Page 19 of The Tycoon's Diamond Demand

After his aunt’s death a year after Maja left, the gloves had come off and his vague threat to take Håkon down became a vow and a promise. He’d sworn he’d show Håkon, Maja and the world that he was a force to be reckoned with, that he couldn’t be pushed around. He’d refused to stand in the shadows any longer, and when he’d stepped out, he’d come out swinging.

He’d started by remortgaging the trawlers and taken a gamble by investing in an innovative, mostly automated fish processing plant, and the returns on that venture had been more than he’d imagined. He’d rolled that money into more lucrative ventures, bought more trawlers, and then tossed some money at a start-up gas-exploration company with new tech. They’d sold that company for a ridiculous sum, and he’d directed all his energies into becoming big enough to take Håkon down.

And he’d succeeded. Only the world would never know. Because Håkon had taken that from him too.

Tired, annoyed and irritable because his plans were skidding off the runway, Jens sat down on the high stool next to the door and rested his feet on the crossbar and studied his reluctant fiancée. Maja was a shadow of the girl he’d laughed and loved with and held little resemblance to the vibrant woman he’d met in the gallery ten days ago. It seemed as if the idea of marrying him had sucked every ounce of vitality from her and she was simply going through the motions, doing the bare minimum of what she had to do.

Jens looked down, his eyes on the intricate patterns of the old carpet below his feet.

He hadn’t given a moment’s thought to what would occur between Point A—her agreeing to marry him—and Point B—walking away from her when the priest asked him whether he took her as his wife. In all his planning, he’d never considered Maja’s lack of cooperation, or how frustrating her lack of interest would be. That he’d have to deal with a woman who barely listened to him, and rarely responded.

And honestly, looking at her now, he was also a little worried about her. He didn’t think she was eating, and, judging by the dark circles under her eyes, she definitely wasn’t sleeping. But most perturbing of all, she’d stopped fighting, engaging or interacting with him. But he was too far down the road to turn around and retrace his steps. He could only go forward. Stick to the plan and see it out. He had to show the world he was good enough to do battle with the revered Hagen family. He wanted the world, and his mother, to know that he was successful and acceptable enough for Maja’s name to be linked with his.

Their gazes met and in her eyes, he saw her plea to be released. She looked dejected and frustrated.

It was an accurate summation of their stalemate. But he wasn’t prepared to spend the next few weeks like that. He was already frustrated enough. He wanted Maja and not being able to have her was messing with his head. He lay awake at night and turned and burned. It was a minor miracle that he’d yet to set this house on fire. If he laid his hands on Maja, he gave his house ten minutes before it went up in flames.

The heat they’d generate would be impossible to control. And that was why he’d kept his distance, moved back to Oslo...he didn’t trust himself whenever he came within five feet of her. Even just sitting here in this dusty room, her lovely, light scent rolling over him, he found it hard to control his impulse to take her in his arms, kiss her madly and take her to bed.

That won’t solve anything. In fact, it will make matters much worse.

He hadn’t accumulated his wealth and power by being clueless, and when he faced an obstacle he couldn’t climb over, he found another way around it. He needed to pivot, to find another way to achieve his goal. But what? And how?

He was a smart guy and he needed to figure it out.

Maja lifted her feet onto the old couch and wrapped her arms around her knees, tipping her head back to look at Jens. He’d been in Oslo the past few days and she hadn’t expected him back in Bergen for a few more. She’d been enjoying exploring the Bentzen estate on her own, remembering her mum and grandparents. This house was a link to them and her past, but it wasn’t hers. She just got to enjoy it for a short time, the only perk of this crazy arrangement between her and Jens.

A very annoyed and unhappy Jens. She’d realised that Hilda was running out of patience, but she hadn’t thought she would go running to Jens for at least another week. Damn.

‘How do we move forward, Maja?’

She turned her head to look at him and caught the too-brief flash of emotion in his eyes. Was Jens having some regrets or was that her imagination? ‘It isn’t my job to make the process easy for you, Jens.’ She pointed a finger at him, then at herself. ‘You blackmailer, me victim.’

Another flash of regret, this time tinged with frustration and, maybe, sympathy. Maja focused her attention on his non-verbal cues. Was he wavering? If he was, how could she exploit his momentary hesitation? She knew his indecision wouldn’t last long.

Jens wasn’t one to back down from a fight and arguing with him would put his back up. Maybe, instead of being bolshy, if she told him how she was feeling, she could find the empathetic, sometimes even sensitive, frequently thoughtful man she fell in love with. She could only try.

‘This situation is hard for me, Jens,’ she told him, allowing him to hear the emotion in her voice. ‘Not only am I living in the house that has a thousand memories of the people I loved most, the people whose death rearranged my world and my psyche, but I also have to plan a wedding I never wanted. I know we planned to get married in court, but you promised we’d have a proper wedding later. I wanted small, lovely, romantic...easy. This wedding is the exact opposite.’

‘We could’ve had that wedding if you didn’t bail on me, Maja.’

Maja’s fingertips massaged her forehead. ‘Iknow, Jens! Please don’t think I’m oblivious to what I sacrificed. I understand what I gave up. I think about it every day.’ She’d walked away from love, from the only man she’d ever loved, before and since. She’d done it for the best reasons, but it still hurt.

Maja hadn’t planned on saying that much and expected him to blast her, but his expression turned thoughtful. He nodded. Was he agreeing with her? Was that a nod to say he’d experienced the same emotions? Why couldn’t he give her more? He was the most elusive, aloof and reticent man she’d ever met. Would it kill him to engage with her a little more?

Would it help to tell him why she’d left, that she’d been trying, as best she could, to protect him from her father’s narcissistic wrath? It couldn’t hurt. She twisted her left wrist in her right hand, trying to find the words to explain. Maybe if she did, he’d shift off his marriage-for-revenge idea.

It was worth a try. ‘Can we talk about—?’

‘Unless you are going to tell me that you’re going to work with Hilda, I’m not interested!’ he snapped, his words bullet-fast and equally painful. His eyes iced over, and his expression hardened. There was no reaching him now.

‘This is your last warning, Maja. Either get with the programme, or I’ll issue a press release stating that the engagement is off and I’ll reveal you are M J Slater.’

Maja pushed the balls of her hands into her eye sockets, pushing back her tears. He wasn’t budging, had no intention of letting this go. Like her father, once he decided on a course of action, no matter how destructive it was, he couldn’t be shifted. She was trapped with no way out.

Maja couldn’t give up her anonymity, so she had no choice but to organise the wedding and marry him. A year...it was just a year. Twelve months, three hundred and sixty-five days. It would go by in the blink of an eye...

You can do this. You have no choice, Maja.

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