Page 156 of Modern Romance December 2025 1-4

I want to tell him it’s the world’s corniest line, but I can’t because it doesn’t feel corny in this moment. He’s not smiling, he’s staring at me with such intensity I feel as if I’m going to spontaneously combust right there and then. I need to break the tension somehow, so I look away, examine my lipstick one last time, then say breezily, ‘Is it time?’

‘It is.’ He extends a hand. ‘Come, dragonfly.’

I take it and a sudden rush of apprehension fills me, yet his hand is warm, his fingers strong and somehow reassuring. Still, as he leads me from the bedroom and down the stairs to the living area, my heart is beating fast and hard.

I’m really marrying him, aren’t I? He’s going to be my husband.

My mouth dries and I swallow as I see the priest standing in front of the Christmas tree. Beside him is another man, very tall and broad, dressed in a long black, beautifully tailored overcoat. His inky hair is tinged with white at the temples, his features sharp, cruel almost, and he exudes a magnetism that just about overwhelms everything in the room.

Fear curls around my heart and, as if he somehow senses it, Rafael’s fingers squeeze mine reassuringly. He says something in Italian and there is a quick discussion between him, the priest and the dangerous stranger. The stranger’s eyes are pure silver as he looks at me, and Rafael says something to him that sounds like a warning. The man’s mouth curls and he turns, making a gesture at the priest and saying something that I don’t need to know Italian to understand. He wants to get this over and done with.

Rafael doesn’t bother to introduce him and I don’t ask as the priest beckons us to stand in front of him. His accent is thick, but, with Rafael’s help, I manage to understand him, and am able to repeat my vows in Italian. I’m too busy thinking about my pronunciation to dwell on the ceremony itself, and before I can think straight, I find myself holding my hand out and Rafael is sliding the ring onto my finger. He obviously had that delivered yesterday too, as well as the ring he presents to me so I can put it on his finger.

Minutes later, we’re husband and wife, and Rafael has pulled me close, his mouth covering mine in a hungry, possessive kiss. The stranger says something in an amused voice and Rafael lifts his head, saying something in return that makes the other man laugh.

There is some discussion afterwards and then some documents to sign, all the while Italian is spoken fast and furious around me. Then the dangerous stranger is gone and the priest with him, and I’m finally alone with my new husband.

‘Who was that?’ I ask as he returns to the living area after seeing them out.

‘Our witness,’ Rafael says. ‘Vincenzo Argenti, head of the Argenti family. I worked for hisconsiglieri.’

Oh, right. ‘So he’s…what? The local don?’

Rafael snorts. ‘If you can call the head of one of Sicily’s most powerfulCosa Nostrafamilies the “local don”, then yes, he is.’

No wonder he looked so dangerous. ‘Surely he’s too important to be a random witness?’

Rafael’s smile is all teeth. ‘The Argenti family owed me a favour and so I decided to use it to get a priest to marry us. Then Signore Argenti thought it would be amusing to be the witness.’

There’s something about that smile of his. Something…edged, savage almost, and it makes me suspicious. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?’

He continues to smile like a panther with a fresh kill, feral with satisfaction. ‘Your brother is on his way here.’

Shock slides like ice water down my spine. ‘What?’

Rafael’s eyes glitter. ‘My contact in Athens notified me that he took a jet to Palermo this morning. He’ll be here soon, I suspect.’

I have to catch my breath, stop my brain spinning in wild circles. Ulysses is on his way here, after I told him not to come.

Did you really think he’d listen to you?

I hoped he might, but of course he didn’t. He never does. He doesn’t care what I want, all that matters to him is my safety and the fact that I’m safe right here wouldn’t occur to him, even when I flat out told him so.

And Rafael didn’t tell you.

A sharp anger threads through the shock. I stare into his black eyes, seeing the triumph. ‘You didn’t tell me,’ I say. ‘Why not? Did you think I’d leave if I knew he was coming?’

He doesn’t miss a beat. ‘I don’t know, would you?’

‘No,’ I say flatly, angry at his doubt, angry that he hasn’t been honest with me. ‘I promised I’d marry you and I meant it.’

‘It’s too late now anyway.’ He gives me that same hungry smile. ‘He can’t take you away from me. You’re his heir and now you’re mine.’

I blink, my temper rising higher. ‘You promised me you’d drop this revenge plan.’

‘But I have.’ He holds out his hands. ‘Now you’re mine I don’t have to do anything more. You’ll inherit his company and so will I.’

I blink again, the cold feeling inside me intensifying. He didn’t tell me deliberately. And he didn’t listen when I told him I didn’t want him to continue his revenge. He didn’t listen as my brother doesn’t listen. He said he wouldn’t treat me the way Ulysses treats me, but he’s doing that right now, isn’t he? He manipulated me for his own ends and now we’re married, and there’s nothing I can do about it.