Page 181 of Modern Romance June 2025 5-8

‘Where did you live then?’

‘Boarding school. In England.’

She stared at him with a concerned frown. ‘But surely you came home for holidays?’

‘Not often. I was mostly shipped off to my aunt’s place in Florence.’

‘But you were so young,’ she said, still frowning. ‘Your mother must have wanted to see you more than only occasionally?’

Vic’s mouth had a cynical twist to it and his eyes were as hard as black marble. ‘My mother was not one to defy her husband’s orders. Besides, she was busy once Isabella came along.’

‘So, you don’t get on with your stepfather?’ It was hardly a wild guess on her part. She could sense the hatred and resentment coming off him in soundless waves.

A muscle tensed in his jaw and a lightning flash went through his gaze. ‘I tolerate him for the sake of my mother and sister.’

‘I saw your mother and your stepfather at the wedding and the christening. They seemed happy enough together.’

Vic looked at her again with that cynical half smile she was becoming to know as his default setting. ‘Is any marriage happy all the time?’

Licking her parchment-dry lips, she shifted her gaze to the tote bag on her lap. ‘None of my mother’s have been, but I like to hope that some people get lucky.’

‘So, it’s all down to luck in your opinion?’

His question drew her gaze back to his. Her cheeks heated. If only she had the sophistication to hold his gaze without blushing like a shy schoolgirl. ‘I like to think true love exists, but I suspect it’s something you have to work at like any other relationship. The two parties have to make a commitment to be there for each other in good times and bad.’

The cynical slant to his mouth tilted further. ‘And how lucky have you been in love,tesore?’

Uh-oh, another spine-tingling endearment. How was she going to keep her crush at level six if Vic kept uttering those gorgeous words to her? The heat in her cheeks threatened to fog up the car windows. She tried to hold his penetrating gaze, but she simply couldn’t do it. She turned to stare at the glass panel in front of her that separated them from the driver. ‘Not lucky at all.’

‘No current partner?’

‘No.’

‘When did you last have one?’

She tightened her hands around her tote bag until her knuckles became white. ‘I suppose you’ve been talking to my brother, have you?’

‘About what?’

She kept her gaze fixed on the glass panel, but she could see his reflection in it as well as her own. He was looking at her with a quiet intensity she found a little unnerving. ‘I haven’t dated for a while.’

‘How long a while?’

She sat there for an infinitesimal moment and lamented the fact that if she had been an honours student of small talk, she would have thought of something witty to say that would have deftly swung the subject in another direction. But instead, she answered, ‘It’s…complicated.’

‘Aren’t most people’s love-lives?’

She let out a serrated sigh and glanced in his direction. He was frowning at her like he had never seen anyone like her before. But then, he probably hadn’t. There were not many twenty-eight-year-old virgins floating around these days. Or at least, not in the circles he swam in.

Addie turned back to fix her gaze on her bag on her lap. ‘I’m…picky.’ It wasn’t the whole truth, but it would do for now. She hadn’t told anyone about The Incident. Who was she going to tell? Her mother? Solange wasn’t the type of mother to sit with her arm around you while you recounted the worst night of your life. Especially when it was her mother’s popularity and beauty and fame that had turned Addie into a sexual trophy at only fifteen years of age. She was fortunate she found out in time that the boy she thought was in love with her and she with him, only wanted to sleep with her so he could gain street cred with his friends. Talk about mortifying. To this day, every time she was naked, she’d think of that awful moment when that horrible realisation dawned. How could she have been so foolish to think anyone would want her forher?

‘Nothing wrong with being a little picky.’ There was a quality to Vic’s voice that made her glance at him again. He let out a rueful-sounding sigh and added, ‘Maybe I should follow your example.’ He looked back down at his paperwork with a small frown between his brows.

‘What? You’re not finding the playboy lifestyle fulfilling any more now Marcus isn’t out on the town slaying hearts with you?’ She affected a teasing tone.

He gave a half smile that didn’t reach his eyes. They were unreadable pools of black mystery that made her more and more intrigued by him. He reminded her of a deep body of still water. What you saw on the surface gave no clue to the dangers or the delights below. You simply had to take the risk to find out. She was not a risk-taker, so…maybe she’d never find out. Pity.

‘I’m not into breaking hearts. I’ve always been clear on what I can and cannot bring to a relationship.’

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