Page 214 of Modern Romance January 2025 1-4

His gut tightened but he turned to her because he suddenly needed to know. ‘Your father was always domineering?’ He braced. ‘Violent?’

His heart stopped as she paled.

‘Not too bad. Not as we got older,’ she breathed. ‘But he still threatened. Mum was anxious that we please him. She couldn’t stand up to him and we didn’t either. We had to look good, perform, improve the family position. But never actually think for ourselves.’ She shot him a colourless smile. ‘He wasn’t interested in my ideas, but I actually have quite good ideas.’

‘I know you do,’ Ramon muttered helplessly. ‘He should have listened.Valuedyou foreverythingelse. Never hurt you.’ Impotent fury swept through him. ‘Didn’t your husband see it?’

Her expression pinched. ‘Callum said marrying him would make it better. That he loved me, he’d help push my ideas, stand up to my father and that we’d—’

She broke off and cleared her throat. Ramon knew there was something more she’d left unsaid and wished she’d trust him enough to say it.

‘But he didn’t?’ Ramon pressed. ‘He stayed there even after you left?’

‘Until he accepted that the divorce was inevitable,’ she whispered.

An unbearable tension built inside. ‘He really didn’t want to let you go, huh?’

Elodie shook her head. ‘But Callum made many promises that he didn’t keep long before I left him.’ Her glance skittered from his again. ‘Lots of people don’t deliver on their promises.’

That was true. But Ramon was increasingly bothered by the feeling that his wife Elodiewasn’tone of them.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BACKINLONDON,Elodie was touched by Ramon’s kindness towards Ashleigh. He put a chauffeur and car at her disposal, inquired about her favourite food, arranged tours of tertiary options and offered every possible comfort, giving her freedom, security, funding. He was unquestioningly generous. Elodie returned to work, energised by the astonishing reality that she owned not just the business but the whole building.

Bethan pounced on her the second she walked in, wanting to know all. Her friend was an incurable romantic, but Elodie couldn’t open up to her about Ramon. Their deal was confidential and besides, he was far more complicated than she’d first thought. His arrogance was partly a protective facade. He’d been hurt—his father’s infidelity, his mother’s heartbreak and the burdens that had been put on him. No wonder he kept those who remained at a distance when he’d been let down by the people who should have protected him. She understood how that felt. Her father hadn’t truly cared for her, while Callum had been full of it. He’d told her he loved her, that he would stand up for her, that he’d be patient. But the Elodie he’d wanted had been a figment of his imagination—one he’d got fixated on. He’d wanted little more than a decorative accompaniment and in the end he’d tried to dictate her life every bit as much as her father had.

She almost wished she could tell Ramon the truth about her break-up with Callum, but he had enough on his plate. She was already testing his generosity by having Ashleigh to stay. And would he even be interested? This was only a temporary agreement—all physical, not emotional. The only sort of affair he ever had and the kind he thoughtshehad all the time too. If she told him she actually didn’t, then he might wonder why she’d agreed to their fake wedding so easily in the first place. Might worry she wouldn’t be able to really handle it—that she was somehow more vulnerable because of her inexperience. He was arrogant enough to think she’d catch feelings for him and she knew he’d run fromthatin a flash.

And the thing was,shedidn’t want things to change at all from how they were now. She relished this—night after night of banter, their verbal jousting, the foreplay before they made intensely physical demands of each other. So she’d keep quiet. She’d make the most of it while it lasted. Because itwasgoing to end.

A few nights later Ramon returned home so late Elodie was already in bed, reading. She caught the moodiness in his eyes. ‘Something wrong?’

‘I have to travel tomorrow.’

‘I thought you liked travelling.’

‘I also like sleeping with you.’

She felt a shiver of risk but couldn’t resist. ‘You don’t see a solution?’

‘I see a very obvious one.’ He sat on the edge of the bed beside her with a wry smile. ‘The question is whether you’re willing to endure more time in an airplane?’

Pleasure washed through her but she didn’t want to give away her complete excitement at the prospect of accompanying him. ‘How long?’

‘We’d be away about ten days. A whirlwind visit of a few of our hotels. I need to check in on them.’ He took the book from her and set it on the bedside table. ‘You could check out all the escape rooms in the cities, call it a research trip.’

She couldn’t answer. Her heart was beating too fast. She wanted to say yes too much, too easily—wantedtimewith him—more than she should when this was only supposed to betemporary. Which was exactly why she couldn’t deny herself.

‘Bethan did a good job of running the place last week.’ He stroked a strand of her hair and made that heat lick through her. ‘Ashleigh might want to help her out on the front of house—would be something to occupy her while she works out which course she wants to enrol in. She could invite a friend to stay here, an assistant could move in too—she wouldn’t need to be lonely. You’ll call her lots. She’ll be safe.’

‘Are you managing my business for me?’ she teased breathlessly.

‘Your business is my business.’ His finger traced down her neck and drew a little circle in that space between her collarbones.

Right now—for now—he wanted her to come with him and she couldn’t say no.

‘Mi casa es su casa.’His finger dipped lower, a direct line down between her breasts.

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