Page 38 of Marrying the Enemy

As the man hurried away, Dom reached into his pocket and brought out a velvet box. He opened it to reveal a stunning oval-cut diamond with a halo of smaller diamonds around it. He set it between them then held out his hand.

Dimly aware of gasps and attention turning their way, Eve set her hand in his palm. The spark between them was almost visible as skin touched skin. She began to tremble all over.

Dom slid the ring onto her finger, sending a sensation like a lasso up her arm to loop around her heart and drag it into his palm so he kept it as he released her.

The ring fit perfectly. She admired it as he rose and came around the table to draw her to her feet. His heavy hand cupped the back of her head and his arm banded possessively across her back. He dragged his mouth across hers in a slow, devastating kiss that rocketed her into a black hole from which she’d never return. The pull was too strong.

Applause broke out as the bucket of champagne arrived.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“WE’LL FLY TO New York tonight,” Dom stated when Eve returned from fixing her makeup. “You’re a resident there, yes? So am I. We can marry in twenty-four hours.”

“Dom.” Her knees were so weak, she needed the chair he held for her. They hadn’t taken a single bite yet. This was their first date. They might know each other in a biblical sense, but, “We’re strangers to each other. We can’t marry that quickly.”

“I’m not spending the next year listening to threats from our families that they’re boycotting our wedding. I’m not giving you a chance to change your mind.” His eyes gleamed hard as polished bronze. “This won’t be an easy sell to either side so we’re not going to try. It will be done and their only choice will be to live with it. In harmony,” he added with the arid sarcasm she was learning was his trademark.

Eve was trying to rearrange her brain cells to take in all of this. Her brother’s call had made it clear that her marrying Dom would solve a lot of problems for her family. Nico hadn’t ordered or pressured her to accept Dom’s proposal. He had outlined the stakes and asked.

He was right about the weight of responsibility, too. It was smothering her.

“What if it doesn’t work out? We divorce? That won’t be good for either companies or our families.”

“No, it won’t. We have to make it work, Eve.”

He always sounded so grave when he called her that. It was disconcerting.

“What if I can’t have children?” She tossed that out as a defense mechanism, since she was running out of arguments.

“Children are not a deal-breaker for me. Your delicate hips are safe if you’d rather not put pressure on them.” The corners of his mouth deepened with facetious amusement. “I have a nephew who has the temperament to be my successor at WBE if necessary, but we’ll cross that bridge when we have to. I’d like children if you’re up for it. I don’t see my nieces and nephews often, and they’re absolute monsters when I do, but for some reason I enjoy them.”

Oh, God. She didn’t want to like him, but how could she not when he said something like that?

“Do you want children?” he pressed.

“I always thought I’d have two or three,” she admitted. “So I could bring them here for the summer and yell at them not to track sand into the house, the way Nonna did with us.”

“Sounds idyllic. Any deal-breakers?”

“Love. At least, it used to be.” She dropped her gaze to hide how much disappointment lurked within her, then lifted her lashes to meet his cool, flinty expression. “I imagine that sounds immature to you?”

He took a moment to consider his words.

“I hated those four years of abstinence.” His voice was hard, but reflective, not assigning blame. “Since the island, I keep thinking it was good that we didn’t get together in Budapest. The first time I saw you, I knew you were too young. Not just for me, but for the sort of affair we would have had. I’m glad you have some life experience behind you.”

Did she, though? She wished she’d had a dozen throwaway affairs and at least one broken heart instead of carrying fractures in her heart that he had put there. Either way, she didn’t think anything could have prepared her for this. Him.

“Don’t you want to marry someone you love?” she asked hesitantly.

“I won’t say I don’t believe in it, but love seems... It comes with high costs. It’s as much a weapon as anything else.”

“That’s not true.” Did he really believe that? Why? “Love is a cushion. A home base. A place of safety. Love protects you.”

“From what? Meteors? Life is going to impact you, whether you love someone or not. I’ll grant you that love can skew how you react to those impacts. In my father’s case, his love for his brother set him on a mission of vengeance.”

Was that the reason for his cynicism? She was still troubled by the things he’d said about his father in Australia.

“He sounds like a difficult man,” she murmured.

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