Page 117 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 5-8

Because I can remember clearly what it was like when Vittoria was little. How much I loved her. Doted on her.

Love.

I swore to Lindsay yesterday that men like me, men like Renzo, don’t love.

But I feel it now. An explosion of something in my chest.

I love this child.

And I will protect her with my life.

I look at Lindsay, and see that her eyes are filled with tears.

Neither of us speaks again until we are out of the appointment, headed back to the apartment.

“I just keep thinking of myself,” she says. “A sad, lonely little girl with parents who didn’t care at all.”

“We will care,” I say.

And for once, I have the sense that I’ve actually said the right thing. Because we will care. She’s right. We have the opportunity to give our child something that we never received.

And we will.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Lindsay

HE’S OFF AT some gangster meeting today. That’s not actually what he called it, and I know that he would give me such a glare if I said it in front of him, but oh well.

His reaction to the ultrasound was interesting. He wasn’t unhappy, I could tell, but it was definitely monumental, and I went to my room last night, and he didn’t come for me. I expected him to. Particularly after the way that he was on our first day here. But that’s fine. I don’t take it personally.

Or maybe I do. But I’m not one to sit in difficult feelings.

I think about that as I get up and walk around the apartment. It’s weird to not have him here. I know that this is my house too, but I’m still adjusting to the idea of sharing my life with someone else. Especially a life that’s so different from my own.

I already know that he doesn’t want me to go back to school.

And I’m still grappling with that. But there’s a lot to be said for this life. And it isn’t that I don’t have resources. It isn’t that I can’t still make things. One thing he’s given me is the ability to spend as much money as I want, whenever I want, and I’m going to take advantage of it. I’ve decided that I’m going to make clothes for our baby. The idea fills me with joy.

But before that, I decide that I’m going to deck the flat out for Christmas.

It’s going to take a little bit of problem-solving. I don’t know any of the places in London, and I’ve never actually had Christmas.

But, I haven’t made it this far in life without figuring out how to get information. And that’s exactly what I do. It’s how I find myself at Harrods with a personal shopper and a limitless budget. Life is pretty great when your baby daddy is a billionaire.

Well, at least, I’m hoping that it will be.

I care about him. Deeply. I care about the things that he’s been through. I care about the loss of his mother. About the ways that we are the same and the ways that we’re different. I want to make a family with him. I…

I fear that I’m falling in love with him. And it would be easy for me to write that off, to say that it’s only because we’ve had sex, that he’s my very first lover. But that isn’t it.

At least, it’s not the only thing. I admire him. So few men in his position would’ve done what he did. Most people would have clung to the thing that would make them money, give them power. He didn’t do that. He was born into a world that told him power is the only currency. The only thing that really matters. Yet, he somehow found values. Morals. Maybe they don’t look like everyone else’s. Maybe they’re not bright and shiny and pristine like some people’s. I don’t care. I think that what he’s done is incredible. He could’ve just taken the throne of his father’s empire. He could have taken on that legacy. He chose not to.

He chose not to, and I think that matters. I think it makes him a man worthy of love. My parents were incapable of making change for me. So when I see the kind of change a man like him has made, I’m in awe of it.

He’s genuinely admirable. In contrast, I almost feel like I’m not worthy.

I don’t want to get into those kinds of thoughts. But now that I have his money, maybe I can get into some charitable causes. I would love to be able to find kids like me. To give them opportunities. The ones that I had to fight so hard for. I don’t think anyone should have to battle like I did.