The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife (Blair and Grayson) novel Chapter 272

Chapter 272

~LORETTA-

The bed was too warm and the room was too quiet but neither of those things was the real problemn

1 turned onto my left side

The clock on the dresser said it was after twelve. I turned to my right. Even later

Marco’s face kept arriving without permission, it made me uneasy. I’ve never been like this for any man before

My parents took my phone after the argument, refusing to give it back to me.

So he could not call. I could not call. He was supposed to know how it had gone. He was supposed to hear that i had refused the divorce and that Enzo would not look at me and that Nonno Alessandro still did not

know

We were supposed to talk about not knowing each other’s last names before signing the contract. Of the mess we’ve created for ourselves.

Instead he was in his parents’ house, or he was not, and I was stuck at home, staring at a ceiling that had never bothered me before tonight.

A Bellandi, I thought. He would know by now. His mother would have said it the way mine had said Vescari. He would be angry. He would be on the phone with a lawyer. He would probably want to end things right away.

The horn started while I was telling myself that.

One long blast. Then another. Then another, louder, right against the gate. I sat up. The sound did not stop.

What was going on?

Who would be blasting horns this hour of the night? No one in their right mind, that’s who.

I was at the window before the third one finished.

The curtains were half drawn. Through the gap I could see the headlights, and then the shape of the car. I gasped when I recognized it right away.

Marco’s car.

At our gate? Blasting his horn?

“What are you doing?” I said, to the glass even though I knew he wouldn’t be able to hear me.

He knew. He had to know the truth if he was outside the Bellandi estate. I didn’t exactly tell him where I lived.

Why was he out there waking the dogs and the neighbors and every Bellandi in the house?

A door slammed downstairs. I heard father’s voice. Enzo’s came much sharper.

I did not stay to hear the rest of it. I pulled the sweater off the chair, shoved my arms through, and ran.

The stairs were cold under my feet.

Chiara was already in a T-shirt, hair a mess, saying my name like a warning

Lucia’s door was open. I went past both of them.

The front hall was lit Mother was in her robe with one hand at her throat Father was at the intercom Enzo was beside him, barefoot, furious

Marco’s voice came through the speaker

“I’m not leaving without my wife”

My heart missed the next beat and then hit the one after too hard

Wife

He had said it into our gate. He had said it where my father could hear it, and Enzo, and mama, who closed her eyes as if the word had struck her

1/3

Successfully unlocked!

He has lost his mind. Enzo said

“He shouldn’t even be on the road this late, I said, and did not know why that was the sentence that came out He should not be in that car. He is injured”

Father turned Go back upstairs

The horn stopped. The intercom crackled Marco again, louder now, not only in the speaker He was out of the car I could hear him closer

Loretta?

My breath got stuck in my throat Why did I feel hot all over?

Chiara made a sound behind me. Lucia had come down as far as the third step and stopped, eyes wide

Stay inside father warned

“No”

“Loretta

“He is my husband.” My voice shook. “You heard him. He is here for me.”

Mama stepped between me and the door. “It is after midnight. He is a Vescari. You will not walk out there in your nightclothes and give the neighbors something to talk about.”

“I have on a sweater,”

The gate clicked. I heard it, and then the engine, and the crunch of gravel under his tires.

He had come through. My father swore. Enzo reached the door first and pulled it open.

Marco got out. He looked as if he had not slept, and as if sleep had not been the point.

“I’m here for my wife,” he said, to my father and to my brother. “She is the only person who can tell me to leave. None of you can.”

His eyes found me behind my father and stayed there.

Father went red. “You cannot come onto this property. Honk at this house. Cause a scene. And call my daughter your wife. A Vescari can never be my daughter’s husband!”

Too late, Marco said. “She’s already mine.”

What was wrong with my heart? The damn thing was acting like I was truly in love with him and all of this was

real

Enzo moved I caught his hand.

“Don’t

I did not want them fighting. Especially not when Marco was already injured from the accident

He does not get to-

He gets to speak to me I stepped past both of them, and the cold went straight through the sweater

Marco’s gaze dropped, once, to my feet, then came back up Something in his face changed.

Not a smile Relief, badly hidden

Did he think they had punished me for marrying him?

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