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Blair was waiting outside the office like she had been pacing the entire time I was in there. I could see how worried she was from the expression on her face alone.
I didn’t want to worry her. She was pregnant. Ethan was right about one thing. My actions definitely weren’t helping her during this pregnancy. I felt like an idiot. I needed to remember that my sister needed to be stress-free while she was pregnant. But it wasn’t entirely my fault; Roman kept giving/me a hard
time.
“How did it go?”
“Horrible.” My voice could not hide the shock and anger I felt right now. “Dad is insane.”
Her face tightened. One hand went to her stomach without her noticing. “What did he do.”
“He wants me to marry Nico. By the end of the month.”
Blair gasped, like she needed air after the bomb I’d just dropped on her. The color left her.
“Nico. As in Grayson’s brother. That Nico.”
I nodded. “I hate this so much. Why would he think this was a good solution?”
For a second she just stared. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall into the nearest empty room and shut the door hard.
“Start again,” she said. “Slowly. Because I think I just had a pregnancy hallucination.”
Pregnancy hallucination? Was that a new thing she invented with this pregnancy? Grayson must be having a hard time.
“Nico Shaw. End of the month. Announcements this week. Dinners. Photographs. He said he was being generous because he gave you less than a week. He said since I like F1 drivers, here is one. He said Grayson is a great son-in-law so the brother will be the same.”
Blair sat down hard on the edge of a bed nobody used. “This is insane. You do not want an F1 driver. You want a basketball player.”
“I told him I would not do it.”
“And.”
“He said the wedding is happening anyway.”
We both freaked out at the same level for a full minute. Pacing. The particular Monroe panic of being moved like a chess piece on a board.
“End of the month,” Blair repeated, like saying it again might make it not true. “That is not a wedding. That is a deadline. That is me all over again except he gave you extra days so he can call himself kind.”
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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“You would be my sister and my sister-in-law,” she added, horrified and almost laughing. “That is crazy. Nico would be your husband. I would have to sit at Christmas and watch you pass gravy to the man who
rrently uses our kitchen like a snack bar. I do not see the two of you being a couple.”
“I do not want Christmas with Nico. I want-” I stopped.
Blair’s eyes softened. Panic still under them. “Roman.”
“While driving me home, he told me Eden was just a PR relationship. He was never even with her. He lied to me the entire time! He used her to keep me away. It hurt. Knowing he would go through such lengths to keep me far. I told him congratulations, he got his wish. Then Ethan sent him off the property.” I pressed my palms to my eyes. “And now I am engaged to Grayson’s brother. Not just engaged, I’m expected to marry him!”
Blair pulled my hands down. Her fingers were shaking. “We need to stall the announcement. I need to talk to Grayson. Then Grayson needs to talk to Nico. Nico is not going to want a bride who is in love with someone else. He likes cars and being the cool uncle. He does not like being used to stop a scandal.”
“Dad does not care what Nico likes.”
“Dad cares what the papers look like.” Blair’s jaw set. I saw the version of her that had survived her own forced wedding, except now the next one had my name on it and she looked like she might be sick. “I will help you as much as I can but you need to stay away from Luca. Do you hear me?”
“Deal.” My voice cracked. “Blair. I cannot marry him. I want Roman despite how much he’s hurt me recently.”
“You are not marrying Nico, not if I have a say in it.” She squeezed my fingers too tight. “End of the month is still time. Not much. Enough time to fight back. I did not get enough. You will. I am not watching dad do this twice even though he helped me find the love of my life. I am not sitting in a church while you walk to a groom you did not choose because of one scandal.”
I leaned my head on her shoulder. I loved having her as my big sister. She made me feel safe.
My heart kept on racing. I was scared I would lose Roman for good.
“If Nico says yes,” I whispered.
Blair exhaled, shaky. “Then I remind him I am carrying his brother’s child and I can make family dinners very uncomfortable for a very long time. Then I remind Grayson that he knows what this feels like from the other side of an arrangement. Then we stall. We lose invitations. We lose venues. We will do whatever it takes.”
Despite everything, I laughed a little at her confidence.
We sat on the floor of the guest room that had never been used for anything like this before.
Panic still filled the room. It just had a plan sitting in the middle of it now.
End of the month.
I’m expected to marry Nico Shaw.
And the man I actually wanted was still stuck in a PR relationship and keeping distance between us
23
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
because he was scared of losing a friendship.
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.