Page 202 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

‘You didn’t ask, for one thing,’ she pointed out sharply. ‘But you’re right, it was an error on my part to not tell you about it before now. Because this is very important to me and for the past number of months I’ve been working incredibly hard at it. My video call appointment this afternoon is with a bride who would like to talk to me about designing her wedding dress. She’s seen others that I’ve been working on and is impressed.’ Rae was aware that she was speaking to him in a way that she never had before, with unapologetic directness and clarity and as though she was his equal, and she sensed him regarding her in a new way in return. ‘I understand the trip to Majorca is important, but so is this. So I’m sure there’s a way to compromise. How about if I fly out later this evening to join you?’

‘No,’ Domenico decreed after a moment’s thought. ‘I’ll push the flight back so we can leave after you’ve finished your appointment. Arriving a few hours later won’t make that much of a difference.’

‘Really?’ Rae struggled to hide her surprise that he was being so...amenable. ‘That’s... Thank you.’

‘You’re welcome.’ He nodded, before turning on his heel and walking away and Rae could only stare after him, unspeakably proud of herself and unspeakably shocked by Domenico.

Rae was occupied for most of the flight to Majorca, her head bent low over her sketchbook, her hands moving fast and furiously. Domenico watched her, curiosity smouldering in his gut. She’d come off her video call with a bounce in her step and a sparkle in her eyes that he immediately knew had been absent during her final weeks in Venice with him. He hadn’t noticed that change in her at the time but, having taken a hard look back, he could see now that she had lost something of herself back then, and that was making him question exactly how great a factor her desire for a career had been in her decision to leave him all those months ago.

He had planned to spend the flight working, preparing for his meeting over the weekend, but instead he spent it deep in thought, being plagued by questions to which he didn’t know the answers.

And he loathed those types of questions. He had enough of them haunting him already.

As Rae sat back and surveyed her work with a critical eye, her lips curling up with a small smile of satisfaction, Domenico saw his chance to indulge that curiosity.

‘May I see?’ he asked, moving to a seat opposite her.

After a small hesitation she nodded, turning her sketchbook towards him. He cast his gaze over the beautiful sketches, taking in the care, the attention to every detail and her unique flair that he’d noticed immediately in the designs she’d shown him back at the palazzo. He’d undertaken a quick internet search earlier—something he’d started to do so many times since she’d walked out on him, only to always stop himself because doing so would indicate an attachment and interest that he’d refused to acknowledge in his all-consuming anger—and had quickly noticed the growing awareness around her name. After seeing her work, Domenico could see that she deserved every word of praise being sent her way.

‘You’re making your bride two dresses?’

‘Yes. One for the ceremony, another for the reception.’

He forced himself to listen, even though all he wanted to do was grab her and not let go until she’d given him the answers he craved. That burning need he’d repressed for the past weeks and months had escaped its confines and was spreading like wildfire through him.

‘This is the ceremony dress. All of it will be Alençon lace: very luxurious, very romantic. It’s also very expensive, but it shapes beautifully and is durable enough to accept the beading she wants.’

‘It’s beautiful, Rae. All of these designs are.’ He raised his eyes to hers, his stomach tightening as he saw it again, that gleam of unbridled joy and fulfilment. Given that he had once been responsible for that happy sparkle in her eyes, that he had been the man she’d wanted to share her life with, he couldn’t fathom why she hadn’t shared any of this with him. ‘I have to admit, I’m curious how this all came about,’ he said, sweeping an elegant hand over the book and the designs and keeping his voice more steady than he felt.

Rae hesitated again, her slim throat moving nervously and the tip of her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. The innocent act had desire firing to every corner of his body even as his mind was focused on getting answers.

‘Do you remember Nell Parker—I was in Venice for her wedding when we first met? I’d helped redesign a dress for her...’ He manged a stiff nod, coiled tight with anticipation, sensing answers were on the horizon. ‘Well, she runs her own investment firm and she was so impressed by my design that at the time she said that if I ever had an interest in striking out my own, she’d be interested in investing in me. I called her a few months ago to see if the offer still stood, and it did but, coincidentally, she’d been trying to reach me too because her sister was in the middle of her own wedding crisis. Her reception gown and bridesmaids’ dresses hadn’t turned out how she wanted and she remembered loving Nell’s party dress and so wanted my help. So I helped. And then, after her wedding, more people wanted my details. So I’m taking commissions whilst building a collection to show Nell before we make any partnership official. I figure that if I already have a client base and I can prove that there’s a demand for my designs then I’ll seem like an even better prospect for investment.’

‘That’s smart,’ he commented, impressed at the savviness with which she was approaching the venture. ‘Obviously, I knew you worked as a consultant at the bridal boutique back in London, but I wasn’t aware that you wanted to design your own collection or have your own brand. You never told me,’ he said, failing to keep the small quiver of accusation from his tone.

‘I know.’ Rae’s eyes briefly met his and she swallowed nervously. ‘The truth is I was afraid to. Afraid that a wife with career ambitions wasn’t what you wanted.’

‘You thought I wouldn’t be supportive of you wanting a career?’ he demanded, searching for clarification of what she hadn’t said.

‘Not really, no,’ she admitted, and an uncomfortable heat swarmed into Rae’s cheeks as she spoke that truth into the taut air between them.

Domenico’s mouth dropped open. He was unable to understand what foundation she had to base that unflattering assumption on, because he had always been incredibly supportive of her. He’d...

But the silence in his head as he tried to root out examples to prove his point was deafening and as vehemently as he wanted to argue his case, he knew he could not.

‘You liked our life the way that it was, Domenico, with me being available to you most of the time,’ she expanded into the silence. ‘I didn’t think you would be eager to see that change, not when you had made it very clear early on in our relationship that you liked having me by your side and with you as much as possible.’

‘And that’s something I should apologise for?’ he demanded, more agitated than he wanted to be, but the failings he’d just been awakened to were weighing heavily on his chest and her words had ripped through him like bullets. Because everything she said was right. He had wanted it to be exactly as she described. The pleasure and security of having her always by his side, always within reaching distance. Against all the odds, he had found someone he cared for enough to let into his life, someone who’d cared for him in return, who had wanted him to be her present and her future, and he’d wanted to hold on to her as tight as he could. It had never occurred to him that’d he’d been holding on too tight. ‘You were my wife, Rae. Of course I wanted us to be together all the time. That was the point of us getting married, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes.’ Her blue eyes glittered, brimming with too many emotions for him to discern any of them. ‘But I didn’t realise that marrying you would mean surrendering all of myself to you. I thought it would be a partnership.’

‘It was a partnership,’ he insisted, even though he was starting to see that there had been some inequalities, for which he bore a heavy responsibility.

‘Perhaps from where you stood. But for me... I was so busy livingyourlife with you, I didn’t have any time to live my own and I needed that,’ she said, looking very close to tears. He had realised it already, but those shining pools of emotion in her eyes made it clear that this had been no trivial matter. He only wished he better understoodwhy. ‘I needed to have a life of my own, Domenico.’

Looking across at her, Domenico’s throat felt too tight and too dry, his heart squeezing as if being tortured by invisible hands. He considered himself an astute reader of people, but he’d never seen, or even suspected, that Rae felt that way and he hated that he’d been so blind. So ignorant. That he’d failed her as a husband.

Failure had never been an option for him, not in any area of his life. Even as a young boy, long before he had learned the truth of his birth, he’d always known he was incredibly fortunate to have been taken in by Elena and he’d always felt the weight of that fortune, felt the need to prove himself, to make sure she had no reason to turn her back on him. So he’d made sure he was always as close to perfect as possible. He’d mastered every task, every skill, studying long into the night to overcome his learning difficulties and excel at academics, understanding all there was to know about the workings of The Ricci Group.

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