Page 128 of Modern Romance December 2025 5-8

But she was the one who had left him behind, and a man like Leo was always the one to walk away. What was going on between them now had a lot to do with bruised male ego. Nothing more. And that she could handle.

Her feet landed on the marble and she took a step back before Leo joined her.

‘What is your grandfather like?’

Leo paused. ‘He’s like a man who threw his daughter away because, unlike you, she followed her heart.’

‘Or her hormones?’ she suggested, hiding layers of hurt under aggression, which came easy right now because the relief from generic painkillers had worn off and the telltale signs of an encroaching full-blown migraine were getting harder to ignore. ‘And where did following her heart get her?’

‘The situation is not comparable. My mother was pregnant and he drove her away. She was bringing up a child alone in a foreign country with no support.’

His empathy for his mother did him credit. Would he have been as empathetic if he had discovered she had unknowingly been carrying his child when they’d parted? It was a question she had asked herself many times over the years. Her instinct had made her want to run towards Leo, but maybe she was lucky she hadn’t found him.

What if he had been horrified at being stuck with a baby at his age? She felt the familiar ache as an image of a little boy with dark hair and Leo’s eyes drifted into her head. Would he one day have children of his own?

‘He gave her an ultimatum: dump the boyfriend or…’

‘So they ran away together?’Like we planned to do. The thought made the empty space in her chest expand as, behind the tinted glasses she brought her lashes down in a silky shield so he wouldn’t guess the comparison she was making, though he probably knew anyway.

But he’d never known about the baby. Never would, as what was the point in telling him now?

‘No, he went back to his wife.’

She winced but closed her mouth over a sympathetic response. His expression suggested it would not have been well received.

‘So your grandfather always knew he had a grandchild? When did he start looking for you?’

‘No, he didn’t know about me.’ The admission sounded cold.

‘So he didn’t know your mother was pregnant?’

He flashed her a look. ‘He sent her away because she wouldn’t fall into line.’

In the same situation, she had stayed. She and Leo’s mother were two sides of the same coin.

‘I don’t know your grandfather and I’m not defending him but…’ She shook her head and winced as the vice tightened around her chest. What could she say without revealing too much? ‘Sorry, it’s not my business. You obviously have a relationship, so that’s good. It’s not easy to let the past go, but you clearly understand one another.’

She almost added that you could always let the past go, but then she realised that Leo was not alet it gosort of man.

He never forgave and never forgot.

Chapter Eight

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Then why are you hiding behind those sunglasses?’

‘I’m not hiding, I have a headache.’

His brows lifted. ‘Take an aspirin.’

‘Empathy is one of your most endearing qualities,’ she muttered, her sarcasm wasted on his broad back as she followed him along the echoing corridor, refusing to be distracted by the mad light show she was seeing the world through. Her brain foggy, she barely registered the network of rooms. She made a couple of grunting sounds when a response seemed to be indicated as she walked through open double doors.

Amy stayed where she was as Leo walked towards a figure sitting in a carved chair beside a window. Of course it was a window! Oh, God what was it with this place? Had no one told the architects that ancient castles were meant to be dark and gloomy?

Aware there was some uncharted swaying going on, Amy caught hold of the carved back of a chair to steady herself and waited, by this point not caring about what impression she made, like it mattered anyhow. She focused on what really mattered, which was not throwing up.