Page 41 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 5-8

‘I know the address.’

Of course he did. Yet another demonstration of the true reach of his influence. A man with all the facts at his fingertips and all he had to do was to snap them and someone would come running. Well, not me, she thought fiercely. Not me.

‘I can give you a lift,’ he added, with a glance at the nearby side road, and for the first time Kelly noticed the pale blue racing car with the scarlet trim, which was attracting the attention of a cluster of teenage boys. As a symbol of his wealth and power, it was quite something, but all she could think about was that hideous uniform she’d been forced to wear.

She gave him a tight smile and pointed to her sturdy old bike. ‘I’ll make my own way, thank you.’

Her home was much smaller than he had imagined and that was saying something. Romano’s body tensed. He was a man who considered himself worldly but he couldn’t deny being unfamiliar with material poverty. The exterior of the apartment block was tired, with peeling paint in the communal areas, and it was situated in a decidedly insalubrious part of the city. Jamming his thumb on the bell, he waited, and didn’t part of him wonder whether she would refuse to answer?

And then what?

Suddenly the door opened and there stood Kelly and the air felt as if it had been punched from his lungs. He had thought she might change—that she would have replaced her working clothes for something more feminine and flattering. But no. The thin overcoat and fingerless gloves had been removed, but the sturdy jeans and sweater remained. Her green eyes were narrowed at him with undisguised suspicion and there was a mulish tilt to her chin as she studied him.

‘Well?’

‘You wish to leave me standing on the doorstep, Kelly?’

‘I don’t think you’d really like to hear what I wish,’ she answered ominously, before pulling open the door and stepping back. ‘I suppose you’d better come in.’

He bent his head as he stepped inside, for the walls of the tiny apartment seemed to shrink and envelop him. But on closer inspection, the interior was surprisingly clean and bright, and strategically placed mirrors seemed to double the space and available light. There were sprigs of greenery in a rustic pottery vase and vivid paintings on the walls, the landscape of one which he vaguely recognised. And the room felt like something hedidn’trecognise.

It felt like home.

He waited for her to speak. To demand to know why he was there, her voice possibly trembling with hope and expectation, but she said nothing. Just looked at him calmly, through the half shuttering of long lashes, which didn’t quite conceal the flicker of disquiet in her eyes. He thought of all the things he could say. The diplomatic words he could weave which would have the required effect of bringing her from across the room and into his arms.

But suddenly Romano realised such half-heartedness would get him precisely nowhere. That, more than anything, he owed her the truth. Because Kelly Butlerwasdifferent from other women. She always had been. She would not be short-changed. She was proud and strong and fearless. Wasn’t that one of the reasons which made him…?

‘I miss you,’ he said simply.

‘Miss me?’ she questioned sharply. ‘Or mistrust me?’

‘That feeling has faded,’ he admitted huskily. ‘And I understand why you kept your pregnancy fears hidden.’ He expelled a heavy breath. ‘Why would you confide in me when I could be so damned unforgiving?’

Still she didn’t say anything, though her lashes opened a fraction further.

‘I miss you like hell,’ he growled. ‘I didn’t think I would. I kept telling myself you were nothing to me. That you’d been a thorn in my side for longer than I could remember. But nothing I did or said or thought could kill my desire for you, Kelly. It didn’t matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, it changed nothing. I wanted you more than any other woman. I still do. I can’t stop wanting you, in every way,’ he declared huskily, and this definitelyshouldhave provoked a reaction—preferably the kind which would have her smothering him with grateful kisses, which would mean he didn’t have to say anything more.

But she didn’t move or utter a single word and, eventually, Romano gave a ragged sigh of capitulation.

‘When we had sex,’ he said, ‘I thought that would be the beginning of the end—’

‘Wow.’ Her eyes dazzled him with their emerald light. ‘Is that how you regard all your liaisons, Romano?’

‘Yes,’ he answered frankly. ‘Because that is what happens. I want something until I don’t. I get bored. Restless. Just not with you. I have wanted you since the moment I first saw you, even when you were forbidden to me. But in you I saw danger.’

‘Danger?’

‘Sì.’He paused. ‘Because you bring out a side of me I never knew existed.’

‘Which side is that?’ she questioned, her voice low.

How much did she want from him? he wondered impatiently. Wouldn’t she be satisfied until she had wrung every last emotion from his body? More importantly, was he going to let her get away with that?

But he had no choice. If he wanted her, it had to be on her terms. No. Their terms. It had to be honest, right from the get-go.Hehad to be honest. He could see that now.

‘It was safer not to feel. Not to attach to anyone. Never to…love anyone, because I didn’t know how. Nobody had ever shown me the way,’ he admitted heavily, acknowledging the bitter truth for the first time in his life. ‘Even my father found it hard to love me because I looked so much like my mother. That’s why I hung onto thecastello, even though I didn’t want to live there. Becausehehad left it to me in his will and to pass it on to someone else felt like a betrayal of that gift.’ His stupid voice was breaking and suddenly her self-imposed exile seemed to be at an end for she was crossing the room and putting her arms around his neck and reaching up on tiptoes so she could stare into his face.

‘Deep down, I knew that,’ she whispered, her breath warm against his lips. ‘How could you ever trust your feelings—or anyone else’s—after the kind of beginning you had? You saw things no child should ever have to see, Romano, and you learned that the only way you could survive was by protecting yourself. By building walls around yourself and keeping everything which made you vulnerable locked away inside. Once you let me get to know you a little better, I could see that so clearly. Occasionally, I saw a glimpse of the man I knew existed behind all those high walls. Who was thoughtful and funny and clever. And I…’

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