Page 37 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

And where will that get you?

The thought came out of nowhere, whispering through my brain like a snake in the grass. I ran harder, trying to leave it behind, because it was a stupid question.

What would it get me? It would get me her. In the end, she would be mine.

And did resisting Domingo ever get you what you wanted? Even once?

I growled again, gritting my teeth as I hit the incline button, tilting the treadmill up to its maximum and running even harder.

Of course it had worked with Domingo. He’d done exactly what I’d wanted him to, which was turn his attention on me. My rebellions had kept him busy while he’d left Constantine alone. Constantine had been the good boy, doing everything Domingo had said, while I’d made sure I was the bad one. The one who disobeyed, the one he tried to punish.

But I never gave in. Not once.

You died. You lost everything. Your brother became Domingo and you broke Olivia’s heart. How is that winning?

I gave a guttural roar, slapping the stop button and standing on the treadmill, panting, sweat streaming down my body. Because, as much as I didn’t want that thought in my head, it wound its way through my brain all the same.

It was true. That last burst of defiance hadn’t worked as well as it should have. It had ended up with me ‘dying’, and it had ended up hurting Olivia.

She’d thought I didn’t care about her; that I hadn’t called her because I’d forgotten about her.

She didn’t matter as much as your need to win against Domingo.

I tried to shove that thought away, going over to the gym door that led to the deck and stepping outside. Stripping off my sweaty clothes, I dove head-first into the water straight from the deck, letting the sea wash away the sweat.

But I couldn’t get that thought out of my head.

What if I’d given in and agreed to never see her again? He would have left her alone because she’d never interested him. She was only a tool he’d used to get to me.

Perhaps if I’d done what he’d asked, perhaps if I’d made that promise, I could have found some way to get a message to her without Domingo finding out, to let her know what had happened. Then, when I’d finally grown up and Domingo had no power over me any longer, I could have come for her.

Perhaps if I’d done that we could have been married now.

And she might not have turned herself into that hard, cold diamond. She might have waited for you. But you failed her, like you failed your brother.

Something hot twisted in my chest, but I shoved it away. I couldn’t go down that route; there was no point. The past was fixed. I couldn’t change it. But I could certainly make things better for the future, so I would.

Surfacing, I turned in the direction of the villa and swam slowly back to the steps that led back up to the deck, turning an idea over in my head.

Compromise had always been difficult for me, but I had to give Olivia something. A gesture of good faith. A counter-offer. Something that would get us what we both wanted but would still ensure she didn’t marry Constantine. Because, his psychopathic tendencies aside, she didn’t really want him.

But she did want me. And I had everything he did, plus something else: the ability to give her pleasure. After all, it hadn’t been his name she’d called out under the stars last night, and it hadn’t been him she’d been thinking of.

It was me. All me.

Once I was out of the water, I grabbed a towel, dried myself and got changed. Then I strode down the wide hallway again to the guest bedroom Olivia was in.

The door was closed and, even though I was tempted to just walk in, I didn’t. I raised a hand and knocked. Politely. Like a gentleman. Because if I was going to win her I needed to at least stop paying lip service to the idea and actually start acting like one.

‘Come in,’ Olivia called.

I pushed the door open and strode in.

And stopped dead in the middle of the room.

Olivia was sunbathing on the lounger on the deck just outside her room.

And she was naked.

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