Page 40 of His Last Gamble

‘Hence the car,’ Charmaine said, in sudden understanding. ‘What did you use to bet against it?’ she just had to ask.

Payne grinned. ‘TheQueen of Diamonds,’ he said quietly.

Charmaine gasped. ‘But she’s worth far more than the car.’

‘I know. That’s why her owner snapped up the bet. But as you see, I ended up with both car and yacht. But that’s what I was talking about just now — that was just for the sheer hell of it,’ Payne explained, knowing that it was important that she understand. ‘But I realised very early on that you can’t build a life on that. That’s why I went into business. Hotels, luxury cars, commodities for a while, and eventually came into the casino itself — ironically because of a gamble.’

He laughed, then sighed. ‘But do you know what I did, the first time I had some serious money in my pocket? I bought my mum and dad, and my sister and her husband, a semi-detached house each in Aberystwyth. That was real. Owning the Palace wasn’t. Do you see the difference?’

Charmaine nodded simply. ‘Yes.’

‘So this picnic — it’s fancy, it’s luxurious, it’s a fantasy meal, but it’s not real in the same way as eating a really good Cornish pasty when you’re starving hungry. So I live in the Bahamas and love it, and run the casino and it makes me happy, but I never make the mistake of thinking that my life depends on it.’

‘No,’ she said softly. What a remarkable man this was. All this time she’d been thinking of him as a shallow playboy with no real values or understanding of humanity, when in reality he’d grasped truths that, until now, she’d never even thought of. Or had to think of.

‘The thing is,’ Payne said, ‘life is risky. So when you find something worthwhile you grab it with both hands and never let go.’ He looked at her keenly. Did she understand what he was saying? Had she realised that she was being given fair warning?

Charmaine sighed. That’s all right if you have the courage, she thought sadly. Or had only yourself to consider. But not everyone could afford such a bold policy.

‘That’s why I bought this,’ he went on, making her look up in surprise. He was already pulling a small square box from his slacks pocket, and when he opened the lid with a casual flick of his thumb, exposing a beautiful square-cut Ceylon sapphire surrounded by diamonds, she felt stunned.

She stared at the ring in utter stupefaction.

‘Will you marry me, Charmaine?’ Payne asked softly.

* * *

Years could have passed. Or seconds. She couldn’t tell. Slowly, things became familiar again. The touch of the hot Caribbean sun on her skin, the song of the birds, the sensation of her own breathing.

‘Wh-wh-what did you say?’ she managed to blurt out at last. Perhaps she’d been dreaming, or had fallen asleep for an instant, or gone suddenly insane.

‘I want you to marry me,’ Payne repeated, his voice, for a man proposing marriage, sounding curiously calm and almost emotionless.

Charmaine dragged her eyes from the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen and forced herself to meet his eyes. Instantly she was drowning in their soft grey depths.

‘But, but, why?’ she finally demanded. It was the only thing she could think of to ask. Things were out of control, and she had no idea what was happening. Things like this just didn’t happen to her.

‘Because we fit together,’ Payne said simply. ‘I knew it the moment I first saw you, in the garden. When you mistook me for a mere humble gardener.’

Charmaine flushed.

‘I knew then you were special, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. Afterwards, I tried to think of you as just another one of the models, someone who’d be here today and gone tomorrow. But I just couldn’t make you insignificant. You had a way of becoming the most important thing in my life, and you just wouldn’t quit.’

Charmaine swallowed a painful, dry lump in her throat. So she’d succeeded. She’d come here determined to make Payne fall for her, and here he was, telling her that she’d done just that.

And yet her victory was nothing but dust.

‘I can tell by the way you’re falling over yourself to say yes that my argument is winning you over,’ Payne said dryly. ‘So I’ll tell you what. I’ll keep this for now — but I want you to promise to think it over. We may have only known each other a short time, but I’m deadly serious about this.’

He hoped, after what he’d just told her, that she’d be convinced to make the right choice. He was going to have her, no matter what. It was as simple, as basic, as that.

She almost cried out in pain as he snapped the lid shut on the ring and thrust the little box back into his pocket. She had to curl her fingers into fists to stop herself from reaching out and snatching it back. Her engagement ring finger was almost throbbing, as if sensing the ghostly presence of the enclosing circle.

‘I have to warn you though,’ Payne said, suddenly moving across the blanket until he was only inches away from her, ‘that I won’t take no for an answer.’

And then he kissed her.

Charmaine felt his weight remorselessly and wonderfully pressing her down onto the blanket, his sweeping arm scattering the containers of food away onto the grass.

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