Chapter 167
-ROMAN
Ethan called me to the track.
59 vouc
I got there first. We hadn’t seen each other since he asked me to go home. I hadn’t seen Olivia/since then either. I fucking missed her, like crazy. But I was giving them their space. I’d messed up big time and was still sorting things out.
Ethan showed up with two beers and a face that said he had slept as badly as I had.
“Look, stranger.” He smiled. “Good to see you.”
“You too.”
“I wanted to apologize,” he said, getting it out there one time. “For being an ass the last time we saw each
other.”
“It’s fine. It was a rough day for everyone.”
That was the truth.
We leaned on the rail. A horse jogged past. I drank so I would have something to do instead of thinking about his sister.
“Rough day?” He asked. “For you? You kicked ass in that game.”
“My parents forced that interview,” I said. “I was already in a bad mood. You know I hate it when they do things without telling me about it first. I don’t think I’m going to keep them as my managers. It’s about time I separate the two. Keep family out of my finances and business.”
Ethan nodded, slower. “Good. You never looked like you wanted all those interviews they like to force on you, not to mention brand deals every single day.”
He paused. “There is something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Yeah?”
He looked grateful as he said, “Thank you for looking out for Olivia again. You went to that hotel and made sure she was safe and then you brought her home to us. You were right that day. I was being too harsh on her. I was just so fucking worried that Luca had hurt her. Instead of comforting her, I’d been an \ ass.”
Hearing him thank me yet again did not make me feel any better. He did not know the truth. The things I’d done. Or the fact that he needed to fear me around her more than he feared Luca.
I considered telling him the truth. That I had feelings for his sister. That the interview had not been for Eden. That I had used a PR girlfriend as a fence to keep his sister away and it had blown up in my face. That I had put my mouth on her, on different parts of her body and loved it. That he had every right to hate me and not want anything to do with me anymore.
I opened my mouth.
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“My father set up Olivia’s marriage,” Ethan said before I could say anything.
vent stiff
My blood ran cold.
Did I hear him correctly?
Marriage?
Couldn’t be.
“I’m sorry,” I could not recognize my voice. “Did you say marriage?”
“Yeah.”
I could not believe what I was hearing. William was moving that fast. He’d already set it up? Why was I even surprised after what he’d done to Blair?
Panic hit first. Cold. Then anger right under it, hot enough to make the beer taste like nothing.
I could not hide it on my face.
“What do you mean? Marriage to who exactly?”
Ethan sighed.
“Nico Shaw. He said since she likes F1 drivers so much, he got her one to marry. We tried to warn her this would happen but she insisted on meeting Luca. Now look at the mess.”
What the fuck.
Grayson’s brother.
That was who he chose.
I was rigid while Ethan kept talking.
My mind was not on any of the horses racing in front of us.
Olivia was expected to marry Nico?
I did not want to imagine his sister in a wedding dress that was not for me.
I could picture it now, Olivia standing next to Nico Shaw because I’d been too much of a coward to tell her brother the truth.
I was losing her. I could feel it.
The thought of another man’s ring on her hand made me sick to my stomach.
I would lose it. I knew I would.
I could not watch her marry another man. I would make a scene. I would fucking blow things up. I could
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not watch that happen.
Roman.” Ethan frowned at me. “You look like you want to kill someone. I know the horse-”
“When.”
“End of the month. Announcements should be out tomorrow.”
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He continued, “a lot is happening. Blair is losing her mind. Grayson is trying to stop it. I don’t know if they can. No one can stop my father once he’s made an important decision like that.”
Frustration took over.
I had to see her.
I had to see Olivia.
Why hadn’t she said anything? Was she waiting for me to find out through the announcements? Did she truly plan on staying away from me?
Never. I would never let that happen.
She was fucking mine.
“I have to go,” I said.
Ethan stared. “We just got here.”
“I know. But I forgot there’s something important I need to do.”
I left the beer on the rail, already reaching for my phone, already knowing a text would not be enough,
She had to marry Nico Shaw. By the end of the month?
Fuck no.
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The Mockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.