Page 15 of The Tycoon's Diamond Demand

‘Yes,’ Jens replied, looking surprised at her question. ‘They raved about your sensitive portrayal of your subjects, said your portraits were jarring but not patronising, and everyone complimented your composition and used words like “visual games” and “carefully constructed”. You are a talented photographer.’

She wanted to step closer and push her nose into his neck, to wind her arm around his neck and let him hold her tight. It had been so long since she’d been held, comforted, complimented. Jens’s words made her stomach flip over, and she was transported back to those days of ease and sunshine, when she thought nothing could kill their love. How wrong she was.

She pulled back and yanked her hand from his grip. She dropped her eyes and blinked rapidly. She didn’t want him to see the emotion in her eyes.

Jens cleared his throat. ‘Is something wrong?’

She folded her arms and gripped her upper arms. ‘What’s wrong is that I’m being blackmailed into marrying you, and I’m being shoved back into a world I hated, that I ran from. It’s wrong that I have to go back to being Maja Hagen, Håkon’s daughter, your fiancée.’

Her heart screamed, and her soul sighed. She was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, and she was drowning. She wanted to go back to Edinburgh, where no one knew who she was, where she could breathe. She knew who she was in Edinburgh, knew what she was doing, and where she was going. Now there was an impenetrable fog between her and her future. And, yet again, a powerful man was directing the weather, a fact that made her both furious and frightened.

Maja heard the rumbling of a powerful engine and knew the first guests had arrived. They were out of time, and maybe that was a good thing because she didn’t want to fight with Jens, not right now. She needed all her strength to get through this evening, to pretend to be happy. To smile and lie through her teeth.

Jens threaded his fingers through hers and pulled her to his side. ‘Let’s take it one step at a time. Getting through this evening is the first step. Tomorrow can look after itself,’ he murmured. ‘You do look amazing, Maja.’

Appearances were deceptive. She wore a fantastic designer dress, sported a ring that could be seen from space, and was clutching the hand of Europe’s most eligible bachelor.

But Maja would give anything and everything to be eighteen again, standing at the wheel of Jens’s fishing boat, the wind in her hair and Jens’s arms around her, his mouth on her neck, his laughter being carried away by the wind.

There was happiness in simplicity, peace in honesty and she’d give everything she had to go back to who they were before.

Jens stood at the back of the biggest of his reception rooms and looked over the crowded room and smoothed down his black tie. He pushed back his sleeve to look at his watch. It was close to midnight, and nearly time to announce his engagement to his enemy’s daughter.

Jens looked for Maja and saw she was talking to a younger couple on the far side of the room. The huge wall behind her held all four of herDecay and Decorationimages, and they made a powerful statement. They were amazing, she was exceptionally talented, and she deserved the kudos she’d received today. But she was celebrating, if she was celebrating at all, in private. She’d hit a massive milestone today and, because she hadn’t left the house, he knew she hadn’t done anything special or significant.

An achievement like hers deserved to be celebrated.

Yanking a bottle of champagne from one of the many ice buckets dotted around, he moved through the room, making his way to Maja’s side. He had eyes only for the woman in the cherry-red dress.

She was stunning. And, despite having been away from this ultra-sophisticated world for a long time, she was holding her own, quietly charming, effortlessly nice. But, because he knew her better than most, he caught the strain on her face when she thought no one was looking, the sadness in her eyes when she looked at her work, saw her chest rise and fall when she released a deep sigh. He knew she found these cocktail parties hard work, that, despite having been born into an aristocratic family, she frequently felt out of place. He understood that. He’d felt out of his depth on more than one occasion—sometimes it felt as if everyone spoke in code, or played a game with constantly changing rules.

He was now wealthy enough, powerful enough, to ignore the players, to make up his own rules, but Maja had been raised to be polite, to be a credit to her father and the Hagen name. Between her pretending they were a couple in love, fending off questions about their relationship, and accepting condolences on her father’s death, he knew she felt overwhelmed, and was hiding it well.

She wasn’t happy, and he wanted her, just for a moment or two, to feel happy, triumphant, proud, because she was an amazing artist who deserved to be lauded and praised. He was an art connoisseur, someone who greatly appreciated how much work it took to reach her level of success...and he’d want any artist to have their moment. To roll around in their success, to lap it up. Few artists got the kudos they deserved and when they did, they had the right to celebrate their achievements.

That was his story, and he was sticking to it.

Jens ignored someone wanting his attention and walked towards Maja. His fiancée...

He was engaged to Maja.Again.

He forced himself to remember that she was his fiancée in name only, and their relationship—if they could call their snappy interactions a relationship—was very fake and very temporary. He was here to accomplish a goal, to close the circle, to get what he needed from her. Revenge. Retribution.

Payback.

Maja’s head shot up and their eyes collided. Jens stepped up to her and placed his hand on the smooth skin of her lower back and lowered his head to kiss her bare shoulder. Silky skin, head-swimming scent. Tiny sparks erupted on his spine and danced over his skin. He hadn’t had such a physical reaction to a woman since...since Maja.

Jens straightened, noticed the shock in her eyes and looked at the couple in front of them. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt but can I steal Maja from you for a minute?’ Jens asked his guests. Not giving them a chance to answer, he steered her away and onto the terrace. Taking her hand, he led her past the band and around the corner, slipping into his study through the door he’d unlocked earlier. Leaving the light off, he took the empty champagne glass from her hand and filled it with champagne from the bottle of Dom Perignon he held. He lifted the bottle in a toast.

‘Here’s to your fabulous, incredible, amazing art, M J Slater,’ he softly stated.

Maja stared at him, not knowing how to take his statement. ‘Uh...’

He ran his hand over her shoulder, down her arm and linked his fingers in hers. Great art deserved to be celebrated and that was all he was doing. Celebrating her success, her talent. ‘Close your eyes, Maja.’

‘Why?’ she whispered.

‘Just do it.’

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