Page 197 of Modern Romance June 2025 1-4

Maybe with Emilio she could let go just a little bit, enjoy the life she had built for herself. That she was still building. What use would it be to achieve all that she wanted if she didn’t let herself enjoy it? Even Emilio, with his massive weight of a legacy, found time to enjoy himself. That was how they’d met, after all.

That life wasn’t filled with enjoyment. He was escaping, just like you.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Unless I’ve read this wrong, and you don’t want to spend this time with me.’

He took her hands from beneath the covers and kissed them on the knuckles, sending sparks skittering along her skin. ‘I would take all the time you gave to me and still want more.’ She watched him study her before he said, ‘I would very much like that.’ He paused. ‘But I don’t want to go back to Perlano. We’ll stay here.’

‘That’s fine by me. I’d like to see more of Vozzano anyway. You still have a lake to show me.’

‘Mia vita,’Emilio whispered, caging her in his arms and kissing her. Lightning sang through her. If this was to be her very first holiday since starting SOP, she was glad it was with her unlikely husband.

***

A few days later, while Emilio was unsuccessfully trying to teach Jasmine how to make a ragu—honestly, he was shirtless in the kitchen while cooking and feeding her little samples to taste; how was she expected to concentrate?—her phone rang loudly on the stone worktop.

‘Hi, Mom.’ Jasmine suddenly realised she hadn’t spoken to her mother since she’d arrived in Italy. She never went that long without calling to check in. She looked at Emilio, who was concentrating on the pot in front of him. Had she relaxed so much because of him?

‘What did you do, Jasmine?’

‘I don’t know. What did I do?’ Alarm bells went off in her head. Had something happened to her mother? To SOP? Did she need to leave for New York? She was halfway out of the kitchen when what her mother said next stopped her in her tracks.

‘You didn’t have to buy me a house!’

Jasmine spun around and looked at Emilio. He’d stopped stirring the contents of the pot and watched her impassively. ‘Mom…’

But Angela continued without letting her get a word in. ‘And I could have moved myself in. You didn’t need to go through all this trouble.’

Jasmine could hear how close to tears her mother was and it made her own eyes well up. ‘I’ve always wanted to take care of you.’ She wasn’t sure if she was saying that to herself, her mother or Emilio, but the words hung in the air.

‘I love you so much, Jasmine.’ Angela was crying now. Jasmine could hear it. Could hear her mother’s watery voice and sniffles.

‘I love you too, Mom.’

‘I’ll let you get back to your honeymoon, but I just have to say something: he’s special.’

‘I know.’ Jasmine hung up but stayed where she was. A lump was forming at the back of her throat that made it hard to speak. ‘You did this. You bought my mom a house.’

‘I did. I know you’ve wanted to take care of her…’

He knew because he’d wanted that too, to take care of his own mother before she’d passed.

‘So I bought her a house close to ours.’

Ours. Her brownstone, that he’d promised to move into even though it wasn’t nearly as fancy as his penthouse. A promise he’d made so they could both be there for their child and he could be the father he hadn’t had. Jasmine was seeing him so much more clearly now.

‘When you say close…’

‘A street over. I thought you would want her close by as this pregnancy progresses. Would need her support when our daughter is born.’

Jasmine laughed despite the tears running down her face. When had anyone cared this deeply for her? Cared for her so much that they respected her goals, took care of her family? Richard had wanted more space from her mother. Emilio understood why she needed Angela.

Emilio was beyond special. And he’d finally begun opening up to her. True, nothing he’d said quite explained his behaviour in Perlano; there was something, she was sure, that he was holding back. But…

Maybe it didn’t matter. How bad could his secret be? His actions spoke volumes: he was good and kind and everything she could hope for in a partner. So unlike the last man she had promised herself to, who had found her controlling. Maybe Richard had had a point. She did try to control everything. What if, in her pursuit of this secret, she pushed Emilio too far and he left too?

She would lose the perfect father for her child, and she couldn’t do that to her baby. Maybe it was time for her to let go of the barriers and allow him to tell her in his own time. Maybe she could make peace with not knowing. Maybe she should.

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