steals and stuff" I summarized. Putting it very nicely.
"Did he ever hurt someone?"
I shrugged my shoulders again. "I don't know"
Yes he did.
"He will protect you Pipes"
She said nothing, she just stared at me for a while, got up and left.
And I guess this was the end of their relationship.
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I walked in the restaurant alone, made sure everyone knew they had to come.
No excuses.
I already spotted Lando's Mclaren, so he for sure was already here. On time.
I walked to our usual table and smiled as I saw everyone sitting together.
Max next to Kelly, Tom joined too, surprisingly Piper and Julian were also sitting together.
And Lando - sitting alone, with an empty seat next to him. My spot.
"Hi guys, good to see everyone could make it" I sat down next to Lando, who immediately put his hand on my thigh and kissed my cheek.
Tom looked at us, frowning. "Did I miss something?"
"Oh yeah - they're back together I guess" Julian mumbled.
"Weren't you dating that blonde girl?" Tom looked at Lando.
"Yeah but-" Lando started but got interrupted pretty quickly.
"Hi everyone, didn't know you would be here too" someone said.
I turned my face, just to see the Leclerc brothers standing in front of our table.
"Kind of a traditional dinner" Lando said annoyed.
And there was a silence that lasted a bit too long not to be awkward.
"Uh- you can join if you want?" Max said.
"We don't wanna disturb a private dinner though" Charles smiled, looking down at me.
"Okay bye the-" Lando said but I quickly put my hand on his arm. "You are not interrupting though" I said as I looked up at Charles.
He was my friend, there was no reason to be mean.
Charles sat down next to me and I could hear Lando grumble.
"So, you always do these kind of dinners?" He asked, only to me. "Yes, before a raceweekend" I nodded.
Did I never take him to these things? Guess not.
"Cute" he smiled.
"Yeah isn't it cute?" Lando said, putting his hand over my chair. "Dinner with all of our friends"
Charles chuckled, ignoring Lando's comment and turned to Julian. "Heard you opened a new club, congratulations"
"Thanks man" Julian nodded at him.
Piper shook her head very lightly, no one else probably noticed, besides my brother and I.
He mimicked Lando, putting his hand over her chair, brushing his fingers against her shoulder.
And her face softened.
It was as if she knew she had to get out, break it off, run away from him.
But she couldn't, she loves him, was somehow attracted to the danger.
I looked at Lando, shifted my chair a little closer to him.
Unfortunately, I liked the danger too.
