Money changed things. Not in the way people imagined — not loud or careless — but in the quiet freedoms it gave him.

Private flights instead of long waits, hotels where everything felt familiar, an apartment in Monaco that finally felt like home. Lando had worked for this life, step by step, season by season. He knew exactly what it had cost him, and he never took it for granted.

But today wasn’t about racing.

Dubai shimmered around them in soft heat and glass reflections as they stepped out of the hotel, the city already awake. Lando slowed without thinking, letting her match his pace, his hand finding hers easily. He glanced at her, a small smile tugging at his lips — softer than the one cameras usually caught.

“No rush today,” he said quietly. “I just want to spend it with you.”

There was no schedule, no pressure. Just the two of them, the hum of the city, and a day he had set aside entirely for her. Shopping, wandering, stopping wherever she wanted — not because he could, but because he wanted to.

For once, everything else could wait.