Page 184 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

‘I told you.’ Rae strove to keep her voice steady as she was treated to the full brutally masculine force of him. Six foot five, powerful shoulders, wide chest, jaw as sharp as a blade, aristocratic nose and eyes the shade of polished mahogany sat beneath thick, expressive brows. Looking at Domenico, no one could deny he’d been born to be a leader of men. In another time he would have been a warrior. The first time Rae had seen him, she had thought how at odds the expertly tailored suit and neatly knotted silk tie was with the man wearing it, so imposing and commanding was his physical presence. ‘To say goodbye to Elena and tellyouhow sorry I am for your loss.’

The truth was she was more than sorry. That was too generic. Sheachedfor him, physically and emotionally. That was why she had returned to Venice.

When she had read the news of Elena’s passing, her first thought had been of Domenico. Her second had been of how to get to him in his time of suffering. Even now that she was here, closer than she had been to him in almost four months, it didn’t feel close enough. The ten feet between them felt like ten thousand miles and something in her—the same instinct that had compelled her to return to Venice and Palazzo Ricci without a single beat of hesitation—longed to cross the space dividing them and wrap him in her arms.

And that was enough to trigger alarm bells in every corner of her body, because in dropping everything and racing to Domenico’s side, hadn’t she repeated her past mistakes? Fallen back into the dynamic that had made her so unhappy? And yes, it was an exceptional moment that she was probably right to make an exception for, but it was making her question whether she’d changed as much as she’d thought she had in the past months. And that was a very disquieting thought.

‘Well, you’ve offered your condolences now,’ he said, his eyes scraping over her in a merciless perusal which, despite their stoniness, roused tingles all over her skin. ‘You’re free to leave this home that pushed you into such misery. I would offer to walk you to the door, but I’m sure you remember where it is from the last time you walked out of it.’

With another scathing glower, he returned to his contemplation of the world outside the window.

A stinging heat crept into Rae’s eyes and cheeks. She’d always known Domenico could be ruthless and cutting. Managing a global conglomerate with thousands of employees required it of him at times. But he did not like to have to be so, she knew that too, and she had certainly never been on the receiving end of his cold dismissal.

It was an indication of just how unhappy he was with her, how deep his anger ran. She had left him, scorned and humiliated him. He’d probably never wanted to set eyes on her again—wasn’t that why he’d made no effort to chase after her?

Yet here she was.

Rae’s heart rattled with uncertainty. Maybe she should do as he bade and leave. Domenico clearly didn’t want her here. And she didn’tneedto be here. Estranged wives didn’t have any particular role to play in family events, after all. He had the palazzo staff to take care of any practical needs and no doubt he had...other companionsto cater to his emotional needs.

Thinking about it now, there had really been no reason at all for her to make the journey to Venice. It had been utterly stupid of her to come!

Rae had taken a few steps in retreat when she stopped, her mind suddenly abuzz with the unpleasant awareness that she was once again being cowed by Domenico’s mood, and was reacting in the same way as she always had before—letting it shut her down.Well, not this time, she thought, remembering the promise she’d made to never let herself be silenced again.

She had returned to Venice because she was worried about him. Worried that Elena’s passing would be a tragedy so big to contend with he wouldn’t know where to start. Worried that no matter how many willing companions he had, he would not express the depth of his feelings. From personal experience, Rae knew that getting Domenico to open up was like trying to pry tectonic plates apart and nothing she had seen so far had convinced her that her fears were unfounded. So she would not do as he commanded and leave, not until she had done what she’d come to do, and so with a quiet sigh, steeling herself to face more of Domenico’s wrath, she turned back, her steps drawing her closer to him.

‘You want me leave and I will, okay. But first I want to make sure that you’re doing as well as you can be right now. That’s why I came,’ Rae admitted, ‘not just to offer my condolences. But to check on you.’

He released a bark of derision that seemed to convey a lot more than a single sound should. It seemed to question why, if she cared so much about his well-being, had she left him? And it was a fair question, she supposed. But her feelings for him had never been the issue, had they?

‘I’m fine.’

Rae swallowed the urge to scream as he delivered his standard dismissive rebuff. Why did he always have to be so stubborn, so unwilling to lower his guard, even just an inch?

‘Are you, Domenico? Really? How many of those have you had this afternoon?’ she demanded, striding into his side vision and gesturing to the antique crystal tumbler cradled between his long-fingered hands. ‘Have you eaten at all? Have you slept?’

‘My sleeping arrangements are no longer any of your business, Rae.’ He threw the words at her in a way that implied it was not his sleeping pattern to which he was referring but his sleeping partners and it left the mark it intended, lodging beneath her skin like a burning bullet.

‘No, they’re not,’ she muttered, unable to fend off the image of him with another woman and instead fighting the surge of nausea that accompanied it. ‘But I know the weight that grief places on a body, on a heart and a head. I know how the day feels endless, how all you crave is the oblivion of night and sleep, but when you get there, sleep won’t come. I know how hard it is to do the ordinary things, like eat and move.’ Having inclined his head, Domenico stared at her as though she were a witch, knowing things she shouldn’t, that he would never willingly share. ‘I’ve lived it too. Twice. Or had you forgotten that?’

Losing both of her parents in such a short space of time had been the hardest thing Rae had ever gone through. Most days she didn’t know how she had survived that turmoil and emerged on the other side of it. She didn’t credit herself as a particularly strong person—a person of any particular specialness, really—and she certainly didn’t feel very strong in that moment, when being back in Domenico’s orbit and subject to that astonishing force of his was only threatening to draw her back in. Making all the reasons why she’d had to leave feel so very minuscule, so very far away.

Making the warning bells jangle all over again.

‘No.’ Draining what was left in his glass, Domenico set it down and in the dim light of the nearby lamp she could see how ravaged he was by the events of the past days. In the lines bracketing his mouth and the shadows hugging his eyes, she could see his fatigue, his strain. His heartbreak. Never before had she seen such raw, naked emotion etched into his too handsome face and once more all she wanted to do was go to him and make it better, if only for a moment. ‘I haven’t forgotten. The death of a loved one is a wretched thing.’ Something shifted behind his hard gaze as he turned the rest of his body to face her, leaning his hip against the large desk. ‘I assumed that since you knew that sting of loss, you would value your relationships all the more. But how wrong I was.’ His features shifted again, rearranging themselves into an expression that wasn’t difficult to translate. ‘You are a million miles away from the person I believed you to be.’

‘Then I guess we both suffered the sting of that particular disappointment.’ He’d not turned out to be the man she’d believed him to be either!

Outrage filled his face and fuelled a heavy breath. ‘What disappointment did you ever have cause to feel? I gave you everything. I offered you everything.’

Rae could not and would never dispute that. Domenico had been unfailingly generous, at least materially, but it was the price of what he had given and offered that had been fatal to their relationship.

Be at his side always. Surrender all aspects of her own life. Place him and his needs ahead of her own, every single minute of every single day.

Doing so hadn’t been hard. Considering him, wanting to do whatever she could to make his life a little easier when he shouldered such huge responsibilities without complaint had been easy. Making him happy had made her happy and what had made Domenico happy was having her beside him all the time. But then one day Rae had realised she had nothing of her own. No work. No friends. No hobbies.No life.Nothing to sustain her should she ever find herself alone again.

It was her worst nightmare come true.

Because she knew how that scenario ended. In desolation and depression.

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