Chapter 197
CHARLOTTE-
I heard the footsteps on the gravel behind me.
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I did not have to turn to know it was him. Luca walked like he was still deciding whether or not to pack everything and leave before his sister’s birthday, that same careful approach he used when a race could go either way, and I frowned anyway because the dining room was still full of a plan that had nothing to do with pasta.
I hated how they were trying to push him into a relationship with some random girl. Honestly, they’d have a better shot just letting things happen naturally. I knew Luca well enough to realize that if he didn’t realize they were trying to set him up, he’d have gone after her himself. Someone like Luca simply couldn’t resist a pretty girl like her.
“Shouldn’t you be in there trying to flirt with the girl your parents are setting you up with?”
He shrugged, coming up beside me with his sunglasses hooked in his collar and the late light on his face. “I’d rather be out here.”
I narrowed my eyes at the vines, at him, at the ridiculous beauty of Tenuta Santa Chiara pretending this was a simple walk.
“Yeah, right. The girl is beautiful. I’m sure you’re going to sleep with her before the day ends. You can’t resist a pretty girl like that. And she clearly wants you. She seems to be a fan of your work.”
His frown came immediately. “Is that how little you think of me? That I would sleep with anyone once they were easy on the eyes?”
I rolled my eyes. The vines went down the hill in green lines. I heard a bell somewhere in the valley. I heard the same tractor again.
“It’s a beautiful trap,” he said, quieter now, looking at the rows instead of at me. “Laid out by my parents. They want me to fall for a girl they already have control over. Someone they think could control me. It’s their master plan: find a girl we like, get Luca to fall for her, then get them married. Then force her to make him move back home and take over the family business. I would not fall for it.”
I laughed. It came out sharper than the view deserved. “All she has to do is show up in a bikini and you’ll be falling quite hard. Your parents wouldn’t need to do much, just hand you a room and you will be trapped.”
He put a hand over his heart like I had crushed it
on purpose. “Now I’m not happy with the way you think of me. I have standards. Sometimes.”
“I have evidence. Years of it.” I informed him.
“That was before. I am a changed man.” He teased.
Sure he was.
Changed in what way?
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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“Before what? Before Monaco? Before your mother found a perfect olive-grove daughter-in-law?”
None of the above.”
I looked at him. He looked at the hills.
“Valentina seems nice,” I said. I wasn’t sure why I was saying that. Was I also trying to push him towards her? Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut? Staying quiet could be beneficial at times.
“Valentina seems hired to play the part by my mother. And she plays it quite well. I’m sure she’s nothing like the girl she’s pretending to be inside there.” He told me.
“That’s unkind. You don’t know for sure. She might be the same girl, just following your mother’s orders.”
He kicked a stone down the path. “My mother said someone who understands family. Translation: someone who reports back. That’s what she wants in a daughter-in-law. She wants full control over all of our lives. She hates when she doesn’t have it.”
“And she clearly dislikes me for helping you leave all of this behind.” I sighed.
“You’re the main reason I got in the car to even come here. She should be thanking you. And what the fuck was that comment about you not needing anymore food?” he growled. “There is nothing wrong with your body. In fact, you have a sexier body than the girl she’s trying to shove down my throat.”
I almost choked. There is no way Luca just said that to me. He thought I had a sexy body? Since when? He always acted like I was one of the boys. Like he didn’t notice my feminine body.
I hated that my face went warm. “Don’t do charming. It’s not a good look on you.”
“I thought I did a good job,” he said with a teasing smile.
“You are an idiot.” I couldn’t hold back the smile.
What was wrong with me? He was finally being sweet and I was calling him an idiot? Could I not take a compliment from him?
He almost smiled. “There she is.”
“Go inside. Eat the pasta. Be polite. Alessia’s birthday is coming quickly. Don’t make this week about your escape plan.” I reminded him.
“I’m not escaping. I’m standing in a vineyard with my best friend because the dining room feels like losing a race to my parents.” He glanced at me sideways. “You walked out. I followed. Where you go, I go.”
I rolled my eyes, “I think it’s the other way around.”
He laughed under his breath. “Char. I’m not going to sleep with her.”
I wasn’t sure why he was telling me this but I was definitely relieved to know this.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I know. I’m saying it anyway.”
12:26 Fri, Sep 25 TF.
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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We stood there with the estate at our backs and the painted hills in front of us, vines running toward Castelvetro, and for a second I allowed myself to wish for a life where I was more than just his best friend.
Then Francesca’s voice cut down the path.
“What are you doing out here? Everyone is inside. Why are you two out alone?”
Alone, she said, as if two people on a walk were a crime.
Luca groaned.
“Where is Marco,” he muttered, “when you need him?”
I almost laughed. Things had to be bad for him to be wishing his older brother was here.
Marco had managed to get away.
Francesca waited on the terrace above us, beautiful and unamused. I could see her glare. It made me uncomfortable. If she could throw me out, she would. I was only here because Luca valued our friendship
“Now,” she said.
Luca looked at me. I looked at him.
We walked back toward the mansion like the trap was calling out to us.
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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.