Chapter 33
~GRAYSON~
I hated myself for it.
Blair’s little performance in the kitchen should have pissed me off. The pointed comments about the honeymoon photos. The publicist call. The deliberate kiss at the corner of my mouth while Lily’s hand was
still on my arm.
It had all been intentional and instead of anger all I could think was that it was annoyingly cute in a way that made me want to either argue with her or pin her against the counter until she stopped looking so pleased with herself.
That reaction was the problem.
I braced my hands on the bathroom sink and threw cold water over my face, watching it drip into the basin while I tried to force my head back into order.
Lily was still in the house. The arrangement still required distance. Wanting my wife, finding her provocations attractive instead of purely infuriating, was a problem I kept promising myself I would shut down.
The doorbell rang before I managed it.
I dried my face, headed downstairs, and opened the door to find my younger brother on the step with a duffel bag over one shoulder and the same restless energy he always carried between race weekends.
“Nico.”
He grinned and pulled me into a quick hug. “Finally, Sorry I missed the wedding. The whole thing happened so fast that I couldn’t get out of Monaco commitments until today. Figured I should at least show up and meet the woman who legally owns half your problems/now.”
“She’s not-”
Footsteps on the stairs cut me off.
Blair came down in a dark bikini under an open cover-up that did almost nothing, hair loose, looking fucking
sexy.
The second I registered the amount of skin on display, heat climbed up my neck. Before I fully decided to move, I had grabbed the towel from the entry bench and thrown it at her.
It hit her square in the chest.
She caught it, looked down at the towel, then up at me, and rolled her eyes.
Without a word she draped it over one shoulder and continued past us toward the back of the house and the pool.
Nico watched her go, then let out a low chuckle. “Okay. I see you have your hands full.”
I snorted, that was an understatement. “You have no idea how much trouble she causes on a daily basis.
We stepped further inside. That was when Nico’s attention shifted past me into the kitchen, where Lily had appeared with her bag, clearly preparing to leave. His posture changed immediately.
“Lily.” He sounded genuinely surprised. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
She smiled, walked over, and rested her hand on my arm. “He can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Nico’s gaze flicked from her hand to my face and back again, reading more than I wanted him to.
Successfully unlocked!
He didn’t comment. Lily, sensing the shift, gave my arm a final squeeze and said she had to go.
The door closed behind her a minute later, leaving the house quieter and my brother watching me with
Chapter 33
open curiosity
So, Nico sale, dropping his duffel by the wall. “Life’s been interesting.”
“That’s one word for it.”
We moved into the living room. Nico took the armchair like he always did.
Being an F1 driver had only made the restlessness worse, sitting still never looked natural on him.
“How’s the season?” I asked.
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“Competitive. Too many close calls, one podium I should have converted into a win, and a team principal who ages a year every time I overtake on the outside.” He shrugged, but there was satisfaction under it. “I’m where I want to be. Track’s the only place that still makes sense most weeks.”
“Sounds familiar.”
“Yeah, well. You married into the Monroes in under a week. I think you win the chaos contest.”
Nico leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You good?”
The question was simple. The answer wasn’t.
“I’m handling it,” I said. “Dad’s satisfied. The public narrative is a mess, but it’s manageable. Blair is…” I searched for a word that didn’t give away much. “Not what I expected.”
Nico’s mouth curved. “That the polite way of saying she drives you insane?”
“That would be accurate.”
“And Lily still showing up for fun is…what?Boundary issues?”
I shot him a look. “Don’t start.”
“I’m just saying.” He held up his hands. “You used to be the brother with the five-year plan and the childhood sweetheart. Now you’ve got a wife in a bikini walking around and an ex in the kitchen acting like the marriage is a temporary inconvenience. It’s a lot.”
It was a lot.
I dragged a hand through my hair and glanced toward the back windows, where Blair was visible by the pool, towel abandoned on a lounger, stretching like she hadn’t just stirred up so much problems.
“She’s temporary,” I said, more to myself than to him.
Nico followed my gaze, then looked back at me with the kind of younger-brother skepticism that had always been hard to shake.
“Sure,” he said. “Keep telling yourself that.”
I didn’t answer.
Outside, Blair tipped her face up toward the light, completely unbothered by the mess I would have to clean up with Lily.
Nico was right about one thing.
I had my hands full.
We were both in the middle of a lively conversation about his latest race when we were suddenly caught completely off-guard. A group of strangers I didn’t recognize entered the room casually, as if they had been given explicit permission, and they were holding objects in their hands.
One of them was carrying what appeared to be a picture frame. I tried to get a closer look at it, and as I focused, my eyes widened in shock, and my cheeks flushed with heat. An almost uncontrollable urge to reach out and touch the frame overtook me.
Nico spat out the water he had been drinking in surprise, both of us frozen by the sight of the large picture frame passing by us. But it wasn’t the frame itself that stunned us-it was what was displayed inside it. A
Chapter 33
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photograph showing Blair in her tiny red bikini from the honeymoon, striking a provocative pose against me.
What the fuck?
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Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.