Page 52 of Modern Romance March 2025 (5-8)

“Adriano—” she finally said, eyes red rimmed.

“Forgive me for that lapse, Nyra. For acting like a cruel bastard.”

“Please—”

“It wasn’t you that I didn’t trust. It was myself, my gut, my instinct that I didn’t listen to. I made you feel so unsafe and dispensable and…none of that is true.”

Her mouth touched the corner of his lips, her scent a cocktail of sweat and sex and her musk. It anchored him when guilt and shame would have carried him away from her. “You’re forgiven, Adriano. Completely.”

“That easily,bella?”

“You regret what you did. And you have tried so hard to show me that you were wrong. Will you forgive me for lying to you?”

“Si.Just…no more secrets.”

“Bene,”she said.

And then he was pulling her into his lap because he desperately needed to seal that promise with touch. It was less smooth than he’d have preferred, but they were laughing as she tried to maneuver herself into his lap and he thought laughing with her was even better than sex. Then he kissed her like he couldn’t stop. Like she was air itself.

Because she was.

They were panting and shaking when she pulled back. Her eyes searched his. “You truly don’t want me to become an accomplished society wife? You don’t care if I walk around in torn-up sweaters and with messy hair? If all I do is raise our children and paint things that no one wants to buy?”

The doubt in her words made his heart ache. He clasped her cheeks. “I don’t want you to change yourself in any way to please me. Or for this marriage. If you do want to change something for yourself, I’ll support you all the way.”

She pressed her cheek to his chest, and he ran his palms over her smooth thighs. “Thank you, Adriano. I have everything I could ever want in life.”

And then, like a kitten, she fell asleep on him within seconds.

Adriano didn’t know how long he sat like that, with Nyra’s body a warm weight in his lap, her face tucked into his neck, the sound of her soft snores the only sound in the room.

When he tried to adjust her so that she would be more comfortable, her arms tightened into steel bands around him.

He smiled and smoothed a sweaty curl from her temple.

He thought there had been analmostat the end of her sentence. No, he knew there was because she’d shied her gaze away, afraid of betraying herself.

And the fact that there was something she found missing from their lives was untenable.

He wanted Nyra to have everything she ever wished for. Because she was everything he’d never known he needed.

Chapter Twelve

“What?”Adrianoroaredin the middle of the boardroom, startling a bunch of clients and businessmen into silence.

“She fell,” Fabi repeated, her voice nearly hysteric.

He reached for the back of the chair, bile rising up through his throat. He didn’t have to ask his sister who “she” was. There was only one person who could cause such worry in Fabi’s voice and now, in Adriano.

“How is she, Fabi?” he said, somehow forming the words. “What happened? Where is she?”

His sister rattled on so fast that only every other word came through the bad connection. He fought the urge to scream at her down the line, knowing it would only distress her even more. “Breathe, Fabi. And tell me what happened. Slowly,per favore,” he said, begging now.

A few moments of silence later, Fabi said, “I should’ve told you first that she and the babies are fine. It was a minor concussion and she’s been under observation the whole time. In fact, now that I think about it, Nyra is going to kill me for calling you. But I was so scared, and I knew you’d want to know.”

Gratitude and relief crowded in, choking the fear out of his body. Adriano cursed, rubbed his hand over his temple and prayed to the god he’d never believed in for patience. “I am glad you called. Hey, Fabi. Did I tell you that you are my favorite sibling?”

She giggled down the line, relief powering her laughter more than humor or affection. “She made me promise not to tell you. I’ve grown fond of her, and now…I broke the promise.”

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