Hate You - LN

2 - Devin

"Shut your face little Leclerc," I say, shoving Arthurs's shoulder.

Arthur laughs as I draw four more cards from the deck. "You should see your face right now, oh my god."

"You cheated!"

"Not this time, you just suck at Uno."

"Charles!" I exclaim. I see his messy dark brown hair peek around the corner in the kitchen. He quickly looks between Arthur and I, then the twenty Uno cards in my hand and the four in Arthur's and shakes his head.

"You're on your own Dev."

"Merde" I curse.

Charles leaves Arthur and I to finish our game, or rather, waits for me to call it quits because my fingers can't hold more cards, and calls us for lunch. It's just the three of us at Charles' flat today, Alexandra was out doing a shoot for one of her modelling campaigns here in Monaco. And Lorenzo is out of town on business. The four of us try and meet up here or at my flat every time we're all back in Monaco for dinner, or in this case, lunch to catch up.

Arthur and I follow the smell of food outside on the small patio and join Charles. I notice the new flower pots and remind myself to message Alexandra and ask for her gardening tips. I seem to kill all the plants I own, and this little patio looks like the damn secret garden.

The Leclercs took me in like a sibling when I left my old life. Lorenzo was the one who found me after everything went down. Arthur and Charles were halfway around the globe. When they heard they both had flown back to Monaco. The three of them took turns taking care of me while I recovered. They sometimes still treat me like I'm fragile, which I hate. But it was nice in a lot of ways to have the brotherly protection.

"So Dev, have you figured out where you'll be working this year?"

I shrugged my shoulders, swallowing my food before speaking. "I've got interviews with Mclaren and Mercedes on being their lead physiotherapist, and Aston Martin has offered to extend my contract as a head liaison to their physiotherapist but I'm not too sure I want to be an assistant when I can be working more hands-on."

"Ferrari didn't want to interview you?" Arthur teased.

He knew Charles didn't like to abuse his influence in Ferrari and also knew I didn't want him to either. People already think that I only got my job because I knew Charles. Not because I have two degrees and years of experience working in F1. Charles shot his brother a pointed glare and with more force than what was necessary, stabbed his salad with his fork.

I ignored the little Leclerc. "So we'll see what Mclaren and Mercedes have to offer, and if they even want me."

"They will want you, especially Mclaren. With Lando's big crash in Abu Dhabi last season they will have to have someone with more training to deal with managing his shoulder." Charles noted.

"Yeah I saw him crash," I said quietly. It was my turn to stab at my salad. Arthur and Charles both know what went down between Lando and I. Sure maybe not the nitpicky details, but they knew the basics. And they both know that for the past three, well, I guess almost four years. He's spent his time hating me for it because I won't tell him why I left. Maybe he deserves to know, but the Leclercs are the only people on this planet who know the full story and understand why I had to leave. And the only people that I trust. I can't break again.

Arthur cleared his throat. "When is your interview?"

"My interview with Toto is in" I trailed off, checking the time on my phone "two hours on Zoom." And my interview with Mclaren is tomorrow evening."

"On Zoom as well?"

I nodded my head, finishing off my salad. For the remainder of the lunch, we gossiped about the prospects of the new season. Charles seems hopeful about the car this year, which is good. If he can fight Max it might make the season more interesting. As much as I love Max, I'd like to hear a different national anthem for at least a few races this year. Once Arthur started talking about his complex dating life I started to zone out. He may be the same age as me, but man that man is no closer to figuring out how to date than I am.