Apex | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 59

Welcome to part 1 of the wedding weekend :)

Enjoy!

*****

August 06, 2026 - France

"Put that down." Charles said as soon as he walked out of the bedroom, still dressed in the clothes he slept in.

I woke up about twenty minutes ago and ordered a cup of coffee. It was a bit early to start getting ready for breakfast since most of the people staying here right now are still probably asleep. We arrived last night with Gabby and Charles' family. The rest of the wedding party would be arriving later today and early morning tomorrow. It gave them enough time to prepare for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night, especially for those who were flying in.

Since I had nothing to do, I decided to open my laptop that I secretly packed into my suitcase, knowing that Charles would have my head if he knew I brought it with me. I was only planning to organize my schedule for the next few months. I don't know if Charles was still going to attend the races considering what happened with Ferrari.

Word hasn't gotten out yet and I think they're doing it out of respect for our wedding. As they should. Charles said it will definitely happen soon because they'd have to make some pretty drastic changes with the new driver. It was most likely going to be Antonio, the current reserve driver.

"Good morning." I smiled, ignoring his previous words. Charles rolled his eyes at me and gave my cheek a kiss before slamming my laptop shut.

"I'm confiscating this until the end of our honeymoon."

"But—" My words were cut off when he glared at me, holding my laptop in his hands. "Fine."

Charles went back inside the room and returned a few seconds later without my laptop. "How long have you been up?" He asked, taking a seat beside me and drinking from my coffee cup when I offered it to him.

"About twenty minutes." I said, leaning against him as his fingers played with my hair. "What time should we be downstairs for breakfast?"

"Breakfast is at eight, so that's in thirty minutes." I bit my lip when I felt one of his fingers move down to the side of my face, to the exposed skin of my shoulder, until he ended up tracing a line on my neck. "We still have plenty of time."

"Think they'll understand if we're a little bit late?" I asked, turning my head to face him, our lips brushing against one another but not making full contact yet. Charles' hand was holding the side of my neck now, his thumb touching my bottom lip.

"Honestly? I don't give a damn." He said, and the last thing I saw before he leaned close to kiss me was the smirk on his face.

At half past eight, Charles and I arrived at the dining room where everyone was already seated. Gabby was talking to Alice and Pascale, showing something on her camera. It was most likely photos that she took of the venue since she wanted to take some test shots so that she'd be able to pass on the information to her friends. Lorenzo was holding a bowl of fruit as he stood up beside Arthur who was sitting down instead. Marcus was sitting on his shoulders, hands playing with his uncle's blonde hair as he opened his mouth every time Lorenzo held a piece of blueberry in front of him.

"So nice of you to join us." Arthur smirked when we entered, causing everyone to turn their head in our direction.

Charles gave his mother a kiss on the cheek while I headed for Marcus who was already smiling at me.

"You ready to go swimming today?" I asked him as he extended his arms and gladly took him from Arthur's shoulders, propping him up against my hip.

"Yes!" He cheered, clapping his hands. "Mama brought my floaties." Marcus had become more talkative around me after the Christmas dinner last year. Every time we got together, we'd find ourselves huddled up somewhere as everyone mingled with one another. We didn't talk much and spent most of our times watching a show on the television. There were also a few days where we'd sit in front of the piano in our apartment as I played, Marcus sitting between my legs. Charles would sometimes join us, getting the hang of it and not needing to glance at the music sheet sometimes.