Page 9 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 5-8

‘Oh, get over yourself! I get the occasional alert—probably because you have the same surname as my best friend. But anyway, that’s beside the point,’ she gabbled, terrified she was going to come over as some kind of stalker. ‘What I’m trying to say is that it’s one rule for men and another for women. Even now. If a woman goes out and has a good time, then society attaches labels to her which are deeply unflattering. But if amandoes it—well, that’s a whole different story. Anyway, I think this conversation has run its course, don’t you?’ She pushed back her chair. ‘Thanks for dinner,’ she added stiffly. ‘I think it’s time I went to bed.’

But as she got to her feet, he mirrored her movements, rising to his feet so that his tall frame towered over her, bathing her in its dark and formidable shadow and making her feel curiouslyfragile. His powerful body seemed to ripple with energy and as Kelly felt the sweet liquid rush of reaction, another inconsequential thought skittered into her head. Why weren’t other men more like Romano? she wondered desperately. Why did it have to behimwho made her feel like this?

‘I’ll see you upstairs,’ he said.

‘I’m perfectly capable of getting back to my room without your help.’

‘Given how long it took you to find your way here by road, I think it’s inadvisable to take any more chances, don’t you? I don’t want you wandering around the castle at night and disturbing me.’

‘You’re so sarcastic,’ she snapped.

But she was secretly glad of his company as they navigated the twisting subterranean corridors leading from the vast basement of the castle. She could hear the sound of creaking as the ancient building began to settle down for the night and, as they mounted the sweeping staircase, she found herself wondering how many different pairs of feet had walked this way over the years. Had Romano brought any of his lovers here? And why was it so easy to imagine that muscular body of his naked on a bed, with the pale light of the moon bathing his rippling flesh with silver?

Deliberately, she blocked the fantasy. Concentrate on his flaws instead. Heaven only knew but there were enough of them. His cold and judgemental nature, for starters. His cynical attitude towards love. The way he tried to control his sister’s life.

She tilted her chin to look up at him. ‘I suppose I’d better try to get rid of these unsightly black shadows beneath my eyes,’ she said, pointedly referencing his remarks of earlier. ‘Before everyone else gets here.’

There was a long pause as he met her gaze and for a moment the condemnation in his eyes became something else. A flash of ebony fire, which seemed to burn right through her skin and make her dissolve from the inside out. Suddenly Kelly was finding it difficult to breathe and her knees were feeling decidedly unsupportive.

‘I didn’t say they were unsightly,’ he said abruptly. ‘It was a criticism of your lifestyle, not your appearance.’

He turned away and quickly she pushed open her bedroom door, resisting the urge to stand watching him, terrified he would turn round and see the pinprick thrust of her aching breasts. That he might then understand that, although she had never really liked him, she had never stopped wanting him.

CHAPTER THREE

‘KELLY. KELLY! Wakeup!’

Reluctantly surfacing from the landscape of her fractured dreams, Kelly kept her eyes tightly shut, aware of bright light flooding onto her closed eyelids and the aroma of fresh coffee filtering towards her. She didn’t want to wake up. It had taken her long enough to get to sleep because her body had been so, so…restless. She wanted to stay in this heavenly half-world which her unconscious had created, one where Romano Castelliari was licking very slowly down her neck, his fingers whispering beneath the hem of her dress towards her knickers.

Her throat dried.

Since when had she started having erotic dreams about her arch-enemy?

Her eyes snapped open to see Floriana opening the shutters of her bedroom windows and she was glad of the momentary reprieve to compose her flushed face and steady her thudding heart. Hastily adjusting the cosy jacket of her winceyette pyjamas, she sat up in bed, noticing the creamy cup of cappuccino which was sitting on the bedside table and which Floriana must have placed there. And in spite of her mixed-up feelings, Kelly smiled—but then, her schoolfriend always had that effect on her, even though they didn’t get to see each other as often as they’d like. They had known each other since they were thirteen, when Floriana had arrived at the highly competitive school where Kelly’s mum had been matron, which meant she’d got her fees paid and had supposedly had exactly the same opportunities as all the other pupils in the posh establishment.

But that hadn’t been the case. Kelly had never been allowed to forget for a single moment—not by her peers, her teachers and sometimes, by her mother herself—that she was a ‘charity case’. And that her existence was powered by other people’s generosity. Her uniform was second-hand and so were her books. She never went on school trips. She was never invited to anyone else’s house during the holidays—but there again, she never had anywhere to call home to invite people back to. The minuscule apartment above the sanitorium which came with her mother’s job looked more like a waiting room.

Only Floriana Castelliari had been different. Floriana had actuallylikedher. Apparently she had begged her parents to let her attend the prestigious English boarding school, mainly, it transpired, to escape from her domineering older brothers, Riccardo and her half-brother, Romano. Romano in particular had brokered his sister’s marriage to a wealthy count more than two decades her senior and, for a while, Floriana had gone along with his plans and pictured herself as his bride. But people changed their minds, didn’t they—often at the last minute? Better to discover that something was wrong before you entered into it, sooner rather than later—especially when it involved something as important as marriage.

Shuffling further up on the feathery bank of pillows, Kelly focussed her attention on her friend. ‘Morning, Flo.’

‘Ah! You’re awake—at last!’ Floriana turned around and gave a huge smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘I thought you were supposed to be a lark! I’ve brought you some coffee.’

‘So I see.Grazie.’ Kelly yawned. ‘What time is it?’

‘Nearly eleven.’

‘Are you serious?’

With perfect yet slightly inharmonious timing, several clocks began to boom out from different parts of the castle.

‘Listen for yourself,’ said Floriana, bouncing across the room like a sunbeam, her dark hair shining in the pale sunshine which flooded in through the tall castle windows. ‘Thank heavens we’re here,’ she announced, bending down to give Kelly a big hug. ‘I tried to ring you to say we were going to be delayed but I think your phone must have been dead. I heard you got lost and pranged your car and then turned up on the doorstep looking like a drowned rat.’

‘Did Romano say that?’ asked Kelly carefully.

‘Well, he growled it out in his habitual bear-like way, but that was the gist of it, yes. I gather it was just you and him here for the evening. No staff here.’ Floriana studied her mischievously. ‘Given the history of your mutual loathing, how did that work out?Madonna mia, but I’d love to have been a fly on the wall.’

‘We managed to pass a few hours without coming to blows.’

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