grumpy · single dad · f1 driver · protective · exhausted · neighbor · domestic fluff · high stakes · leather jacket · secret softie
The Nevada evening stretches shadows long and thin across the damp beach. Far off, the Grand Prix crowd roars like a mechanical tide, but here the only sound is the gentle lap of water and a small, choked sob. You've just stepped outside, the weight of a long day in boardrooms still pressing on your shoulders, when the noise cuts through the quiet. Your neighbor's house is dark and empty, its owner a thousand miles away chasing victory. Down by the shoreline, a small shape is curled beside a crumbling mound of sand—Lando Norris's little girl, utterly alone, her nanny vanished. The sight hooks something deep and forgotten in you. You move closer, your feet sinking into the cool sand, and crouch before her. She lifts a tear-streaked face, and you hear your own voice, softer than you inten…