Page 253 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

‘Salute.’

She kept her gaze fixed on his, watching him watch her sip her wine. Seeing his green eyes dip to her throat as she swallowed.

‘You are an intriguing creature, Celeste Park.’

‘I’m glad you think so, Enzo.’

The hand holding his wineglass dropped to his side and hers followed, as if they were mirrors of each other. They seemed to move closer with every breath, breaths that seemed in perfect sync. Breaths that erased all thought and left nothing but the force of their locked gazes pulling them together. Charlotte’s heart knocked against her rib cage. All she needed, all she craved was his lips on hers. Their softness and his warmth.

‘I think it’s time we retired for the night.’

Charlotte was dazed. As sense returned to her, she saw Enzo pull away. All that buzzing energy was replaced by the sheer horror of what had almost happened.

‘Um...yes. Goodnight, Mr De Luca,’ she said, avoiding looking at him. She placed her glass on the table and half ran to her room, which took more concentration than it should have, her head swirling with all the wine she had consumed.

She shut the door and locked it for good measure, engulfed in mortification.

‘Rules are meant to be broken?What the hell were you thinking? Not our rules! Our rules keep us safe!’ she chastised herself in the mirror. ‘What absolute madness overcame you?’

Great! Now she was talking to herself.

She should have known their littletête-à-têtewas not a good idea when wine was buzzing in her veins. When she was so affected, and he seemed not to be.

She rushed into the en suite bathroom and stripped her clothes with vehemence, furious with herself. She had been on numerous trips with Enzo, but not once had they ever acted so inappropriately. Not once had they teased each other or chatted like that. She had called himEnzo, for crying out loud!

She yanked her pyjamas over her head viciously, further angered by a realisation: she found Enzo attractive. More attractive than she’d found anyone before. She wanted to kiss him more than she’d wanted any other. When she closed her eyes, she could still see the bright green of his.

‘It’s just the wine talking, Charlotte. Go to bed!’

But she couldn’t blame the wine when she recollected the magnetised way their bodies had drawn closer. Maybe if she had had more experience, she wouldn’t have been so lost to the current of their attraction. Maybe she would be more immune to Enzo’s seductiveness.

She switched off the lights and climbed into bed, determined to erase the whole interaction from memory. A part of her resisted, though. It had been so long since she had spoken to anyone like that, so long since she had kissed anyone, and never once a man like Enzo. She wanted more.

It was just a craving, stupid and reckless and not something she would act on. Biting back a groan, she closed her eyes and resolved to be even more closed-off than before.

Loneliness was a small price to pay for freedom.

CHAPTER FOUR

CHARLOTTEWALKEDDOWNa sunlit staircase, passing painting after painting that could rival those in any art gallery. She stopped to admire one but wasn’t really seeing any of the details.

She was procrastinating.

Sleep hadn’t dulled her mortification, and as much as she wanted to see Enzo to have a taste of that feeling again, she wanted to avoid him. She’d shut off her usual alarm and tried to doze, but it hadn’t worked. So she had taken an extra-long shower and taken her time getting ready.

All to give her the best chance of missing Enzo.

Part of her wondered if her reaction was a bit extreme. After all, there was no guarantee that she would still feel the things she had last night. She had consumed a fair amount of wine—maybe it was just a fluke? Either way, she was committed to being even more closed-off. More efficient. She had taken a silly risk, but that was in the past. Now she had work to do.

‘Good morning, Celeste,’ came Isabella’s highly accented greeting. ‘Come, I have prepared you a breakfast.’

‘Oh, you really shouldn’t have worried. I have work to get to.’

‘Nonsense. You will eat first.’

Isabella ushered Charlotte into the spacious kitchen where a spread was laid out on a large island. A spread for one.

Charlotte laughed. ‘There’s enough to feed an army here, Isabella. Won’t you join me?’ She didn’t know what it was about the older woman, but her presence was comforting. Since Charlotte was unlikely to return to Perlano, there was little risk in indulging in some company.