La Rosa Gialla

Chapter 35

May 2024

"Adri, we're not going to a fashion show. It's just dinner at mom's," Charles laughed as I frantically unpacked my suitcase, looking for something that didn't have a black and yellow Ferrari logo on it. I looked at him to give him a murderous look, but my face immediately relaxed after noticing the deep purple bruise on his wrist. I gritted my teeth and pushed away the memory of his car on fire. Finally, I fished out a light blue loose summer dress with three-quarter sleeves from a rather unsightly pile of things on the floor and triumphantly showed it to Charlie, who had just pulled a T-shirt of the same color over his head. "I guess we're matching," he shrugged and smiled.

"Could you do something for me?" Charles asked me as we got into the car and pulled out onto the street. "Huh?" I hummed and looked at him. "Could you stop biting that nail?" he smirked and I immediately put both hands in my lap.

"You don't have to be nervous."

"That's easy for you to say, but I really want to make a good first impression."

"You've already seen mom, so it doesn't count as a first impression."

"That was a completely different situation," I protested and was about to bite my nail again, but Charles instead took my hand in his and kissed the back of it.

"We are here!" Charles yelled into the apartment as he opened the door. He still held my palm in his. I swallowed the lump in my throat and he gave me an encouraging smile. "It's going to be fine," he whispered and quickly kissed my cheek. At that moment, Pascale appeared in the corridor with a big smile on her face and immediately pounced on me. "Adri, I'm so glad to see you again. It's been many years," she said and hugged me. "I'm very happy to see you too," I smiled at her. Charles snuggled up next to me and waited patiently for Pascale to start noticing him too.

Both Arthur and Lorenzo radiated the same energy and charisma as their brother and mother. They both welcomed me with open arms and after a few minutes, I felt like I had been a part of the family forever. They asked how we got together and I willingly told them everything, even though I was sure they already knew it from Charles. Then the conversation inevitably turned to the next Grand Prix. "Maybe this year you'll finally break the curse and stand on the podium," Arthur stated and both Charles and Lorenzo glared at him. "Curse?" I asked confused.

"One DNF, one DNS, ..." Arthur began, but Charles cut him off. "6th place last year and 4th before that. There is no such thing as a curse. It was just bad luck." "And a bad team strategy," Lorenzo added quietly. "This year it will work out. I can feel it in my bones," Pascale said, smiling reassuringly at Charles.

"You really don't want to stay overnight?" Pascale asked as Charles and I got up to leave. "You're very kind, but I want to sleep in my bed," Charles smiled and we both said goodbye to his mom and both brothers. As we had both had a few glasses of wine, we had to walk to Charlie's apartment. He decided to take advantage of the fact that it was already late in the evening and there weren't many people on the streets and gave me a tour of the city with an expert explanation. Well, it consisted more of the fact that he showed me where he went to school, where his parents took him for ice cream, and where his mom had a hair salon. We ended up in a harbor full of huge and smaller ships and luxury yachts. "And this one is mine," he pointed proudly at the shiny gray yacht with the inscription Sedici. Sixteen. "Original name," I smirked and he frowned. "I thought it ended with the piano. And now you're just going to show me the yacht you happen to own?" I laughed and he shrugged. "I've always wanted one," he said as if it was obvious. He took off his shoes and jumped on the deck, where he stood and held out his hand to me. I kicked off my white Converse and grabbed his palm so I could jump up behind him.

First he showed me the entire hold with three bedrooms, and three bathrooms, all polished to the last detail. "This is bigger than my apartment in London," I shook my head in disbelief, and Charles continued to guide me through the ship until he stopped on the main deck and began to explain to me how such a ship is steered. I liked how excited he looked about it, but I paid more attention to his lip movements and glowing eyes than his interpretation. "Are you even listening to me?" he asked amused, I blinked a few times and then resignedly admitted that not really. He laughed, grabbed my hand again, and pulled me up to the top deck, where we laid down together on a white, leatherette bed the size of a king-size bed. I snuggled up to him to enjoy his closeness as I watched the lights illuminate the streets of Monaco. "I could stay here until the very end of the world," I admitted in a whisper. He didn't say anything, he just pulled me closer and pressed a kiss to my hair.