Page 269 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

‘Yes, but I was happy for them to go. With the type of family I came from, it was important to me that I could trust them.’ Of course, as it turned out, her family—especially her father—were the ones she couldn’t trust. In that moment, Charlotte wanted so badly to tell Enzo everything, tell him what she was running from. But after what she and Enzo had shared, she found another reason why she was afraid to do so. Uncovering this attraction, their physical connection, had made her the happiest she had felt in a long time. The brightest point in her life so far. She didn’t want to see that desire turn to hate. She couldn’t bear it.

‘Unfortunately, it was my family I couldn’t trust.’

‘What happened?’ The low growl in Enzo’s voice comforted her. Protective anger tinted the air, and it made her want to hold him more tightly. Instead, she rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling but saw only the face of Gordon Kim. Her father. Her tormentor.

‘Please! I don’t want to marry him!’

‘I don’t care.’

She shook the memory away and answered Enzo’s question. ‘I was being forced to marry someone I didn’t want to. Someone I detested. So I left.’

She could see Enzo had a great many things he wanted to say. She could see the anger that had fully taken hold in his eyes, and he felt like a protector, but he couldn’t be the protector she needed. Nothing had changed. Enzo was still a businessman with near-celebrity status. People all over the world were fascinated by him and his family’s wealth. Charlotte could only really enjoy this temporary connection behind closed doors.

‘You’re safe with me, Celeste.’ How she’d craved hearing those words. But that damn name! It was tearing her up inside.

The safest thing would be to turn the focus onto Enzo and away from her.

‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Anything,tesoro.’

‘Why don’t you ever have anyone in your life? I’ve been with you for two years, and never once in that time did I see you with anyone or make any reservations.’

Enzo huffed a humourless laugh. ‘You noticed that.’

‘Of course.’

This time it was Enzo’s turn to look away. As he rolled onto his back, Charlotte moved closer, propping her head on her arm so she could look at him while he spoke. Silence stretched between them. Just when she thought he wouldn’t say anything at all, he spoke.

‘I was once in a relationship. Her name was Gia. I met her before I had become conte but was already heading up De Luca. My father had been forced to take a step back for health reasons.’

Enzo spoke so emotionlessly that Charlotte thought this story could only end badly. Part of her regretted asking, but a different part of her was thrilled that Enzo, a man who famously kept his thoughts to himself, was opening up to her. She placed her hand on his sternum. Her heart rejoiced when he covered it with his own.

‘Over that time we grew close, and I asked her to marry me...’

Charlotte was shocked. She had seen multiple old pictures of him with the same woman, but she knew nothing of the engagement. Of course, he would have managed to keep all of it out of the media.

‘Shortly after that, my father died, and I became conte. Gia seemed supportive. She understood what the role meant for me and my family. What it meanttome, and I loved her.’

Jealousy. That was what pounded in Charlotte’s veins now, but it should be ridiculous to feel jealous over the thought of someone from the past meaning something to a man she would never truly have. She tried to force past the feeling, irrational and grating as it was.

‘At least I thought I did.’

‘What happened?’

‘She betrayed me. Emilio came to me and confessed that he and Gia had slept together.’

‘Oh, Enzo!’ Charlotte was horrified. She couldn’t imagine being hurt like that by two people he should have been able to trust. To count on.

‘When I confronted Gia about it, she didn’t deny it. You see, while I trusted her, confided in her, she was lusting after my brother. She wanted the fame, the money, the jewels I showered upon her but not me. Things I had confided in her, she had spread to Emilio.’

No wonder that Enzo was always so guarded. That he so smoothly deflected questions he didn’t want to answer. That it was usually impossible to know what he was thinking. In his place Charlotte would have likely clammed up too. It was so much safer not to trust people.

Except Enzo had trusted her, hadn’t he? Even though it was only a little. He had let her in a small amount, but there was no way Charlotte was going to lie to herself and assume that Enzo would be an open book to her from this point. After all, she wasn’t letting him in completely either. They had been so intimate, were lying in bed together after having the most explosive sex, speaking of things they kept well hidden—and Enzo was still calling her Celeste. The barrier was still up between them. Her whole life was fractured. She was two people, and she hated it more than anything now, but she didn’t know how else to remain safe.

Enzo kept safe in a whole other way, but just like her, he kept people away too.

‘What did you do?’ Charlotte asked, needing to know exactly how Enzo would deal with someone utterly destroying his trust.