Page 43 of The Tycoon's Diamond Demand

Maja lifted her bouquet and used her free hand to lift the hem of the dress off the floor to walk down the steps to the lawn, and onto the white carpet that would take her to the altar, and Jens.

He was everything, and the only thing, she needed.

‘Maja...’

Maja stepped into the gazebo, and Jens was convinced his heart was about to fly out of his chest. She was here.Finally.

She used her bouquet to gesture to his clothes. ‘I like your outfit, Nilsen.’

Getting ready for his wedding was a blur and, unable to remember how he looked, he stared down at his stone-coloured trousers, the matching waistcoat, blue tie and cream shirt. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. A perfect cream rose, just about to bloom, was pinned to his waistcoat.

‘I prefer yours,’ he told her, his voice hoarse. Maja wore a Boho-inspired dress with a deep V-neckline. Her make-up was minimal, her hair was in a casual twist, decorated with baby roses. She looked breath-stealingly beautiful.

‘I wasn’t sure whether you’d be here,’ Maja admitted.

He’d been hanging around the gazebo for hours, hoping to see her arrive, his heart in his throat. ‘Funny, I wasn’t sure you’d—’

Jens heard the officiant clearing his throat and turned to look at him. He nodded to the guests and Jens remembered they had an audience. Their every word and gesture was being transmitted to the big screens outside.

Jens turned to the officiant. ‘We need a few minutes,’ he told him. He found the camera mounted amongst the roses on the roof of the gazebo and slashed his throat. He waited for the light on the camera to go from green to red. When it did and the priest left the gazebo, he knew they were alone. Jens placed his back to the guests, his big frame hiding Maja from them, and looked down at his fiancée, the woman he desperately wanted to be his wife.

‘I told you I would be here,’ Jens said.

He took her hand and placed it on his heart, which was beating far too fast, wondering if she understood what it took for him to wait for her, the risk he’d taken, how scared he was.

She thought he was tough, unemotional, but this past week had been hell. He’d had no idea if she’d show up or not or hand him another dose of rejection. He’d thought about reaching out to ask her but had known he couldn’t. He needed to show her that he was prepared to risk his heart, risk feeling humiliated for her. Despite feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable, he would walk through the fires of hell to make her understand how much he loved her.

Did she realise she was all that mattered?

She gestured to his clothing and then tipped her head back to nod at the full church. ‘So, are we doing this?’ she asked, trying to sound brave.

He knew, instinctively, that his being here wasn’t enough, that she needed more from him than to simply rock up. She needed words, big and bold.

He could only think of a few. ‘I love you,min kjære.’

Her big smile, the one he wanted to see every day for the next sixty years, was brighter than the sun. ‘I know.’

He tipped his head to the side. ‘How?’

‘Jens, I’m old enough to know that love isn’t only smooth words and over-the-top gestures.’ She took his hand and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. ‘Love can also be standing up in front of five hundred guests, making a silent but powerful statement that I am who you want. You wouldn’t risk being jilted unless you loved me.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘But you could’ve told me before and saved us both a lot of angst.’

He rocked on his feet. ‘I know but I needed—’

‘To do this? To make the big gesture? I get it.’

She did. She got him. Jens lifted his hand to grip her neck. He rested his forehead against hers. ‘I’m so in love with you, Maja. And I’m so tired of being without you.’ He hauled in a breath. ‘I’m done living my life like this. I’m done with feeling empty. I’m done with making work my priority and treating sex and women as temporary pleasures, here today and gone tomorrow.

‘I saw Flora,’ he admitted.

She pulled back, shocked. ‘You did?’Wow.‘Is she going to acknowledge you?’

He shook his head and Maja grimaced in sympathy. She thought he was disappointed, but he wasn’t. ‘We can talk more about this later, but I no longer need her to acknowledge me.’

Before she could comment on that bombshell, he spoke again. ‘Maja, I need you to know that I don’t want to marry you because you are Håkon’s daughter. I’m done with revenge. You, and any children we have, will be myonlypriority,’ Jens added. ‘I will be a good husband and a good father, Maja.’

‘I know you will, Jens.’

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