Page 196 of Modern Romance June 2025 5-8

Her shoulders slumped. ‘Yes.’

Vic tipped up her chin with his finger, locking his gaze on hers. ‘You don’t need beautiful clothes,cara.You are beautiful no matter what you’re wearing.’

She lowered her gaze and stepped back from him. ‘That’s not the message I’ve been hearing most of my life. I’ve lost count of how many times people have said I look nothing like my mother.’

‘But you hide your beauty,cara.You don’t allow yourself to be seen. You hide in the shadows.’

She momentarily bit her lip, then released it to add, ‘My mother says it the most often. It’s like she still can’t work out why someone as stunning as her gave birth to such a plain Jane. I’m an embarrassment to her.’

A deep frown brought his ink-black eyebrows closer together. ‘Has she ever said that to you? Those exact words?’

‘Once or twice when I was younger.’

There was a silence.

‘Perhaps your way of gaining some power in the relationship was to downplay your assets to irk her.’ His unwavering gaze unsettled her more than she wanted to admit. So too did his insightful assessment of the tricky dynamic between her mother and her.

Addie gave a noncommittal shrug, her cheeks feeling hot as if she were a child who had been caught out in a silly game they had hoped no one had noticed them playing. ‘Perhaps.’ She had never thought of herself as having any power in her relationship with either of her parents, but maybe Vic was right. She had for as long as she could remember distanced herself from the glamour and glitz and gaiety of her mother’s life. She had fashioned herself into someone the opposite—bland and boring and beige. But was that truly who she was? Sure, she was far more reserved than her mother, but that didn’t mean she had to hide away for the rest of her life. And wasn’t that what she’d been doing? Hiding away, living in the shadows, trying not to be noticed. Trying not to be noticed and judged and found wanting.

But Vic Jacobettihadnoticed her. The real her. It was a disquieting realisation for now she had allowed a little spark of light into her life, how would she be satisfied with living without it once this time in Italy was over?

‘Come.’ He put a gentle hand beneath her elbow to lead her out of the suddenly bright glare of the sun. ‘Let’s grab a drink before we head back to take charge of Katerina.’

A few minutes later, they were sitting at an outdoor café, under some brightly coloured umbrellas that kept the sun off them. Vic took a sip of his espresso and she found herself mesmerised by the sensual shape of his mouth. She started, not for the first time, to wonder what his lips would feel like pressed to her own… But then she sat up straighter in her seat and frowned, annoyed with the path her thoughts were leading her down. She had heard, and so had everyone else nearby, including Vic, that she was not pretty enough to be his latest lover. She was out of his league in so many ways, but she couldn’t seem to stop the desire that was smouldering inside her. A desire to feel his touch, his intimate touch, the stroke and glide of his hands on her body. She was not a teenager any more—she was an adult scarily close to thirty years old. If she didn’t step out of the shadows soon and grasp life with two hands, she was going to find herself a lonely old woman with a houseful of cats. Or dogs, or birds or hamsters. Well, maybe not hamsters.

Vic put his cup down and met her gaze, one of his eyebrows going up in a questioning arc. ‘Ready?’

She put her cup down on its saucer with a clumsy little clatter. She’d been holding it for the last few minutes even though it was empty. ‘Sure. I’d like to be there before Katerina wakes up. Sometimes little kids can get disoriented after a deep sleep. She might forget where she is and start crying for her parents. Have you heard from either of them?’

‘Not today.’

They fell into step beside each other on the walk back to his villa. ‘I wonder how long they’ll be?’ She gave him a sideways look to find him frowning.

‘Hopefully not too much longer.’

She chewed at her lower lip, not sure how to interpret his comment. She was torn between wanting her brother and sister-in-law back as soon as possible for Katerina’s sake, but the other part of her wanted a bit more time with Vic Jacobetti. It was a strange state to be in, a state of conflicting desires and temptations she had never allowed herself to dabble in before. ‘I guess it can’t be doing your playboy reputation any good to be seen with me and a small child for days on end,’ she said to fill the silence.

He glanced at her, still frowning. ‘Everyone knows Katerina is my half-sister’s child, not mine.’ His gaze dipped to her mouth for a brief moment and a trickle of something molten hot pooled in her core. His dark gaze came back to hers and her heart gave a somersault in her chest. ‘But as for you…’ He let out a long breath and gave a crooked smile that made her pulse suddenly race. ‘Does it bother you that people might assume we’re involved?’

She could feel her cheeks burning as if she had the worst case of sunburn in her life. ‘You heard what that tourist said. No one would ever believe you’d have a fling with someone like me.’

Vic’s hand came up and his long, tanned index finger stroked a slow and exquisitely sensual pathway down her fiery cheek. Every nerve in her skin danced in delight and her heart skipped and tripped. His gaze darkened to a glinting pitch and went back to her mouth. ‘Ah, yes, but there’s always a first time for everything,sì?’ His deep baritone voice had a rough edge that sent a wave of longing through her flesh.

She sent the tip of her tongue out to deposit a layer of moisture on her cobblestone-dry lips. ‘Are you…’ she hesitated over the choice of the word ‘…mocking me?’

His brows snapped together in a tight frown. ‘Why would I do that?’

She flapped one of her hands in a distracted manner. ‘You can’t possibly be interested in me like…’ she gulped ‘…that.’

Images popped into her head of him kissing her, touching her, worshipping her body the way it longed to be worshipped. Erotic images that made the possibility of it happening all the more exciting.

She saw the exact moment those forbidden thoughts entered his mind. A flash of something hot and liquid in his gaze, a flicker of something move across his face like a sudden breeze across a deep body of water. His mouth tightened, then loosened, then tightened again, a tension in his jaw that hadn’t been there before, as if he was fighting his most primal instincts and not enjoying the process.

‘We both know why that can never happen.’ His tone was adamant but for some reason she sensed he was doing it more for his own benefit, not hers. Because she already knew it couldn’t happen, right? They lived in completely different worlds—worlds that only rarely intersected because of their little niece. They had so little in common and yet…and yet…there was a beat of something in the air, a background humming that tightened and charged the atmosphere.

Addie couldn’t hold the broodingly dark intensity of his gaze. ‘You’re right, of course.’ She gave a light laugh that nearly choked her. ‘I shouldn’t have allowed the thought any traction inside my head.’ She went to take another step, but his hand came down on her forearm to stall her. She raised her gaze back up to his, her pulse fluttering, her heart stuttering, her body secretly smouldering.

‘Wait… Are you saying youwantit to happen?’ There was no escaping his gaze, it held her fast with its probing heat.

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