Deserving of His Diamonds?

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  He reached across the table and took her hand in his. ‘Where’s your engagement ring?’ he asked.

  Gisele met his gaze across their joined hands. ‘I left it upstairs. It doesn’t fit me properly any more. I’m frightened I’m going to lose it.’

  He frowned as he stroked where her ring should have been. ‘Then we’ll have to get it readjusted so it does fit,’ he said.

  ‘Why did you keep it?’ she asked after an infinitesimal pause.

  He released her hand and leaned back in his chair, his face like stone. ‘It’s worth a lot of money.’

  ‘I know, but you could have sold it,’ she said. ‘Why didn’t you?’

  He pushed back from the table and got to his feet. ‘I have a call to make,’ he said curtly. ‘The driver will be here in ten minutes. Don’t be late.’

  Gisele let out a long breath as she watched him stride across the flagstones and back inside the villa. There were times when she wondered why she had given her heart to such a complex and unreachable man.

  ‘Signor Andreoni asked me to tell you he will meet you for a late lunch,’ the driver said when Gisele went out to the waiting car. ‘He has some urgent business to see to. He gave me this to give you.’ He handed her a credit card and a piece of paper with the details of a restaurant on it.

  ‘Why couldn’t he have told me himself?’ she asked, feeling annoyed.

  The driver shrugged. ‘He is a very busy man. He never stops working.’

  ‘I don’t need you to drive me,’ she said. ‘I’m happy to walk.’

  ‘Signor Andreoni insisted on me escorting you.’

  ‘Have the morning off,’ Gisele said, placing the credit card and note in her purse.

  ‘But I will get fired if I don’t—’

  ‘No, you won’t,’ she said with determination. ‘I’ll deal with Signor Andreoni. Ciao.’

  Emilio was already waiting at the restaurant when Gisele came in. She hadn’t done much shopping, other than pick up a dress and shoes for that evening, but she hadn’t used Emilio’s card. She refused to be sent off like an overindulged child by a too-busy parent.

  She weaved her way through the busy restaurant towards him, conscious of his dark brooding gaze focused solely on her. ‘Hello, darling,’ she said, offering her cheek for a perfunctory kiss for the sake of onlookers.

  Emilio took her face in his hands and planted a hot, drugging kiss on her mouth. Gisele felt her senses spin like a top, round and round and round until she was barely able to stand up. She had to place her hands on his hard chest to steady herself. She stepped back when he released her, sure her face was as red as the single rose in the centre of the table.

  ‘You don’t look like you’ve had a very successful shopping spree,’ he said as he seated her.

  ‘I don’t like spending other people’s money,’ she said, throwing him a look over her shoulder. ‘If I want to buy clothes then I’ll buy them for myself.’

  ‘You seem very determined to disobey my instructions,’ he said as he took his own seat opposite her.

  ‘You seem to have trouble accepting that I will not be told what to do,’ she tossed back.

  He drew in a little breath. ‘Careful, cara,’ he said. ‘We are in public now. Keep your claws sheathed until we are alone.’

  Gisele had to fight not to glower at him. She picked up the menu and buried her nose in it. ‘How did your urgent business go?’ she asked.

  ‘Fine.’

  A stiff silence passed.

  Gisele wondered if his urgent business had been female. A sick feeling opened up in her stomach like a canyon. She hated thinking of him with someone else. For two years she had tried not to think about it. Did he have a current mistress he was keeping as backup? Her chest tightened painfully at the thought. So many rich men led double lives. Was he one of them?

  ‘I have something for you,’ Emilio said.

  Gisele put the menu down again. ‘What is it?’

  He handed her a jeweller’s box, his expression as blank as a sheet of paper. ‘I hope it fits.’

  She opened the black velvet box and looked down at the staggeringly gorgeous diamond sitting there. It looked frightfully expensive and yet it was much simpler than the one he had given her previously. ‘I don’t understand …’ She looked up at him again. ‘I thought you were going to get the old one adjusted?’

  ‘I thought you might like this one instead,’ he said. ‘But if you don’t then you can choose your own. It doesn’t matter either way to me.’

  Gisele bit her lip as she took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger. It was a perfect fit and suited her hand so much better than the old one. She had never really liked the previous one but she hadn’t had the courage to say so. It had been too heavy and cumbersome for her hand, too flashy, and the claws had caught at the finer fabrics of some of her clothes. This one, with its delicate setting, looked as if it had been designed for her and for her alone. She brought her gaze back to Emilio’s. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said. ‘It’s the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen.’

  He gave a dismissive grunt and picked up his menu. ‘What would you like to eat?’ he asked.

  Gisele looked at him as he flicked through the menu, as a cricket ball of bitterness and hate slowly loosened in her chest. ‘Was this your urgent business this morning?’ she asked, holding up her hand.

  He put down the menu and looked at her with a brooding frown. ‘Can we get on with the meal or are you still on a hunger strike?’ he asked.

  ‘Was it, Emilio?’

  ‘I had several things to see to,’ he said, shifting in his chair as if someone had put marbles beneath him. ‘That was one of them.’

  ‘It was very thoughtful of you,’ she said softly.

  ‘Think nothing of it,’ he said, turning another page of the menu with a look of acute boredom on his face. ‘It’s just a prop, anyway. I didn’t want people to talk about why you’re not wearing an engagement ring.’

  She chewed at her lip as she looked at the sparkling diamond, watching as the light caught at it from a thousand different angles. ‘Looks like a pretty expensive prop,’ she said.

  He closed the menu with a little snap. ‘It’s just money.’

  She met his gaze across the table. ‘Do I get to keep it after I’ve … you know … got through this?’ she asked.

  ‘“Got through this”?’ he said, with a rueful quirk of his mouth. ‘You make it sound like something dreadful you have to endure, like torture or a prison sentence.’

  Gisele pursed her lips as she examined the diamond again. ‘I don’t know … maybe there are some compensations to be had.’

  ‘Well over two million at the last count,’ he muttered.

  She flicked her gaze back to his. ‘So, do I get to keep it?’

  ‘What will you do with it?’ he asked with a curl of his lip. ‘Sell it or toss it in the nearest fountain like you did the last time?’

  Gisele held his mocking gaze for a beat before she picked up her menu. She still couldn’t work out why he had taken the time and effort to choose her such an exquisite ring. Was she fooling herself he cared more than he was letting on? She wasn’t used to thinking of him being hurt by their break-up because he had been the one to end their relationship. She had thought he had only orchestrated this temporary reunion for the sake of appearances.

  But what if he really did want a fresh start? What if the new ring was his way of communicating that? Was it crazy of her to look for love where hate had resided for so long?

  What if he had only bought the ring to lure her back into his bed? It was way too soon to be jumping to any conclusions over his motivations. She had to tread carefully or risk everything all over again. ‘I think I’ll keep it as a souvenir,’ she said. ‘A girl can never have too many diamonds, now, can she?’

  His expression hardened all the way to his dark-as-night eyes. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t keep the old one,’ he said. ‘The sale of it could have set
you up for a year or two at least.’

  ‘I found it much more satisfying to throw it away,’ she said. ‘It seemed appropriate, given the circumstances.’

  His mouth tightened even further as he held her look. ‘You’re never going to let it go, are you?’

  ‘Is that why you bought the ring?’ Gisele asked. ‘You thought a little bauble would soften me up enough to occupy your bed once more? You’ll have to try harder, Emilio. I’m not that easy for the taking.’

  He elevated one dark brow as he ran his smouldering gaze over her indolently. ‘That wasn’t the message I was getting last night,’ he said. ‘You were hot for it as soon as I kissed you.’

  Gisele felt the heat rise from her neck to pool in her cheeks. She pushed against the table and got to her feet, all of her movements stiff with outrage. ‘Excuse me,’ she said. ‘I need to use the Ladies’ room.’

  ‘Don’t even think about it,’ Emilio said before she had even stalked two paces from the table.

  She turned and looked at him haughtily. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘I know how your mind works, Gisele,’ he said. ‘But running away is not going to help things.’

  ‘I’m not running away,’ she said, shooting him a livid glare. ‘I’m simply removing myself from your hateful presence.’

  His expression became as unmalleable as marble and his voice just as hard and unyielding when he spoke. ‘If you walk out of this restaurant without me I will call every contact I have in Europe and tell them not to touch you with a barge pole. The knock-on effect will follow you all the way back to Australia. Can you imagine what the press will make of that?’

  Gisele felt the scorch of his glitteringly determined gaze as it warred with hers. It made the backs of her knees tingle with a sensation like pieces of ice chugging through her veins.

  Dared she call his bluff?

  What if the press dug a little deeper into her private life? Somehow she had managed to keep Lily’s birth and death out of the public arena. She couldn’t bear having her grief splashed over the press for the world to see.

  It was a king hit to her pride to resume her seat but she didn’t see what other choice she had. She threw him a look of undiluted venom. ‘Happy now?’ she asked.

  ‘You’ve turned into quite a little spitfire, haven’t you, cara?’ he said. ‘Taming you is turning out to be quite diverting.’

  ‘Would you like me to sit up and beg while you’re at it?’ she threw back.

  ‘No,’ he said, giving her another smouldering look. ‘I’m much more interested in you rolling over and playing bed.’

  Gisele felt the incendiary heat of his play on words at the very base of her spine. How could he reduce her to such a quivering wreck of need with just a look or a teasing comment? ‘You might be in for a disappointment,’ she said with deliberate coolness. ‘What if I don’t live up to your lofty expectations?’

  He sat back and surveyed her features at his leisure, pausing for a moment on her mouth before his eyes came back to mesh with hers. ‘I’m sure you haven’t lost your touch,’ he said. ‘I still remember what you feel like wrapped around me.’

  She gave him a cynical look to disguise the way her insides were coiling with red-hot lust. ‘All cats are black in the dark.’

  ‘I’ve met a few cats in my time,’ he said. ‘But none purr quite the way you do.’

  ‘I might scratch and bite instead,’ she said, crossing her legs to try and control the surge of longing that was rippling through her. ‘Or I might just go through the motions to get it over with. Lots of women do.’

  His lips curved upwards in a glinting half smile. ‘Do you really think I wouldn’t be able to tell if you were faking it?’

  Gisele shifted her gaze from his, her face flooding with colour all over again. He had known her body so well. Every pulse point, every curve and indentation, every sensual hotspot had been his to tease and please. Her body had sung for hours afterwards. The memory of his touch was still on her skin. It was still in her body. She could feel it even now, the on-off pressure of aching need building deep inside her. She would have no hope of holding back her response even if she wanted to for the sake of her pride. Hadn’t last night proven that? He had been the one to call a halt, not her. She had been incapable of it. Desire had consumed her common sense. It had always been that way with Emilio. She had no defences against the attraction she felt for him. She suspected he knew how fragile her armour was. How could she keep herself safe from further heartbreak? ‘Can we please talk about something else?’ she asked, darting a glance either side in case other diners were listening in.

  ‘What are you embarrassed about, cara?’ Emilio asked. ‘That I know your body almost as well as I know my own?’

  ‘You don’t know it now,’ Gisele insisted.

  He leaned across and picked up her left hand, bringing it up to his lips as his eyes held hers in a mesmerising trance. ‘Then perhaps it is time I reacquainted myself with it, hmm? The sooner the better, don’t you think?’

  Gisele’s whole body shivered as his lips brushed the tips of her fingers. The diamond he had placed on her hand glittered as a reminder of the contract he had drawn up between them: two million dollars for a month of her time. ‘Why didn’t you do so last night?’ she asked. ‘You had the opportunity. Why didn’t you take it while you had the chance?’

  He stroked his thumb across the soft dish of her palm, sending powerful lightninglike sensations all the way up her arm. ‘You weren’t ready last night,’ he said. ‘It wouldn’t have been fair to take advantage of you when you were tired and overwrought.’

  ‘I might never be ready,’ she said with a pert lift of her chin. ‘What will you do then?’

  His coal-black eyes caressed hers until she wondered if she was going to disappear in their bottomless depths and never come out. ‘You’ll be ready,’ he said with bone-melting conviction. ‘Your body is already there—it’s just your mind that has to catch up. I’m prepared to wait until it does.’

  Gisele pulled her tingling hand out of his. She buried her nose in the menu and chose a dish she had no real appetite for, just so she didn’t have to meet Emilio’s percipient gaze. It unnerved her how well he could read her. But, even more disturbing, it touched her that he hadn’t exploited her last night. So many men would have taken advantage of her vulnerability but he hadn’t. How was she supposed to hate him if he didn’t do hateful things?

  ‘You don’t seem to be enjoying that,’ Emilio said a little while after their meals had been served. ‘Would you like me to order something else for you?’

  She put down her fork, which she had been using to push the rich, creamy food around on her plate. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I guess I’m just not hungry.’

  He looked at her for a long moment, his expression dark and serious. ‘Does my presence upset you so much?’ he asked.

  Gisele made a rueful movement with her lips. ‘It’s not just you … it’s the situation between us. It feels … I don’t know … I’m not sure what you want.’

  ‘I want you.’

  She felt his statement brush along her spine like a caress. ‘Apart from that, I mean.’

  ‘You mean in the long term?’

  She ran her tongue over her tinder-dry lips. ‘I’m not sure we want the same things now.’

  ‘Isn’t it a little early to be worrying about that?’ he asked. ‘At this point we need to take each day as it comes. We have to try—surely you see that?’

  Gisele nailed him with her gaze. ‘How much of this is about restoring your good reputation with the public?’

  His brows moved together over his eyes. ‘Is that what you think this is?’ he asked. ‘Nothing but a publicity stunt?’

  She let out a wobbly breath. ‘I don’t know … How can I know? You bought me a beautiful ring and yet you’ve never said anything about your feelings. Not before and not now.’

  ‘What do you want me to say?’ he asked. ‘You hate me. You’ve s
aid it several times. What would be the point in me saying what I feel? It’s not going to change how you feel, is it?’

  She took a breath and dived straight in. ‘Did you ever love me?’

  His expression turned to stone, muscle by muscle. ‘I was prepared to marry you, wasn’t I?’

  Gisele looked at him in disdain. ‘So I’m supposed to feel grateful that you selected me from a line-up of hundreds, if not thousands, of potential candidates?’

  ‘Why are you bringing this up now?’ he asked.

  ‘I want to know what you felt for me back then,’ she said. ‘I want to know what foundation our relationship was built on.’

  He scraped a hand through his hair. ‘It was built on a mutual desire to build a life together. We wanted the same things—children, a solid family base and a secure home life. All the things most people want.’

  ‘Most people want to be loved,’ she said with a sigh. ‘It’s what most people want more than anything.’

  ‘I realise that, Gisele,’ he said. ‘I would be lying if I said I didn’t want it too. I’ve wanted it all my life but I’ve learned that it doesn’t always happen just because you want it to. It also doesn’t last, or at least not in my experience.’

  Gisele could sense the conversation was over even before the waiter appeared to clear their plates. Emilio’s expression had closed over like a page being turned in a book. She knew it would be pointless pushing him to reveal more of his childhood. She wondered how many people had come and gone in his life to leave him so cynical about love. Had people made promises and not kept them? Said words that had no actions to back them up? Children were so trusting and relied heavily on the adults around them for stability and security. Had he grown up feeling he had no one he could truly rely on, no one he could trust to have his best interests at heart?

  ‘Luigi will drive you back to the villa,’ Emilio said. ‘I have some paperwork to do at my office.’

  ‘So you didn’t fire him?’ Gisele asked with a sheepish look.

  He put a hand to her elbow as he escorted her out of the restaurant. ‘He’s on notice,’ he said.