Page 51 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 5-8
She thought about her own father, callously discarding his son. Maybe he had reasons too. A childhood wound that had never healed. A wound that caused him to lash out, to hurt, to damage his own children. And she and Oscar were both in their own ways damaged. Like their mother, Oscar used drugs and alcohol to blunt his shame and pain. And she had this persona, an avatar she projected full of smiles and sunshine and peace on earth as if she were a Miss World contestant. But inside, she was just a little girl trying not to get hurt.
And Ettore was the same. More importantly he was different from her father because he had apologised, and he was trying to atone.
‘What about your father? Was Edo his favourite?’
Now he shook his head. ‘No, my sister is his favourite. Probably because they’re peas in a pod. She’s pretty and flirty and completely irresponsible. She’s never had a job. She’s travelling, which basically means she just drifts from country to country, spending her inheritance and trading off the title she allegedly gave up. But if she calls my father, his face lights up like that tower.’
His eyes flickered towards the illuminated landmark.
Dulcie felt her chest tighten, and then she understood what had happened two years ago in London. And why it had happened. ‘That’s why you asked me to choose between you and Oscar, wasn’t it?’ she said gently.
The expression of sadness and shame on his face made her feel momentarily unhinged with a sadness of her own.
He didn’t reply, but after a few seconds he reached up and loosened her arms, taking her hands in his and after another few seconds she realised that he was looking at their wedding bands.
‘It sounds stupid, but I hadn’t thought about your family. I knew you had a brother, but you didn’t talk about him, so I thought you weren’t close. Only then he turned up and you were so distracted, so focused on him. I could feel you shutting me out, and I panicked. I tried telling myself that you weren’t the same as my family. But the more I thought about it, the more that seemed to be the point. You can’t choose your family. You just get what you’re given.’
His mouth twisted. It was the smallest thing and yet it wrenched at her heart.
‘But you do choose your partner, and I didn’t want to be with someone who was going to put someone else first. I couldn’t be. I couldn’t choose to live like that.’
‘And I couldn’t not choose Oscar. Not after my dad…’
‘I know that now, but I didn’t then.’
She closed her eyes, replaying that argument in her head, seeing Ettore’s face hardening in the fading London light. She had thought he was being controlling, like her father. That she would not just lose Oscar, again, but lose herself. Become someone who had to curb her thoughts and feelings and dreams.
Staring into his eyes, she had watched the high walls go up but only seen them as barriers to block her out. She hadn’t seen them for what they really were. Hadn’t realised that Ettore was protecting himself from further pain, even though she was doing exactly the same thing.
‘I made such a mess of everything.’
‘No.’ Now it was his turn to sound insistent and unshakeable. ‘Look at me,dolcezza.’ He slid his hands into her hair and tilted her face up to his and reluctantly she met his gaze. ‘We both made a mess of everything. But the most important word in that sentence is not mess, but “we”.’
Her heart was beating wildly. ‘But this isn’t real.’
‘Isn’t it?’ His voice was soft, his caress softer still as he stroked her cheek. ‘We’re here in Paris, just the two of us. Right now, this feels more real than anything. And yes, we messed things up and we walked away from the mess me made. But we aren’t meant to be apart, Dulcie. That’s why we found each other again. And it’ll work this time, I promise, because we’ve held nothing back. There’re no barriers between us now.
His words made a bubble of happiness rise up inside her.
She leaned into his hand like a cat, then turned it so that she could kiss his palm. Gently she twisted the ring on his finger.
‘You matter to me. You always mattered to me. Even when I hated you for breaking my heart. You know, all the girls at my school used to talk about “the one”. This mythical man you would see across a crowded room and boom. That would be it. And because I’m a scientist, I just thought, yeah right. That’s never going to happen to me. Only then I saw you at the airport and I thought it was the storm making me shake. But it was you. You made me shake inside.’
‘When I saw you, I couldn’t breathe. I thought I was having a heart attack. You were holding a teddy bear, and you were turning round as if you were looking for someone.’
She frowned. ‘I forgot about the teddy. It was lying on the pavement when I got out of the taxi. Someone must have dropped it by mistake.’
Ettore was shaking his head. ‘I was so scared that your husband was somewhere with the baby, and you were trying to spot them in the crowd.’
‘No baby. No husband.’ Her fingers splayed out over his wrists, and she felt his pulse twitch. ‘I wasn’t looking for anyone. Not then, not ever. Not until I saw you, and then I couldn’t look away.’
His eyes were all pupils as he leaned in, tracing the shape of her lips with his tongue.
‘Sweet,’ he murmured. ‘My sweet Dulcie.’
His words vibrated softly against her mouth and something liquid pooled inside her body as he reached up to touch her throat, fitting his thumb into the hollow at the base. He sucked in a breath, lifted the heavy mass of her hair from her neck and sucked the spot where her pulse was hammering against the delicate skin, as if he were savouring her hunger.
She moaned softly. Heat was drifting up over her face and she felt unanchored with need for him.
