Apex | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 42

The first few minutes covered the events of the previous race and how each of the teams plan to go through the weekend. One of the reporters then brought up Lewis' appearance and the question mentioned the no jewelry rule that drivers needed to follow. Apparently, they weren't allowed to wear any jewelry while they were in the car unless it was a wedding ring. Lewis then argued that the reason why he couldn't remove his nose piercing was due to an infection yet the FIA still fined him for it.

The conference was about to move on when one of the reporters raised their hand. "Lewis, are you wearing a wedding ring?"

Whispers filled the conference room as I saw the camera zoom in on Lewis' hand, the gold band on full display.

Everyone waited for the world champion to speak until he showed a small smile. "Yes, I got married last weekend."

I don't think the questions would've stopped if one of the FIA officers in attendance hadn't calmed down the crowd. The drivers in front whispered amongst one another, mainly Charles, Seb, and Lewis. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Lewis inclined his head at our way and I turned around just in time to see Adeline wink at him.

My lips formed a smirk as Adeline met my eyes. I briefly glanced at her left hand and found a matching gold band, identical to what Lewis was wearing.

"Should I be calling you Mrs. Hamilton now?" I teased, my voice low so that no one else would hear.

She shook her head, a joyful smile on her face. "There's no way I'm letting go of the name Toussaint. Besides, I've worked too hard to make a name for myself. Not even Lewis could make me change it."

"I see congratulations are in order." I told Lewis when I walked out of the building with Adeline by my side. Beside him, Charles smirked before moving to stand beside me, hand settling on the small of my back.

"I'm a very lucky man." He grinned, kissing Adeline's cheek who smiled in return.

We chatted with the newlyweds before Charles and I headed for the Ferrari motorhome where he had to prepare for the first free practice session. I sat on top of what looked like a storage box as Charles and Andrea passed a football around, a bench in between them.

I couldn't help but smirk when I caught Charles' eyes as he glanced at me. Andrea glared at him and threw a towel at his head when he missed the ball because he was looking at me. "You have all the time to go all loverboy later." He said before passing the football again and this time, Charles caught it.

"Oh, I plan to." Charles replied, making my spine shiver at his tone of voice and I was sure a blush had crept up to my cheeks.

After two free practice sessions and a debriefing afterwards, Charles and I were heading out of the paddock around eight in the evening. Their meeting had run longer than expected due to the power unit issues he experienced during the second session but he reassured me they were going to have it fixed by tomorrow.

"Where are we going?" I asked him when I noticed he turned opposite the road that was supposed to take us back to the hotel.

Charles glanced at me before returning his eyes to the road, a small smile on his lips. "Somewhere."

I was silent for a minute, looking around as we passed by different kinds of establishments. "And where is somewhere?"

"Nova, I'm not telling you."

"And why not?"

"Because it would defeat the point."

"Of?"

He sighed, pulling over in front of what looked like a restaurant. Charles took off his seatbelt and I was expecting him to get out of the car but he turned towards me, elbow placed over the center console as he stopped his face inches in front of mine. "It's a surprise, so would you be patient and just let me spoil you?" I gulped and sealed my lips shut, nodding my head. Charles smiled at my lack of reply while I rolled my eyes in return, pushing his face away. "Wait here."