Page 207 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 5-8

Revenge was a poison, one that she had seen her own father succumb to. He had sought help for Adele from the school and been dismissed. He was made to feel like a second-class citizen because the careless bullying that was crushing her came from well-funded students. He had not been able to protect Adele from harm, so both her parents had built their whole lives around their own kind of revenge, dragging her sister into the mess. And it had warped them. Even when her father was wealthier than most of the students at the boarding school where he used to work, it wasn’t enough. Because no amount of approval could rectify what had happened. No amount of vengeance would change the past. Her parents had succumbed to this never-ending hunger. Would Gustav, too?

She looked out at the hidden inlet where they had anchored. On one side, a string of islands, some just bare mounds of flat rock that rose out of the water; others a little larger, where gnarled trees clung to crevices, persistent, finding a way to survive in the most difficult conditions. She could see small wild flowers poking up as well, yellows and blues, on the thinnest of stems.

Gustav appeared moments later in just a pair of swim trunks that hung low on his tapered waist. His bare chest was powerful and toned, with well-honed muscles and ridges. She followed a brush of hair that trailed across his chest and another trail down his stomach disappearing into his swim trunks. Last night, she had run her hands over his bronzed skin, and it wasn’t anywhere near enough.

She had been staring far too long, and she quickly glanced up and met his gaze. He looked faintly amused but said nothing. The staff came through the door, breaking the silence as they brought out some sort of floating cooler and another raft with towels and other beach comforts.

The area that they had used to enter the boat cleverly doubled as a staircase that ended in a platform at water level. One of the staff lowered it and attached the last two steps into the water, all forming a small deck to make entering and exiting the water easier.

“Are we taking a boat to shore?” she asked, glancing at the tender that floated behind.

“We could…or we could swim.” He flashed her a boyish smile, and it felt like a glimpse at the part of him that she missed so much. Her heart skittered in her chest.

She stripped off her thin dress, revealing her bikini. Gustav’s gaze raked down her body like one hot lick that set everything on fire. She followed him down the steps and dipped her feet into the cool water. Gustav stood next to her, and when she glanced up at him, his eyes were heated. But then he flashed her another impish grin and dove in. Water splashed on her hot skin, and she watched his powerful figure ripple and move under the water.

He came up and slicked back his hair, water glistening from his face and over his powerful shoulders. He turned around and gave her another smile. “Are you coming?”

“Of course.”

She dove in, letting the cool water rush over her, letting her plans fall away, just for now, allowing sensations to take over. When she came up for a breath, Gustav swam close to her so that her hands and legs brushed against his warm body as she slowly treaded water. Drops of water shone on his face, and his eyes were bright.

“I’ve imagined this before,” he said. “This and more.”

And despite the cold Baltic water, her body flashed with heat. She had imagined so much with him, too. But before she could decide how much to say, he dove underwater again and swam back toward the boat. He lifted himself onto the deck, the powerful muscles in his shoulders and back flexing, and lowered their parade of picnic items into the water. Then he looped a sort of harness across his chest and jumped back in.

“Ready?” he asked, swiping a hand over her face.

“I didn’t realize you meant to swim our lunch to shore.”

“I could ask someone else to bring it,” he said. “But then I’d miss this chance to swim alone with my wife to my favorite place.”

The words were intimate and sensual, and she flashed to an alternate world that stretched out in her mind’s eye. Under different circumstances, where he wasn’t driven by revenge and she wasn’t trying to get herself and her sister away from this world he lived in, he would have worshipped her. She was almost sure he would, or he would if he was still anything like the teenager she once knew. He would have treated her like she was his entire world every day.

A wave of sadness washed over her, and she reminded herself that it was useless to invent these alternate histories. This was the reality they were living in. He wanted his revenge, and Livia’s sister needed her. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what would have happened if they hadn’t taken the roads that they had. Perhaps if she had listened instead of pushing him away so abruptly things might have turned out differently for them both. She felt responsible for her part in turning the teenage Gustav into this hard man she was now married to. Even if he shouldn’t have lied to her about his identity, she could have shown him a little more compassion.

“You look upset,” said Gustav, closer now, his voice gruff.

She shook her head and forced to smile. “What could possibly be wrong on our honeymoon?”

He narrowed his eyes but said nothing as he swam toward shore. Livia focused on taking in what was in front of her, each powerful stroke Gustav took, the white sand beach and the pine forest that gave this little cove privacy. Her feet hit the sand, and she waded to shore as Gustav hauled in their wares.

“Choose a spot,” he said and handed her a soft white blanket as he pulled the cooler onto the beach. She lay the blanket close to the water’s edge and sat on it, letting the warm sun dry her skin. He opened the cooler and took out a glass bottle filled with something pink, then poured it into a cup.

“It’s a drink made from elderflower and wild strawberries,” he said, handing her the glass.

She took a sip of the tart sweet drink and gazed up at the sky. “Do you come here every summer with friends? Girlfriends?”

He raised an eyebrow at this prying question about his past. Of course he had had girlfriends. Though Gustav usually stayed out of the spotlight, she had seen occasional photos of him.

“I made the mistake of bringing a girlfriend here once, but she wasn’t much for the water or the sand, and after that, I wasn’t much for her. I learned quickly that it was better not to bring anyone here.”

Livia raised her eyebrows. “So, this was a test for me?”

“Even if you failed, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have lost your appeal,” he said darkly, giving her a sidelong glance.

His words echoed between them, reminded her that she had failed him before. Her previous betrayal had been far worse, and now they were married. Livia flushed, and she felt something like shame. She’d searched for a path back to steadier ground, and yet she found herself heading the opposite direction.

“Why are you so bent on revenge? Why all of this? Because if you really wanted to marry me, you could have asked years ago,” she said.