Page 38 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

Axel’s eyes narrowed on her.

She said, ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound bitchy…but it’s kind of true.’

‘I can see the dilemma now that we’re…intimate. In lieu of monetary payments, then, perhaps you’ll accept gifts?’

Hope frowned. ‘Gifts?’

‘The clothes…any jewellery. Consider it yours to do with as you will. And in the meantime, if we decide that the physical intimacy has run its course, we can go back to the original arrangement.’

Hope knew very well that the wardrobe of clothes she’d been provided with would fetch a small fortune on the reselling sites. Claire, her flatmate, was always putting stuff online after wearing it once.

She shifted a little. ‘I don’t know, it still makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.’

‘You could give the proceeds to charity, Hope.’ He glanced at her hair. ‘You’ve made more dramatic gestures.’

She brightened at the thought of that. ‘OK.’

A gong sounded inside and Axel made a face. ‘We should go in.’ He took her hand. ‘Are we OK?’

Hope nodded. She was glad she’d asserted herself. But the only worrying thing now was the realisation that she was prioritising the physical relationship with Axel over their deal to pay her a certain amount, which would have advanced her dreams considerably. They were crossing so many boundaries now that it was too late to turn back.

And yet, she had to admit that she wasn’t even sure if she was still here for the dreams she’d always harboured. She had a sense of those dreams morphing and changing and she wasn’t even sure what she wanted any more. Or maybe she did know and she was too terrified to name it, because it was Axel and he could never be hers.

She was a momentary blip in his life. A novelty, to help him look a certain way so that he could get another step closer to securing his precious legacy.

Chapter Eight

A couple of hours later, the auction was coming to a close. Axel noticed Hope shiver a little beside him and leant towards her. ‘Are you OK?’

She looked at him and said, ‘Your parents are in my eyeline and is it very bad to say that every time I look at them I feel cold?’

Axel shook his head, her honesty catching at him yet again. Not many people surprised him but Hope had earlier, by stating she couldn’t accept payment while they were sleeping together. And she had a point. He’d never paid for sex in his life and it would put an awkward slant on their arrangement.

He should have thought of it first. He usually saw all the angles and anticipated issues. But he hadn’t thought of that. She had. And the fact that she seemed happy enough to turn down the money… She hadn’t even been all that enthusiastic about accepting gifts until he’d suggested she donate to charity—her whole face had lit up.

And now, anyone else would have been using this opportunity to get to know his parents, seeing it as a route to him, without realising just how big the chasm was between them. So the fact that Hope saw his parents as they really were made him feel a rare moment of connection.

He’d learnt a lesson in just how unfeeling his parents were a long time ago. He’d confronted them when Ares had been kidnapped, and when it had become apparent that they weren’t going to pay the ransom. Axel had been distraught, crying and shouting, ‘How can you do this?’

His father had looked at him and said frigidly, ‘We have you.’

Axel had felt the chill right down to his bone. ‘Not if I leave, you don’t.’ He’d been fully prepared to walk out at that moment and run away. Even at the age of twelve.

Then his father had stepped up to him and backhanded him so hard, he’d landed on the floor. Axel had looked up at his father with his mother watching on, his face exploding with heat and pain, and his father had said, ‘You do not have a choice. The dynasty of this family rests on you and you will not ever walk away. If you did and your brother returned, he would have to take over. Would you want to wish that on him when he can’t even read a full paragraph of text?’

And Axel had known then his fate was sealed. Even more so when Ares had been saved, no thanks to their parents. Axel would have died rather than let Ares be put in his place to take on the burden. No, it was on him.

Axel had never told anyone this, but at one stage, very early into his taking over the company, he’d been tempted to break it up, disillusioned by everything—the estrangement with his brother and distance from his sisters. But then he’d undertaken a tour of all of their hubs across Europe and North America and the full reality of just how many people depended on him had become starkly apparent. And his employees’ pride in their work.

So Axel, instead of being destructive, had been constructive, restructuring, doubling down on ensuring Drakos Solutions staff got better perks and health care and penions and, while financial pundits had predicted disaster, turnover had almost tripled since then.

In spite of his parents, Axel had made Drakos Solutions his in a way that he knew his father had never experienced it and that felt like a triumph in itself. The day when he could bring all his siblings together under the Drakos Solutions umbrella was a dream he’d also never revealed to anyone. But it would be the ultimate sign maybe their parents hadn’t stolen everything from them.

The last lot of the auction was announced. A stunning villa with private beach in the Caribbean. Sun-kissed idyllic paradise. Following an impulse, Axel joined the bidding. He felt Hope tensing beside him as the numbers climbed into the seven figures.

‘What are you doing?’ she whispered.

‘I would have thought that was obvious,’ Axel said as he raised his hand again. It was between him and one other now. He was also aware of his parents looking at him. Wondering what he was up to. That goaded him on even more. He eventually won the lot, at a high price.