The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife (Blair and Grayson) novel Chapter 312

Chapter 312

~LORETTA~

The drive stretched longer than it should have.

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I kept my cheek pressed to the cool glass of the window, watching the buildings blur past, while the heat under my skin refused to fade.

Last night’s kiss would not leave my mind. I had kissed him first-hard, hungry, the kind of kiss that left no room for pretending, and then I had pulled back and blamed wine I never touched.

He had looked at me for a long moment afterward, something unreadable in his eyes, and then he had put me in his bed and stayed on the couch. Or somewhere else. I never heard him come in.

“Caterina is meeting us at the appointment,” he said suddenly, breaking through my thoughts.

I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. The car suddenly felt too small for both of us.

He had invited her.

Caterina?

“She asked if she could come,” he added, quietly. “I didn’t see a reason to say no. Not after the way I’ve been treating her.”

Of course he didn’t. The contract didn’t give me the right to care who he brought to a doctor’s office. It didn’t give me the right to notice how his voice softened when he said her name.

I kept my hands folded in my lap and said nothing.

If I opened my mouth I wasn’t sure what would come out-something sharp, something true, something that would break the careful rules we had both agreed to.

So I stayed quiet and watched the buildings move by, hating how much I wanted him to look at me instead of thinking about her.

She was already waiting just inside the entrance when we pulled up. The second she saw Marco she moved. Not a polite approach, straight into him, arms moving around his neck before he had even fully stopped walking.

The hug went on too long. Her fingers curled at the back of his collar. I saw how she pressed in, how she turned her face into the side of his throat as if she belonged there.

He didn’t step back. One of his hands came up and rested at the center of her back for a second too long before it dropped.

It hurt but I could not look away.

“Loretta,” she said when she finally released him. Her smile seemed fake. “I hope you don’t mind me being here. I just wanted to hear the news with him. I’ve cared about Marco for a long time. Longer than most people get the chance to.” Her eyes flicked to me. “But you already know that.”

“It’s fine,” I said. Marco was watching me. I could feel the weight of it. I gave him nothing.

I followed them down the corridor with my spine straight and my hands still clenched, watching Caterina’s shoulder brush his as they walked.

She didn’t have to. There was room. She chose to.

Inside the exam room she took the chair closest to him without asking. I sat farther back, how a contract wife was supposed to.

The doctor came in and Caterina was already leaning forward, elbows on her knees, asking about range of motion before I could open my mouth.

She laughed lightly when the doctor said Marco was lucky to have people who cared this much.

She touched his forearm twice while he answered questions about the wrist.

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Chapter 312

He didn’t move his arm. Didn’t glance at me. Just kept talking while her hand stayed where it was.

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She had no right. Neither did I. That was the problem. She was here, touching him in a room that was supposed to be about his recovery, and he was letting her. Because he felt guilty. Because she had been there longer. Because I had no claim that mattered.

The doctor pulled up the scans. Marco rotated his wrist when he was told to. The doctor nodded, satisfied.” You’re cleared.”

Relief moved across Marco’s face. I opened my mouth to happily congratulate him but Caterina was already on her feet.

She stepped into him again, arms tight around his neck this time, cheek pressed to his.

I watched his hand come up and settle at her waist. Not a full embrace. Not a push away. Just enough contact that her body stayed against his while she spoke into his ear.

“I knew it,” she said, soft and pleased. “I knew you’d be back on the track in no time. You’ve always been the strongest man I’ve ever known.”

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