Lock Up ⏐Charles Leclerc

Chapter 71

I couldn't help but grin as Dante leaned back into his seat. "You don't want to consider the investment with your finance department?"

He shook his head. "This is a personal investment, Valentine. I'm glad to see someone I know doing the same thing and it would be wrong for me not to show my support. This is good and I'm sure whoever this foundation is for would be more than grateful."

I hope so.

We talked for another half hour, steering away from work and catching up as friends. I found out he's seeing someone back in Barcelona but Dante kept his lips shut aside from saying she was a wonderful woman. Taking the chance, he asked about Charles as well.

"Charles Leclerc, wow." He said, nodding his head as he showed me a teasing smile.

"He's just Charles to me." I shrugged, not helping the bright smile that always appears on my face whenever I talk about Charles with other people.

"I bet his friends have the same reaction. You two are like a power couple."

"I wish everyone thought that."

"Nah." Dante said, waving a hand in the air. "We both know we can't please everyone so just focus on those who do nothing but support you until the end."

"Are you a fan of Formula One as well?" I asked since he seemed like he knew some stuff about Charles before I even talked about him.

He nodded his head after giving me a sheepish smile. "To be honest, I've come close to meeting him during a few occasions. I've been introduced to Carlos and Alonso before when I attended the Spanish grand prix."

I watched as Dante gushed about the two Spanish drivers, even including Daria who only nodded along. It was obvious she wasn't interested in the sport since she stuck to eating the dessert she ordered, humming every few minutes to agree with her brother.

"Thank you for meeting with me." I told him as the three of us walked out of the restaurant,  Dante holding Daria's hand. "I'll let Olivia email you for the transfer."

"You're welcome." Dante smiled and moved forward to give me a hug. "I'm sure Charles would love it."

My eyes widened as he pulled away with a smirk on his lips. "What–"

"I still have no idea why it's for Parkinson's, but you're not one to do big things like this unless it's for the ones you love, Valentine. Look at me, people who didn't know me that well assumed that I just had some spare money but I was really doing it for Daria." Dante said, smiling down at Daria who was busy looking around at the people who passed by.

"He doesn't know yet." I said, hoping he'd understand and I'm glad Dante caught on.

"You're secret's safe with me."

I went back home to work some more in my office. After the holidays, I would become more busy since filming would start in February. It was originally planned to begin by the middle of January, but I made a personal request to move it for a few more weeks since I'd be having my annual isolation for that month. I can't believe almost a year has passed. I haven't planned anything so I figured I'd just go back to Tuscany. Charles hasn't shared his plans after the season so I'm not sure if he'd want to join me once again.

At around eleven in the evening, I had moved over to my living room to read over the draft that the screenwriters have made for the film. The margins were marked with green ink from my notes and how I planned out the scene in my head. I was lying down on the sofa when my phone began to ring, showing Charles' name.

"Hey." I smiled when I accepted the video call, placing the script on the table.

He was in his car and from what I could see through his window, it was bright and sunny in Maranello. "Good morning, Bellerose." Charles smiled, glancing at the phone before bringing his eyes back to the road.