Page 159 of Modern Romance March 2025 (5-8)

Atlas’s heart lurched. “That’s medieval.”

“I was terrified. But talking back to him was…” She shook her head. “I sat there and listened to them negotiate a price like I was a dairy cow. I realized I wasn’t going home no matter what happened. We were given rooms because my father was staying to sign the permission papers—I was still a few days shy of my birthday so he had to. I got up in the middle of the night, took my birth certificate from his wallet along with all the money he had, and caught the first train leaving the station. It took me to Zermatt.”

“And he reported you for that? I thought Oliver was a piece of dirt.”

“Not a contest I want to win, but yes. He did. Once I turned eighteen and knew he couldn’t force me to come home, I called Grettina to let her know I was safe. She told me he’d been to the police. I don’t think it was a high priority for them. It was a petty amount and I was old enough to be on my own, but I was scared enough I didn’t want to talk to them that night we met, in case they told him where I was. I did pay him back, though. Around six months after I met you, actually.” She brightened. “I found a lost dog and claimed the reward. I owed my father two hundred euros and that man he wanted me to marry offered him twenty-five hundred for my hand. That woman paid mefive thousand. For adog. Whenever I see a poster for lost pets, I look for them like they’re Easter eggs.”

The humor in her voice invited him to laugh at her, but he was the furthest thing from amused. He was sick and incensed and more determined than ever to bring her under his protection.

She sobered.

“So now you know why I don’t want to marry anyone. Not for money. Not to become a baby machine,” she said.

“He’s trying to worm his way back into your stepmother’s home? That’s what these calls are about?” He pointed toward her phone. “Can you involve the police?”

“Grettina doesn’t want to. They can’t do much anyway. She and Pappa are separated, not divorced. He’s not physically abusive, not to her, and he knows hitting is a redline where the twins are concerned. At the same time, Grettina can’t bring herself to put him on the street. He’s the father of her children. Not a good one, but their father and mine. So I’ll find him a job and a place to live. He’s a carpenter, but he’s slowing down with age and blows up with temper over the littlest things, which gets him fired. Usually, I pay his rent until he finds something else, but this time he didn’t tell me he had stopped paying. They’ve kicked him out for good. It’s so frustrating.”

“Whether you marry me or not, I will help you, Stella. But let me paint a picture of the solutions available to you as my wife. You will have the means to buy each of them a home as far apart as you deem sensible. Those will be yours to keep forever. Don’t make that face. It’s the sort of thing that was in my agreement with Iris.Listen to what I’m offering. Your father will never be homeless again, not unless you put him on the street yourself. He won’t have to work. You’ll have a very generous allowance, one that will make it possible for you to support all of them while maintaining the lifestyle expected of my wife. Your stepmother will never have to feel guilty that she’s not taking him in becauseyouwill be taking care of him.”

“That’s so mercenary.”

“It’s a strategic move that betters your life and that of your family.”

“By locking me into life with a stranger.”

“Did your stepmother know who she was marrying? I imagine she thought she was in love with him, but what did she get out of the union? Three children who weren’t hers and two more she’s raising alone. Make a smarter choice, Stella. Make the choice that betters your life and everyone you care about.”

“But what happens if we don’t work? If—”

“It will all be spelled out in the prenup. I’ve already promised you two houses, an allowance, and a hotel to manage. What else do you want?”

She blinked, then her chin came up. “Full custody of any children we have, in the event of divorce.”

“Ha!” She was trying to scare him off with a deal-breaker, but it told him that he had her. That allowed him to smile even as he said, “Never. We will share custodyifit becomes necessary. And their home will be Greece.”

“I’m not having children for at least two years,” she warned with a staying finger. “If we’re still married after that, we candiscusstrying to start a family.”

“Deal.” He rose to extend his hand to shake.

After a long moment of consideration, she set her jaw at its most militant angle and stood to accept it.

He held on to her hand when her grip relaxed and brought it to his mouth. “I have one more condition,” he said against her knuckles.

“What’s that?” Her fingers fluttered like a snared bird in his.

“We marry tomorrow.”

CHAPTER SIX

“IDON’T ACTthat fast,” Stella blurted, snatching back her hand.

What had she just done?

“The hell you don’t,” he scoffed. “You make careful plans for yourself, then seize opportunities when they present. That’s how you wound up in Zermatt.”

Was this an opportunity? Or a trap? And if she had realized the struggles she would face, she might not have done it.

That wasn’t true. She was grateful to her teenage self for making that bold decision.

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