Page 90 of Modern Romance October 2025 5-8

With each word she read Stella felt crackling ice spread until it felt as if she’d frozen solid. Except for the exquisite pain deep in her chest.

Gio, the man she’d trusted, who’d come to mean so much, had spied on her, trying to unearth… What? Secrets? Weaknesses?

Her laughter was suspiciously like a sob. He knew her weaknesses. Kindness and the glint of laughter in grey eyes. Passion that made her wish for things she’d never dared hope for.

To think she’d rejected her father’s demand that she accept an arranged marriage because she wanted to hold out for love! She’d actually begun falling for Gio, letting her stupid heart control her head.

She didn’t think she’d trust a man again, or her own judgement of the opposite sex. For too long she’d been used and courted as a shortcut to her father’s wealth and power. Now she’d been used again, by his enemy.

With a single violent sweep of her arm she scattered the papers to the floor.

She wanted to destroy it all but the investigators could provide another copy. They’d probably already sent an electronic version.

Arms tight around her middle, she tried to think.Whyhad Gio done this? Befriending her,seducingher.

It was clear that everything she’d believed special between them was a lie.Hewas a lie. He’d played the perfect companion, stripping her defences until…

He couldn’t possibly know how she felt about him. Could he?

It shamed her to think of the fragile hopes she’d begun to nurture in such a short time. She’d congratulated herself on finding a friend, a lover who was everything she’d ever dreamed of. Their relationship had seemed so much more than carnal, so much more significant.

Yet all the time he’d beenmoredeceitful,moreconniving than any of the would-be lovers who’d tried to court her. He made them look like fumbling schoolboys.

As for him being interested inher—that was the biggest lie of all. He’d sensed her neediness and used it as a weapon.

And you gave it to him. It was your own naïveté that let him in.

She’d never forgive him for what he’d done. More importantly, she’d never forgive herself.

From this moment on she was done with emotional weakness, done with romantic fantasies. And absolutely done with men.

Eight minutes later, carrying the barest essentials, she opened the security gate and went to meet the car she’d ordered. She didn’t look back.

CHAPTER TEN

Present day

Gio got inthe back seat and slammed the door. The limo took off, accelerating so fast he and Stella were pushed hard against the back rest.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a mob spill out of the cathedral, surging towards them. Two men swerved towards the bridal car, decorated with ribbons and flowers.

Ignoring them, Gio turned to the woman beside him. It was better to concentrate on Stella than the volcanic surge of his emotions. The sheer fury that just wouldn’t subside. He’d never known anything like it. It took time to master himself.

He’d seen his father give in to excess emotion and it had eventually destroyed him. Meanwhile Alfredo Barbieri lived and breathed a vendetta that could only diminish him since his enemy, Gio’s father, was already dead.

Gio saw the damage those two had wrought and long ago decided there was no place in his life for extreme emotion.

Yet here you are! All because of this woman.

Her skirts billowed around her as she yanked at the lace of her long veil, muttering as she freed it from beneath her skirts.

Under the reams of rich fabric she looked smaller than he remembered. The bodice clung to her breasts and torso and her face seemed more fine-boned than before.

But she was no delicate flower. Her jaw was set hard and high colour painted her face as she ruthlessly fought the encompassing folds of her lavish gown. Over the sound of mumbled swearing he heard fabric tear.

Abruptly she looked up, directly at him.

It was like a punch direct to his solar plexus.