I just realized that there was so much drama in this book and even I need more fluff between these two. SOOOOOO, we're going to have more romance-y stuff in the next few chapters and there will be a lot of time jumps as we catch up to the present :)
Enjoy!
*****
November 5, 2025 - Italy
There's a feeling of helplessness whenever you watch someone do your job. You know you're capable of doing it yourself with the same kind of energy and fierceness. You know that people will respect you because you know what you're talking about. You know that you will hold every single person's attention, each of them hanging on to your every word.
I am capable of that.
But right now, I don't think I am.
I sat with my back straight, eyes trained on the corner of the wooden table in front of me that was a bit chipped. On the other side of the room, Manuele was sitting on the same set of furniture. I don't know how he looks because I never let my eyes move to his direction, even when I was on the stand as Imara questioned me. His lawyer had his own turn to fire question after question at me and I answered it well, knowing almost every manipulative tactic that would cause a witness to play with their words.
The trial has been quick because Imara didn't hold back. She presented every single form evidence— the rape kit, blurry CCTV cameras from the alley, and verbal admissions from a few people who saw Manuele walk out of the club. Their attempts were futile, Imara ready to stand up with the word objection coming out of her lips. I caught myself a few times making a move to do the same, but her hand on my wrist stopped me.
I glanced behind me to see Charles sitting on the front row, face completely stoic save from whenever I turn around. As soon as he sees my face, his features soften and he gives me a reassuring smile.
He's been a godsend these past few days. The trial happened in between race weekends and he's stayed with me every day and night since it began. I'm mostly thankful that he didn't treat me like a fragile piece of chinaware, walking on thin ice as if he was waiting for me to break. He knew when I didn't want to talk about it and knew when all I wanted was for him to hold me.
My head snapped up as one of the doors in front opened and the judge walked out, all of us standing up.
"Please take your seats." He said, waving a hand.
When we were issued a male judge, Imara and I knew that we had to tread carefully. Neither of us has had any experiences with courts in Monaco so we had no previous knowledge of how to communicate with anyone in the court. With regard to sexual assault cases, there's always a tendency that male judges wouldn't be as sympathetic as female judges. There's a certain bias for their own gender, but it was difficult to tell with this judge.
He kept his expression neutral during the entire trial, responding to objections and going through the process.
The judge began speaking, but I couldn't bring myself to understand what he was saying. There's a fear inside of me that I'm trying to contain. What if he's not guilty? What if he does it again? What if one day, I see him in front of me, and he makes another attempt?
I focus on the chipped corner of the table, trying to distract myself. I wonder if that table has been in this room ever since it got built. I wonder if the chip is because of a court hearing that got heated. I've witnessed one of those where the defendant would get too caught up in their emotions. Or maybe someone just chipped it accidentally? Maybe it was a briefcase or they scraped another piece of furniture on it when they were moving things around the room.
"—is guilty." I looked up to see the judge slam the gavel, the sound of wood echoing through the walls. His eyes met mine and he gave me a small smile before standing up.
When the words sunk in, a complete sense of relief washed over me as my shoulders sagged against the back of the seat. Imara squeezed my hand, whispering the word congratulations in my ear before she gave my forehead a light kiss. I looked up and I was surprised to see her eyes sheened lightly with tears as she gave me a smile.
I stood up and was ready to turn around to face Charles when hands landed on my hips. He was already behind me. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms over his shoulders as I pulled his body closer to mine, the physical affection being the key to letting my emotions out as I felt tears slide down my cheeks.
"I'm so proud of you, Nova." He whispered against my ear, one of his hands moving up and down soothingly on my back. "I'm so proud of you." He repeated as I sobbed against his neck.
I didn't let go of him for the next few seconds. It felt so good to have someone hold me and just let me breathe out all of the pent-up emotions.
It was done. I didn't let my eyes move toward Manuele's direction as I heard the sounds of handcuffs being placed on him, feeling satisfied that he was going to spend the next ten years behind bars. If it were up to me, I would've given him more, but right now, I'll take what I can get.
I hope ten years was enough for him to change.
*****
November 6, 2025 - Monaco
"Tired?" Charles asked, hand wrapped around my waist as we both rode the elevator. We just got back from Italy, my body already craving the soft feeling of a bed. I nodded my head, leaning on his shoulder as we waited for the elevator to stop on his floor since he said he had to get a change of clothes. A few seconds later, we were about to cross his front door when Charles stopped me. "Wait." He said, eyes glancing nervously at his apartment.
"What's going on?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I may have done something." He trailed off and I continued to look at him. When he didn't explain further, I moved past him and walked into the apartment.
My eyes landed on the pile of unfolded boxes laying on his living room floor. There was still a plastic wrapper around it, telling me that the package wasn't touched. I glanced behind me, utterly confused as to why he had so many boxes. "Are you having a garage sale or something?" I asked him, dropping my bag on one of his small tables and taking a seat on the couch. "Because if you are, I know a few clothing items of yours that you can say goodbye to."
I felt his coat hit the back of my head as I laughed at him. When I removed it, he was standing in front of me, feet nudging the pile of boxes. "Don't mock my style, Nova."
"I will do no such thing until you tell me what's going on." I held my ground and crossed my arms over my chest, patiently waiting for him. Honestly, all I wanted was to jump on the bed because he was taking too long to explain, but I know if I did that, he'd only delay it even more.
"I was thinking–"
"I'm glad you're using your brain to think." The words spilled out of my mouth naturally and Charles rolled his eyes before copying my position.
"Will you please shut up?" I giggled and waved a hand for him to continue, entertaining myself at another verbal sparring between us. "As I was saying, before you rudely interrupted me and insulted my cognitive thinking."
"Big word."
"Nova." He groaned, raising his hands up in surrender before collapsing on the space beside me on the couch, his face against one of the cushions.
"I'm sorry." I laughed, moving closer and running my hands through his hair. "I promise that was the last one." He looked up and glared at me before putting his face down again, mumbling something against the fabric. "What did you say?"
He lifted his face and looked straight into my eyes. "I said, I want to move in with you since staying in two separate apartments is useless when we never spend a night apart. I bought the boxes so that we can move to your place instead. If you had just let me finish talking, I would've said that thirty seconds ago." Charles said in one breath and my eyes widened upon hearing the first words. When he was done, he dropped his face again, leaving me to contemplate what he just told me.
"Absolutely not." I said and I wanted to laugh at the hurt that was splashed on his face. His lips were turned into a frown as his green eyes looked at me with sadness in them. "Moving to my apartment isn't practical because yours is bigger. Those boxes should be downstairs instead."
There was a beat of silence before Charles raised his eyebrow at me. "Are you saying yes?"
"I think you need to work on your listening skills if you didn't understand what I just said." I smirked. Charles let out a frustrated grunt before placing his hand on the back of my neck and pulling my face down towards his, lips slamming against mine.
"We're going to tear each other apart when we live together." He said against my lips when he pulled away, my fingers grazing his jaw.
"We've been doing that for the past eleven months. Moving in together just makes it cheaper to do so." I smiled. Before I pulled him in for another kiss, I saw a grin form on his face, absolute happiness in his eyes.
Despite the excitement of our recent decision, Charles and I were exhausted so we spent the rest of the day lounging around and taking naps. I knew I slept longer than him because there were hours were I woke up without him beside me, but I could hear him moving around the apartment. I slept more after that, relishing the amount of free time I have before my body wills me to go back to work.
When I woke up again, it was already dark outside and Charles was beside me once again. He was on the phone with someone, his laptop placed on his lap. His eyes moved towards me when I shifted on the bed, pulling the covers over my body as I watched him, one of his hands moving to my hair.
"Oui, je pense que c'est celui-là." [Yes, I think this is the one.] I followed his gaze to see a helmet design displayed on the screen. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes, sitting up on the bed as I tried to look at the design properly. Charles' hand moved to my bare back as I moved the laptop to face me as well, my head inclining to the side because I didn't know what I was looking at.
The helmet was red, of course, but it wasn't the usual style that his helmets had. The top portion of the helmet looked like it was an explosion with waves coming off of it. The red waves continued down in layers, with his sponsor logos placed along the bottom portion of the helmet so that it didn't disrupt the design. As I moved closer, I discovered the backdrop of the explosion looked like outer space.
Beside me, Charles hung up the phone and turned back to me. "What do you think?"
"Is that an explosion?" I asked him, pointing to the top portion of the helmet. Charles chuckled, placing his chin above my shoulder as I pulled the laptop to place on my lap.
"This may be the first time where you're not smarter than me." He said and I slapped his chest, earning another hearty laugh from him. "You really don't get it?"
"No, I do. I'm just acting stupid so that I could make my boyfriend feel masculine enough to explain things to me." I said, rolling my eyes. Charles leaned forward in laughter, a snort coming out of him which made me laugh as well.
When he finally recovered, Charles kissed the side of my neck before hovering his lips by my ear. "It's a supernova."
My lips parted in shock as he watched my reaction, my eyes looking at every detail. Earlier, I failed to notice the small stars that were intricately placed all throughout the helmet and I counted six of them. I thought the stars were for his father and Jules since their usual names were absent from the design. "What are the six stars for?"
"The first three are for papa, Jules, and Anthoine." He said, his fingers pointing at the stars on the left side of the helmet.
"And the other three?" I asked, my voice low as I had an inkling who they were for. If the helmet was inspired by me, there were only three other people he could dedicate the rest of the stars for.
"That's for Esma and your parents." He confirmed my thoughts, his hold on me growing tighter when I felt tears begin to form in my eyes.
*****
I can't stop giving fluff AHAHAHA
✧Reese✧