The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife (Blair and Grayson) novel Chapter 226

Chapter 226

CHARLOTTE-

It was Sunday. Race day.

My hands were shaking while I checked him.

His straps. Radio. Visor. The same pattern as

always, except yesterday there had been a wall at the end of it and a hospital gown after that, and my fingers would not remember how to be professional.

The harness looked the same. The car looked the same. Nothing in my chest was the same.

I was freaking out.

He noticed.

He took my wrist. Gentle. His glove was already on, warm through the fabric, and he held me there like the garage was not full of people who could see.

I looked up. My mouth would not stay still.

“I swear to you,” Luca said. “No crashes today. I’ll be focused. Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m going to kick ass like I usually do, even from the back. Don’t worry.”

I did not care about him winning today.

I just wanted him safe. To finish the race without any accidents.

I had woken last night from a nightmare of another crash and I had cried myself back to sleep. In the dream the radio had gone quiet. In the dream the medical car had not been fast enough. In the dream I had been standing in that corridor again and he had not been walking toward me.

I had not told him.

I had not needed to. He could read it on my face the way he always could when I was trying not to fall

apart.

“Charlotte,” he said quietly. For me only. “If I see you like this before the race, I won’t be able to

concentrate.”

My eyes went wide. “You have to concentrate. Are you crazy?”

“Then smile for me. Like you usually do.”

I forced one.

“Not like that. A real one.”

I tried again. Smaller. Real enough that his thumb moved over my pulse, a slow pass that felt like a promise he had no right to make and I had no strength to refuse.

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“There,” he murmured. “That’s my girl.”

is girl?

My heart skipped a beat. He had never spoken to me like that before. He was probably just trying to calm me down. That was what I told myself. That was what I had to tell myself, standing in jeans and a team shirt like he had asked, trying not to remember the last time his mouth had been that close.

“Don’t you dare scare me again,” I whispered.

“My heart won’t be able to handle another crash.”

He looked upset that he’d made me this worried. I didn’t want him upset. I was just scared.

“I won’t.”

“You said you were fine yesterday and then I watched your car go into the wall.”

“Different day. Different time.” His mouth tipped. “You’re in your usual outfit today. Nothing to worry

about.”

I still did not understand that part. What did my clothes have to do with anything? I did not ask. Not now. Not when the grid was forming and my hands were still shaking on a strap he did not need me to check

twice.

“Come back,” I said. “In one piece. No accidents.”

“I’m coming back. Without any accidents. I promise.”

“Luca-”

“I know.” He squeezed my wrist once more. “Watch me kick ass in the last lap. Last is mine.”

Someone reminded us of the time.

He had to let go.

I hated it. Watching him get into that car even though in the past it always made me excited.

He got in. The world shrinking around him.

Before they fitted the wheel he found me through the chaos and tapped two fingers to the side of his helmet. A small signal. I’m fine. Don’t worry.

I nodded like that could stop my racing heart.

The crowd was going wild in the stands. Flags. Noise. Phones up. I could not look at any of it properly. I looked at his number. At the timing screen. Trying to breathe through the fear.

It did not help. Nothing did.

I did not breathe properly at all.

The race was long when you loved someone at the back of it. When you had this constant fear that

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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife

something could go wrong and you could lose them in the blink of an eye.

There were so many cars ahead of him. One mistake and yesterday would happen again in front of a packed grandstand.

I flinched at every corner.

Why was he even racing today after yesterday’s accident?

Because he was Luca. Because this was the job. Because he had promised me he would come back and I had to stand here and let him try.

He was careful and vicious like nothing had happened.

How was he able to be so calm given the circumstances?

I watched him race like he always did. Today he was moving even faster and it scared me.

He was not reckless.

He was hungry. For the win.

There was a move on the inside that made half the garage inhale. Another on the exit that made an engineer swear under his breath. P18 became P16 and he kept moving, closer and closer to his target.

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