Page 122 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

He was indifferent to her now. But it was maddening how much of an effect her departure had had. How much he had allowed her to influence his life to begin with.

For three months, he hadn’t accepted any jobs that would take him away from English waters. He hadn’t been back to London either, but he’d remained close. Japan wasn’t happy. Some of their most exclusive clients were demanding they have access to his personal expertise, wouldn’t take no for an answer. People came to him, to his company, to provide them with the type of experiences they couldn’t get anywhere else.

The Cappetta Travel Empire was built on his father’s thrill-seeking adventures. His father had revolutionised a small airline company into a recognisable brand. And Dante had inherited it all.

Being stuck on British soil was unwelcome. But he couldn’t leave, especially not now as he recalled the doctor’s words over the phone.

Mr Cappetta, your wife has fallen. Bumped her head. She’s confused. She doesn’t remember a lot of things.

His mother had claimed she’d fallen too. That was how she’d found out she was pregnant.A lie.She’d known all along, but the lie allowed her to manipulate his father. Manipulate his desire for an heir, an heir he wanted little to do with raising but wanted nonetheless. And his mother had got what she wanted too: the means to live her life as she pleased, with the money she got in exchange for her son.

Emma couldn’t barter his flesh and blood. Dante had made sure there would never be children in his future.

You never thought you’d have a wife either.

After tonight, he wouldn’t.

But the depth of Emma’s deception was unexpected. And he hated he hadn’t seen it coming. Over the last three months, he’d talked himself in circles. Doubt had riddled him.

She’d left everything behind, including a small fortune in jewels. On the surface, it looked as though she no longer wanted her things. No longer wanted...him.

But he understood the truth.

His wife wanted something, because there was no fathomable reason for her to leave, unless this was a play for power.For more.

And it was. He was sure of that.

Anyone’s palms could be greased with the right lubrication.

‘Sir,’ the driver said. ‘We’re here.’

So they were. The drab inner-city hospital in Birmingham was so far away from the life he’d gifted to her. And the knowledge that she’d chosen to come back here speared him in the gut.

Emma’s accent was rich. There had been no doubt of her origin when they’d met. But this city was nothing like the capital they’d lived in together. It was closer. The atmosphere was too intimate. The people were too much. Their melodic and soft accents somehow penetrated deeper.

Just like her? Is that why you haven’t filed for divorce?

No, that was because Emma had plunged a knife into his solar plexus, and he knew the only way to drive out the blade was to see her again. To confirm that his sweet little wife was just like his mother, who had traded her unborn child for a fat cheque and a private island. Seeing Emma would confirm that she had been manipulating him all along.

He stepped out of the car, and night lights burned in a shimmering rainbow all around him. He looked over the nondescript concrete building with red letters lit up by a white background.

Accident and Emergency.

He moved towards it.

The electronic door slid open.

He eyed the A&E department. Stale and metallic, the air reeked. And it was...cloying. The reality of it. Humans littered the chairs and the floors. Zombified, they stared at a string of red letters floating across a screen, announcing an estimated wait time of six hours.

This would not have been the venue he would have expected for an attempt to woo him.

He felt a sense of powerlessness here. Hopelessness. That whatever happened in these walls was out of his control.

Did Emma understand that? Was that why she’d chosen this scenario? To toy with him? To make him feel powerless?

The two double doors to Dante’s left opened, and two paramedics exited.

He moved through them, confident he’d find Emma somewhere in this rabbit warren.

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