Page 284 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

‘We’re leaving for Sydney. I will not be returning home.’

‘For how long?’

Enzo didn’t give her an answer. He didn’t have one. It would be impossible to stay away for ever, but he had no plans to return anytime soon.

‘Leoncino, you call this home even now. Sydney isn’t home.’

Sydney wasn’t filled with memories of lies and betrayals. Enzo turned his back on Isabella and walked away.

‘Enzo!’ Charlotte called, but he climbed the stairs, slipping from view.

‘Let him go. I wish to tell you something,piccola.’ Isabella took Charlotte’s hands in hers, a gesture that was so earnest Charlotte would have done anything she asked. ‘Be patient with him. I have seen him grow up. I have seen him before he closed his heart.’

Charlotte nodded. ‘Goodbye, Isabella.’

All the way to the airport and even after boarding, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Isabella had said.

‘...before he closed his heart.’

She sat across the table from Enzo. His eyes were firmly fixed on his laptop. Charlotte knew Italy was a moment in time. A moment she wished could have lasted for ever, a moment where she knew happiness and freedom and what it was to love someone. But now that it was over and they were heading back to Australia, she no longer knew where she stood.

A closed heart didn’t bode well for her. Yes, he was caring and protective. He had promised to protect her, but he hadn’t said a word about anything more than that. What would happen once they reached Sydney? What would happen at the office? To her career? People would question why the CEO’s PA had gone from Celeste to Charlotte. She didn’t work in a vacuum.

Protection didn’t mean love. No words of a future had been exchanged, so where did she stand? What would happen if Enzo decided he’d had enough of her? This relationship, whatever it was, was a risk, and Charlotte had lived avoiding risks.

She cursed herself for not thinking this far ahead when they were in Milan. A spell had been woven around them, but this flight was carrying them away from the magic and back to real life.

‘Enzo?’

‘Hm?’ He still didn’t take his eyes off the screen. She reached over and pushed the screen down, just as he had once done to her.

‘What’s going to happen once we’re back in Sydney?’ Her heart beat erratically as she waited for the answer.

‘I told you—’

‘I’m not talking about my protection and undoing all of my precautions. You know exactly what I mean. Do we have a future?’

Surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly covered it with a mask of neutrality. Whatever his answer was, Charlotte would hear it. He wanted trust, and she wanted the truth.

‘Charlotte, I don’t have it in me to love again. To trust that much.’

She was ready for his answer, but it didn’t stop the words from shattering her heart. A heart that she had foolishly given to him. A good man. But a hurt man.

He moved his laptop aside and reached over, his hand sliding over her neck, thumb caressing her cheek. She wanted so badly to lean into the feeling. She could let him kiss her, then she wouldn’t have to think at all. Passion would be the only thing coursing through her, and none of this would matter.

But that would be running. And this one time, she wanted to face her problem.

‘Would it not suffice to enjoy this chemistry we have? To enjoy the protection I offer?’

Charlotte didn’t respond. What could she say?

Think. You need time to think.

She agreed with the voice in her head, and being around Enzo was too distracting. Green eyes bored into her soul. Watching her. Waiting for a response that wouldn’t come. At least not now.

‘I’m going to rest,’ he announced, leaving her at the table, and made for the bedroom. She was sure he did it because he knew what she needed. He wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to, not even give him an answer. Except she did need one. For herself.

Would it be enough? Would it be worth it? To have run from the prospect of an unwanted, loveless marriage into a loveless relationship with only protection and sex on offer? Offered out of a duty to her, not love. Enzo wasn’t Grant. Enzo didn’t want to cage and control her. He offered her pleasure and excitement. Even now her cheek still tingled from the spark of his gentle touch. He offered her a life.