Page 138 of Modern Romance September 2025 1-4

“It is.”

“My father didn’t think it was true. Are you calling him wrong? A liar?”

If he thought that of me, he was wrong.

He could not vocalize that, though. Not to her. Not when he could see his own grief reflected in her fascinating eyes.

Eyes that suddenly got very hard looking. “If you do not do this, I will be forced to cancel the ball this year.”

“You should not have planned a ball this year.”

“And furthermore,” she continued, as if he hadn’t spoken at all, “I will be forced to close Castello di Natale. Permanently. And offer it to the highest bidder.”

The words were harsh. Final.Impossible.“You cannot…do that. Closeorsell. These are not your choices to make.”

She stood from the chair, fixed him with a stern look. Triumph lit her eyes, making them look closer to silver than anything so ordinary as gray. “I think you’ll find that in the very documents you signed of my contract, you gave me just enough power to do exactly that. If you do not return with metoday, I will move forward with plans to close and sell. Forever.”

CHAPTER THREE

Amelia did notallow herself to grin, though she desperately wanted to. Watching shock chase across Diego’s face felt like the thrill of a lifetime.

Shedidhave the upper hand. Because he had afforded her a lot of power in order to keep himself isolated. She had not planned to use it quite so forcefully, but…

She didn’t like being here. She didn’t like thinking abouthimliving here for two whole years, and her allowing it. It was a tragedy. She’d known he felt grief, maybe even some guilt, but she hadn’t known it wasthisbad. She really hadn’t thought much about him at all, which felt like something that would have disappointed her father.

She wouldn’t disappoint his memory. She wouldn’t close or sell the castello, even though she technicallycould. She didn’t need to, nor did the business require it.

But she could threaten it, and Diego could believe her capable of doing so. She could get him down the mountain. She could…show him what life was like. She had to.

For her father.

“Do you need to pack anything?” she asked pleasantly enough.

He stood there, no doubt inwardly fuming. He said nothing, but fury all but waved off him. Danger seemed to fill the entire room, but it didn’t fillher. Not with fear or anything as sensible as all that.

No, whatever fizzled around inside her felt nothing like fear. She didn’t want to come up with words for what it might be, because then she would have to ask herself whydangerfelt like…excitement.

Without a word, he turned on his heel. He stalked away, through a door she could only assume led to a bedroom. For a moment, she stood where she was and breathed very carefully around the strange things crashing inside her.

Then she followed.

His bedroom was another shock, another little dagger of pain. It was basically a closet. The bed was little more than a pallet. There were no windows. No fireplace. She heard herself whisper his name in abject horror without really meaning to.

He whipped his head around to face her, giving the impression of a wounded animal lashing out. She wanted to reach over and soothe him, even knowing that, just like that wounded animal, it would not be welcomed.

“I will go down to the castello,” he bit out. She could see now that he had a leather tote opened on the pallet bed. “Only to have a face-to-face meeting with everyone necessary to ensure that you never have the power to shut it down.”

“We could have that meeting now, if you’d like. After all, I’m the only one with power to ensure Idon’thave the power. Unless you terminate me, I have full control over the castello.”

“Very well, I will meet with the attorney required to terminateyou.”

Worry settled into her chest, but she didn’t let her smile falter. “If that’s really what you want.” She motioned at the bag. “Would you like me to pack for you? I’m still your assistant until you see things through with the lawyer.”

He stared at her as if she were a madwoman. Maybe she was. She didn’t need to push this. She didn’t need to make threats to get him off the mountain. She could return to the castello and let everything continue as it had.

But he lived like…like a prisoner. And she could see the words her father had written in her mind’s eye.

He will be a good man someday. I wish I could convince him of that.