Page 4 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 1-4
‘Are you ill?’ The acerbic tone Domenico had taunted her with on the edge of the dance floor was gone. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she heard concern in his lightly accented voice.
She swallowed hard. ‘I’m fine. Go back to your guests. I’ll be out in a minute.’
There was a small pause. ‘Are you on the floor?’
‘I just need a minute. Please, leave me alone.’
Another pause and then a grim, ‘Open the door.’
‘Go away, Dom. We’ll talk tomorrow.’
‘Open the door right now or I’ll break it down.’
Close to tears, she choked, ‘Goaway.’
‘Last chance. Open it,now.’
Marnie knew better than anyone that Domenico never made idle threats. She’d known him since she was eighteen, had worked closely with him for six years and been married to him for one. If he said he’d break the door down, then he’d break the door down, and she couldn’t bear that. Any form of violence made her want to hide in her wardrobe and cover her ears like she’d done as a little girl.
It took all her strength to lift her arm and turn the lock.
He swung the door open and gazed down at her.
A wave of misery hit her so hard and so fast that she came within a breath of bursting into tears.
She’d adored this man. Worshipped him. Would have done anything for him.
There was no mockery in the light brown stare. ‘You’re ill.’
She shook her head and wished again that she’d turned around and gone home. She’d never wanted to tell him like this. In her head, she’d been standing tall, fully in control, ready to take whatever came next, not feeling more vulnerable than she’d ever felt before.
‘Not ill,’ she whispered. ‘Pregnant.’
Chapter Two
THERE WAS Along moment when all Domenico could hear was a loud ringing in his ears.
He stared unblinking at his ex-wife. The long, streaky blond hair chopped in layers framed a pretty heart-shaped face drained of so much colour that the sprinkling of freckles over the pretty nose and high cheekbones were prominent. The chameleon eyes were currently dark blue. She’d lost weight her already slender frame could ill afford to lose.
His heart thumped into life, the memory he’d fought to forget of their last night together suddenly vivid. Their only night together in six months.
It had happened six weeks ago, the day their decree nisi had come through. Right up until that point, he’d still believed she would see sense and come back to him. Fortified by a couple of strong whiskeys, he’d turned up at her tiny flat—dio, he hadn’t realised until then what a dangerous place she lived in—determined to make one last effort to talk sense into her. She’d been drinking too, he remembered. She’d opened the door with a glass of white wine in her hand, which had surprised him as she didn’t drink alcohol. On the tiny coffee table in the tiny living room sat the bottle, over half of it gone.
The little mouse had roared that night. Meek, subservient Marnie had vanished; in her place was a lion who shouted her anger and resentment at Domenico’s efforts to make her see reason. Her righteous fury had ignited something in him, not just his own anger and resentment but a hunger that had risen out of nowhere and gripped him, a hunger he’d never wanted, and even now he couldn’t remember how their mouths had gone from trading insults and obscenities to trading saliva, but in the blink of an eye they were naked in her bed, making love like it was their last hours on this earth.
It hadn’t been their last hours on earth, but it had been their last hours together. In the morning, when he’d woken with a sense of relief that she’d finally be coming back home, she’d turned her back to him and, with a voice of steel, told him to leave.
The euphoria that had come from their unexpected night together had been doused in her coldness, and it was a coldness that had shocked him back to his senses. He’d wanted his wife back, but not likethat. Never like that.
He’d never wanted any form of passion with her, and so to have shared and experienced all that…
He’d been unable to throw his clothes on quickly enough.
He’d never wanted to see her again.
‘Stay there,’ he said now, pulling himself together. ‘I’ll get rid of everyone.’
She gave a weak shake of her head. ‘There’s no need. It’s just morning sickness. Go back to your guests.’
