Page 73 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 1-4

He’d known she was skittish around him. Clearly her first marriage had burned her. She’d said it hadn’t been good.

The lingering satisfaction in Primo’s body made his mouth curve up in a smile. Maybe now that she’d seen how good they were together she would relax a little more into her role as his wife.

Primo sprang from the bed and walked naked over to the French doors, pulling them open. He stepped out onto the balcony and looked down to see a water taxi moving away from the landing pier, a distinctive head of black hair, tumbled over shoulders, and the scarlet flash of a dress. The taxi sped away, taking his wife to her next destination.

Primo’s smile got wider.

He had no doubt that she was going to lead him a merry dance, but if last night was anything to go by he would enjoy every second of being married to Faye MacKenzie. And sooner or later, she would give up on thoseterms.

At that moment there was a sound of collective giggling, and Primo looked away from the taxi to see another taxi near the palazzo, full of tourists who were all looking up at him and pointing. He put his hands modestly over his groin area and, still grinning, bowed and went back inside.

Faye willed the boat taxi to go faster, so people wouldn’t be able to look inside and see her sitting there still dressed in her costume, hair undone, make-up melted off in the heat of passion.

She groaned silently when she recalled the previous night. Not even the fresh air of the spring morning could dilutethosememories.

She was doing the walk of shame—albeit in a boat in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. That didn’t make it any less mortifying.

She’d never experienced sex like that. So...urgent. Raw. Powerful. After that first time, she was pretty sure she’d fallen into a deep sleep. And then at some point she’d woken in the night, to find Primo wrapped around her body. She’d tried to move, but his embrace had tightened, and then she’d felt his body, hardening against hers.

Within seconds they’d been entwined again, and this time it had been even more urgent. Mind-blowing. She’d never had a lover like him. He’d opened her eyes to a depth of sensuality inside her that she’d never known existed.

Her cheeks were still burning at the thought of how he’d react to find her gone. But she’d had to leave. The thought of sitting with him and doing something as banal as sharing breakfast had seemed—ridiculously—like an intimacy too far after what they’d shared.

And it wasn’t as if she wasn’t going to see him again. They were married! They were due to attend an annual charity gala ball in Manhattan later that week. A social staple. A chance, as Primo had put it, to introduce themselves to society as a married couple.

But right now Faye had no idea how she’d ever look him in the face again. She’d been so...wanton. Lustful. He’d turned her into some hungry, base creature. And yet as the sight of her hotel came into view, and the taxi started slowing down, she couldn’t help a tiny secret smile forming on her mouth. Because he’d unlocked something inside her and she couldn’t in all conscience be sorry. Her whole body was still tingling in the aftermath.

She was about as far removed from her usual pristinely put-together self as she could be, but the sense of languorous satisfaction in her blood drowned out any need to be concerned about it.

The boat landed at the pier. A hotel attendant stepped forward to help her out of the taxi. As she walked into the foyer she passed a couple whose eyes widened when they saw her. Faye swallowed back an urge to giggle. She felt like explaining to them that she wasn’t coming back from an illicit night of debauchery with a total stranger—that she had, in fact, just spent the night with her husband...

But that thought sobered her.

As she ascended to her room in the elevator she had to remind herself that Primo following her to Venice and seeking her out merely demonstrated his determination to get this marriage started. It hadn’t been a romantic gesture. It had been entirely practical. And she hadn’t even hesitated to acquiesce, too blinded by his spontaneity and sheer charisma.

She couldn’t afford to forget the terms she’d laid out for this marriage and the knowledge that it was short-term only. Because she was realising after last night that this man could destroy her in ways she’d never been destroyed before. There was too much at stake—her precious independence and her bone-deep need to protect herself from being hurt all over again.

The Griff Benefit, Manhattan

The annual benefit ball to raise funds for cancer research was one of New York’s biggest social events. It was held in one of Manhattan’s most iconic hotels. Invitations were sent out by a board made up of New York’s oldest names, and receiving an invitation—or not—could make or break someone’s reputation.

Faye stood on the stairs that led down to the ballroom where a crowd of beautiful people thronged. Gold-edged mirrors around the ballroom reflected the glittering scene a thousand times over.

She wished she could say otherwise, but she spotted Primo immediately. Hard not to when he towered above most people around him. The lights glinted off his thick head of hair, highlighting the blonder strands.

As if sensing her, he lifted his head and his eyes zeroed in on her immediately. Faye felt it like a jolt of electricity straight into her blood. It was the first time she’d seen him since Venice. Admittedly it was only a few days, but it was as if she’d left his bed only that morning, the sensations were so immediate...and the memories.

He came straight to her, walking up the stairs. He was dressed in a black tuxedo and he looked gorgeous. She sensed everyone in the vicinity hush, all eyes on them. Primo had wanted them to arrive together, but Faye had been caught up at an art auction and, because she’d had to go to her apartment to change, wouldn’t have made it to meet him in time. So they’d come separately.

When he reached her she couldn’t look away. Those blue eyes held her captive. He reached for her, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her into him. She found herself cleaving to him before she could resist the pull.

Then he tipped up her chin and pressed a lingering kiss to her mouth. Faye was already dissolving and melting, in spite of every pep talk she’d given herself not to allow him to have such an effect on her again. Evidently she’d been wasting her time.

He pulled back. ‘Good evening,wife.’

Faye made a face and tried not to be so aware of how her breasts were crushed against his chest. ‘I have a name.’

He smiled. ‘Smile...everyone is watching us.’

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