Page 147 of Modern Romance September 2026 Books 1-4

He arrived at his stepmother’s home, to find a party in full swing, her monied friends singing Christmas songs and drinking elderflower cocktails, Otto holding forth with a group of men just like him and something inside Javier reasserted itself.

He recognised the tradition, though Carlotta had been incredibly skilful at taking his attendance—which she had barely tolerated—and turning it into a role of servitude.

‘Javier, go and get that tray of quiche from the kitchen and hand them around. Javier, those glasses are unsightly, move them. Javier, the snow has stopped, go and make sure the drive is clear for our guests’ cars.’

He usually spent the whole time being ordered around by her, because she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of him socialising with her friends. All the while, Otto was fawned over as the golden boy.

Javier’s spine straightened, his shoulders squared, as he strode into the house he’d grown up in with one objective in mind.

The large television was on in the living room and he caught sight of Astrid there, too, her hair braided in a crown around her head, drawing attention to her delicate features and kind eyes. His gut rolled. Anticipation burst through him with the knowledge he would see her again soon. Tonight. A few scant hours, once she’d completed her day’s commitments.

And he’d completed his.

‘What are you doing here?’

Carlotta’s voice, though a hushed whisper, cut through his thoughts.

‘I came to see you, Stepmother.’

‘Why?’ She glanced around the room, with that same sense of desperately not wanting him to be seen by her friends. It was laughable, given what he’d achieved, and who he was in the world. He’d put his fortune on any one of these people being thrilled he was there.

‘There’s a conversation we need to have. It won’t take long. Believe me, I’m as eager as you to get this over with.’

‘I doubt that.’ She compressed her lips. ‘Well? Spit it out.’

He arched a thick brow. ‘I think somewhere more private would suit.’

‘That’s unnecessary. You can have nothing to say to me that requires privacy. You’re no one to me.’

And even though he knew that, even though he’d understood it for a long time, the little boy inside of him still shuddered at her overt cruelty. At the fact that the only maternal figure he could remember could treat him with such disdain.

‘I’m not sure that will continue to be true, after this conversation.’

‘Say what you came here to say, Javier.’

His smile was feral, his eyes rapier sharp. ‘As of three days ago, I control the majority of shares in the Diamandi group. The business that should always have been mine finally is.’

It was a moment he’d dreamed of for many years. He’d imagined saying it, throwing those words at her. He’d imagined her shock, but nothing came close to the reality. She went as white as a sheet, lifting her hands to her lips and shaking her head.

‘You are a liar. That’s not possible. I would know.’

It felt good, but again, not as good as he’d hoped. The truth was, at some point, maybe he’d started to…care a little less about this. Perhaps acquiring the company had been more about taking what should have been his, what brought him closer to his father, the one person who’d really loved him. Who’d seen his value and his gift for business, and wanted to reward that.

‘Otto would have known,’ she said, looking across the room and raising her hand in an urgent, beckoning gesture.

Satisfaction did flicker in his gut then, because Otto was both incompetent and uninterested. The proof of that was in how Javier had been able to see through his acquisition. ‘Would he?’

‘You can’t—This can’t—’

He smiled as though he had not a care in the world. ‘I can, and I did. The Diamandi Group is in my hands, as my father always wanted.’

‘Don’t call him that. God, how I hate you. With every bone in my body, I despise you. Why did he do this to me? Why did he bring you here? It’s bad enough you have his last name—’

But Javier had already turned on his heel and was stalking towards the front door. He’d done what he came to do and now he had something far more pleasurable on his horizon. Someone he wanted to see more than he cared about revenge. But he left with the knowledge that his stepmother no longer had the power to hurt him. He was finally free of her and he didn’t have to be a genius to know why. Light had a way of blotting out darkness. When he was with the queen, he felt a kind of light in his soul that he hadn’t even known existed.

* * *

In truth, she was exhausted, but there was no way she was going to cancel her plans and go straight to bed. At least, not her own bed. All day, she’d been thinking of Javier, of the fact she would get to see him that night, so she’d practically floated through the commitments.