Abrade - [Charles Leclerc] A Sequel To Corrode

Dieci

WARNING: this chapter contains 18+ content, is fiction, and should not be taken as educational (unprotected sex (the woman is married for like 20 years, let her be) Charles acting like a horny teenager, heart-clenching love making that will make the TikTok girlies go feral, getting hot in the tub (if you squint)). Skip if these topics make you feel uncomfortable. 

          "Should we talk about the fact that my daughter is dating your son?" Charles leaned back in his seat as they were seated in the dining room. "No, we should not," Joanne and Kika sounded in unison. Pierre chuckled, reaching for his glass of wine and swirling it around for a second before he took a sip. "Let's keep it short, you'll break my neck if I didn't raise him to be respectful to women," Pierre said. "Definitely," Charles replied, but there was a sparkle in his eyes and a small grin tugging on his lips. "There's no reason for us to interfere with their relationship," Joanne chimed in. "I agree," Pierre's wife said. "So, how was Paris?" Kika continued. "Aside from the things happening," she said. "It was nice," Joanne said. "We dined in the Eiffel Tower, relaxed, spent some days together," Charles added. "It's funny how we said in Paris that it's nice that our sons are taking over the crew, and then we get a call that everything went wrong," Charles said, his hand squeezing Joanne's thigh under the table. "It made me feel as if I did something wrong, did I not teach him enough? Did we not spend enough hours going over things?" he said.

Joanne cocked her head a little sideways, he hadn't told her that. "I don't think so, mate," Pierre shook his head. Celia came in at that moment to serve the dessert. She smiled at Joanne and the others before quietly leaving again. "He looks up to you, he wanted to do something good and wanted to do something you'd be proud of. But it went wrong, it's unfortunate, but it happens," Pierre said. "In this life, you can never catch a break." "Tell me about it," Joanne muttered, finally taking a spoon to dig into the tiramisu. Their cook had absolutely stuffed them this evening, and she felt the after-dinner dip already coming up. "It will be fine, we'll fix it," Charles spoke up again. "What's next for you two?" Joanne asked to lighten the subject. Kika started telling about their upcoming trip to Milan as Pierre had some business there. They were continuing after that to go on a charter in Croatia, but Pierre ensured Charles that he could call whenever. It would take them weeks to continue with the case they were working on anyway and Charles didn't want to engage for as long as they could.

Kika and Pierre stayed for a coffee after dessert, and then their driver came to pick them up. Celia cleared the dining room while Joanne and Charles walked their guests to the door. "I didn't know you felt that way," Joanne started as soon as the door fell closed again, her hand moving to his bicep. Charles looked down at her, the back of his knuckles brushing her face. "Let's head upstairs and take a hot bath, okay?" he said, making her nod. His fingers curled around hers, causing her to smile when they walked up the stairs. Charles went into the bathroom to fill the tub with hot water, leaving some drops of vanilla aroma in the water. Joanne stood in front of the mirror in their bedroom as she took her jewelry off. She unclasped the watch around her wrist and the bracelets Charles had gotten her, her rings, her earrings, the clip in her hair. Joanne chuckled as Charles was already in the tub while it was still filling up a little bit. He leaned back against the marble and turned his head sideways when she got out of her clothes and tied her hair in a bun. Joanne slipped into the tub with her, moving till she sat with her back against his chest, curling her legs up.

Charles dropped a kiss on her shoulder, his arms wrapping around her to hold her close. "I just felt like I failed our family," he spoke up. "Maybe I was overreacting, but I wanted him to do well, and when he caused all of that... I mean, Mick nearly died," Charles continued. "It made me wonder what I did wrong if he needed more guidance, and I made him feel pressured to do it all alone now." Joanne glided her hands over his arms, rubbing soft circles into his skin. "You didn't fail," she said. "I think he just wanted to do his best and show off, be successful for you. Like Pierre said, he looks up to you. He wants you to be proud of him and took it a step too far." Charles rested his chin on her shoulder, zoning out when looking at the bubbles in the water. "After analyzing it, how serious if everything really?" Joanne asked. "I don't know. I'm not really afraid of some rookies, but they can be dangerous. It can mostly be messy because they don't know how to handle things without fighting," he said. "We have to lie low and see if we can find something they're interested in without making it an armed conflict."