Don't Blame Me | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 20

Diana woke up feeling even worse than before. All the trauma she expected caught up to her body, making her muscles sore. She slowly crawled out of bed, used the toilet and made her way to the kitchen led by a beautiful smell of breakfast.

Charles was in the middle of making coffee when he saw Diana. She didn't change from her pyjamas, her hair was a mess and she had huge bags under her eyes. She walked kind of funny, too stiff and slow for a normal person, but after being kept in a basement for a few days she could've been worse. He kissed her good morning and told her to sit down and eat.

"I'm not that hungry, I've eaten too much of your mom's beef last night" She said looking at the plate full of eggs, tomatoes and toasted bagles.

"I know, but you're going to need a lot of energy for today. Officer Strauss called, they want you to testify as soon as possible. They're pressing charges against Robert and the sooner they know your side of the story, the better"

Diana hoped they would give her a few days to rest and recharge, but she understood that it wasn't personal. It was their job to deal with this in the shortest amount of time possible, there was no place for being compassionate. If the victim of a crime was able to talk, they should talk.

"Okay" She sighed and took a fork in her hand. "Only because you don't cook often and these eggs look delicious"

Charles sent her his famous wink and sat across the table from her. They ate in silence, each consumed with their own thoughts.

"Are you gonna face any repercussions for not coming to the race?" Diana finally spoke up when she was putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Fred made me pay a fine. But I still have a job" He smiled, appreciating the indulgence Ferrari's team principal showed him.

"That's good. I wouldn't want you to lose it because of me, I know racing is your whole life"

Diana was worried about it since the first time she heard Charles' voice in the basement. She didn't know how many days have passed, but Charles was supposed to fly to Canada the day she was kidnapped. It meant that because he was still in Monaco, he missed work and his work was not like any other job where people could call in sick or take personal days off. He was one of only 20 people in the world driving Formula 1 cars, competing on circuits all around the globe. Millions of people watched him race, so she wasn't sure he would still have anything to get back to.

"Stop it, okay?" Charles pulled her close and wrapped his hands around her body. "If Fred would've fired me, it wouldn't be any of your fault. I made a decision. I wasn't in the right headspace constantly thinking about where you are and what happened, so if anyone would be to blame, it would be Robert for taking you. Not you. Got it?"

With a kiss on a forehead all the bad thoughts disappeared from Diana's mind. She needed to stop thinking about what could've been. Making up different scenarios and possible outcomes didn't do her any good, especially when every single one was worse than what actually happened. Imagining Charles losing his job, herself getting seriously injured or killed and her closest people founding out... It hurt. Her head needed a rest even more than her body, so she had to let go of intrusive thoughts.

Especially when her day wasn't going to be a nice one.

Diana's parents came back from a walk with Amber just as Charles and Diana were going to leave. They hugged their daughter and unleashed Amber, forbidding her from jumping on her favorite person in the world. Of course, she didn't listen and within seconds she was all over Diana, desperately trying to be picked up and loved on.

"I love you too, babygirl" Diana crouched next to Amber and let the dog lick her all over the face.

"Are you going to the police station?" Erica asked, but she already knew the answer as she was in the room when Charles took a call from Officer Strauss.