Page 10 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 5-8

‘Brava!And what did you do?’

‘He cooked me supper,’ she informed her friend evenly.

‘Did he? That was surprisingly well behaved of him. I’ve been told he’s good, though I’ve never actually sampled his cooking.’ Floriana frowned. ‘And you look as if you could do with some feeding up.’

A pulse fluttered at her throat. ‘That’s exactly what—’

‘What?’

She shook her head. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘It does matter.’ Floriana’s eyes narrowed perceptively. ‘Something’s wrong, isn’t it, Kell? I can tell.’

Kelly chewed her lip. She hadn’t been planning on saying anything, not on the weekend of her goddaughter’s christening. Why impart all her personal doom and gloom and risk bringing the atmosphere down? But the tension had been building up inside her ever since she’d been given the news and it had to go somewhere, and Floriana was looking at her in a way which was making stupid tears start stinging at the backs of her eyes. She was trying to remember the last time someone had looked at her so sympathetically and came up with a great big blank. And if she couldn’t confide in her oldest friend then whocouldshe confide in?

‘Just money,’ she said, attempting a careless shrug.

‘Justmoney?’

‘The restaurant where I’ve been a part-time waitress for the past four years has gone bust,’ she elaborated, the words tumbling out in a rush. ‘And so I’m out of a job. Hopefully I’ll get another one as soon as I’m back from Italy.’ She pulled a face. ‘But in the meantime there’s a slight cash-flow problem and the small matter of paying my rent.’

‘I will lend it to you,’ said Floriana impulsively. ‘How much do you need?

‘No, you won’t. I would never borrow from a friend,’ answered Kelly fiercely. ‘And anyway, from what I gather, you haven’t got a whole load to spare.’

Floriana frowned. ‘That’s what Romano told you?’

‘In his usual bear-like way, yes!’ Kelly shrugged. ‘He implied that your lifestyle was hand to mouth. Is that true?’

‘I guess to someone with my brother’s extravagant lifestyle, it is. Not many people have planes and properties and car factories.’ Floriana stared down at her plain gold wedding band before looking up again. ‘You know Romano wants Max to take over the running of this estate?’

Kelly shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t. Wow. Is that what you want, Flo?’

Floriana sat down on the edge of the bed and began pleating the heavy brocade cover between her fingers. ‘I don’t know. In some ways, it would be great. I love Tuscany and I’ve still got friends here, and our place in France is lovely but…well, it’s hard. I’m not going to deny that. We’ve got a tiny smallholding and the land isn’t that fertile and it’s miles from anywhere—hence getting stuck overnight in the snow.’

‘So what’s the problem? Surely the answer is right here for the taking?’

Floriana gave a brittle laugh. ‘I’ll give you three guesses, and it’s all to do with the stubbornness of men. Max doesn’t want to be beholden to Romano and although Romano isn’t the least bit interested in being a farmer, he just won’t let go. You know what a control freak he is. He still wants to make all the decisions. And Max says that would drive him crazy. He says it took long enough for him to demonstrate he was worthy of being my husband after we’d eloped, but he doesn’t want to have to keep proving himself for the rest of his life. He says he’d rather be poor than have to keep kowtowing to Romano.’

‘And what about you? What doyouwant?’ questioned Kelly quietly.

Floriana shrugged. ‘I love my husband,’ she said simply. ‘And you know what they say. If he’s not happy, then none of us are.’ She stood up and smoothed down her dress. ‘Now, are you going to laze there in bed all morning, or are you going to get up and come and see your gorgeous goddaughter?’

Kelly laughed. ‘I’m on my way.’

‘Well, you’d better get a move on, or it’ll be lunch time—and you know what a stickler Romano is for punctuality. Particularly as a load of extra staff have just arrived. He’s ordered caterers and florists and nannies, as if we’re expecting hundreds of guests, and now he wants everything run like clockwork.’ Floriana gave a heavy sigh. ‘I thought the years might have softened him, but they seem to have done the opposite.’

Kelly blinked. It wasn’t a word she’d ever associated with the Italian billionaire—in fact, soft was the very antithesis of his steely character and iron-hard body.

She gave a bitter smile.

Softenhim?

Not in this lifetime.

Romano sat at the head of the table and made no attempt to hide his irritation. ‘Where is she?’ he demanded, with a pointed glance at his watch.

‘Notshe, Romano,’ observed his stepmother mildly. ‘Her name is Kelly.’

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