Page 157 of Modern Romance Collection March 2025 (1-4)

Her husband cursed loudly but did as his wife demanded, and stepped back.

Isabelle turned to Rene, her voice still firm. ‘What on earth is wrong with you, Rene? You’re behaving like a barbarian. You’re scaring Mel. You’re scaringme, and I won’t stand for it.’

It was Rene’s turn to swear profusely.

Mel realised she wasn’t scared, just hopelessly confused and very wary, because the feelings inside her didn’t make any sense. And she needed them to make sense if she was going to deal with the situation.

She had a right to be furious with him for turning up here unannounced and making a scene after leaving her high and dry twenty-four hours ago. But when his gaze landed on her again, something else joined the tangle of raw emotions in her gut… Guilt.

Because she realised that, along with his fury and the possessiveness, she could also see hurt in his golden gaze.

‘I apologise, Isabelle,’ he said tightly.

‘Lord,’ Rene added, giving Travis, who was standing next to his wife but still looked as if he was spoiling for a fight, a curt nod. ‘I appreciate you think you have to protect Melody,’ he added, his voice still tight with anger, ‘but you don’t. Because I’m here to do that.’

‘What makes you think you have the right to…’ Travis began, before Mel finally found her voice.

‘Melody happens to be standing right here, and she can protect herself,’ she cut in.

Everyone stared at her, but she didn’t care. Because she suddenly felt a little less panicked, a little less fragile and pathetic. She’d been behaving like a complete wet blanket ever since she’d found out about those photos. Heck, ever since she’d discovered that Rene had left her again. But that was not who she was.

She didn’t let other people stand for her because she stood for herself. And she didn’t let other people fix her problems because she fixed her own problems. And she didn’t let other people protect her because she protected herself—and that also meant protecting her heart from reckless, careless men like Rene Gaultiere. Because she had learnt that lesson as a little girl, when her father had walked away without a backwards glance.

Maybe she’d forgotten that in the last week, after having to rely on Rene to save her from the storm, but she wasn’t about to forget it again.

‘What press release are you talking about, Rene?’ Isabelle asked quietly, breaking the silence with a question that hadn’t even occurred to Mel. ‘What does it say? Perhaps we could combine it with the one we’ve worked out with our crisis management team,’ she added, ever the diplomat.

But Rene simply shook his head, his gaze still fixed on Mel as he dropped another bombshell. ‘It’s a press release announcing my engagement to Melody Taylor.’

Isabelle gasped. Travis swore again.

‘But we’re not engaged,’ Mel said, hating the jump in her pulse and the burst of adrenaline which she had to quash.

Was this some kind of trick? Or simply a sick joke? She couldn’t marry Rene and, even if she could, he hadn’t asked her.

‘It’s the best way to protect your reputation,’ he said. ‘Until the press are off our backs.’

‘So, it’s a fake engagement?’ she said, hating that brief spurt of excitement even more.

‘I’m not sure how faking an engagement is going to improve this situation,’ Isabelle mused.

‘Me either,’ Travis concurred, looking as if he was ready to punch Rene again.

But Rene simply ignored them both to stare at Mel.

‘We need time to talk, Melody.’ His eyes narrowed, the accusation clear in his expression—as well as the vicious blast of heat which made her nipples tighten and throb. ‘Because I remembereverythingthat happened now, including our first night in the cabin.’

Guilt yanked at the knot in her abdomen.

Heknew? About the sex they’d had, which she’d denied and then completely forgotten about until this precise moment, thanks to the tumultuous events of the past two days.

She barely had a chance to process how she felt about the revelation, though, when he added, ‘And now I knowexactlywhat happened, we need to discuss the possible repercussions and how we are going to deal with them.’

What possible repercussions?

For a split second she had no clue what he was talking about, but then his gaze dipped pointedly to her belly.

And suddenly she understood. He hadn’t come here to rescue her reputation, and he wasn’t issuing a press release stating they were engaged because he wanted to marry her, but because he thought there was a slim chance she might be carrying the Saltzaland heir.

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