Page 15 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

Constantine, on the other hand, had done whatever Domingo had asked him to do. He had been Domingo’s ideal son, learning all the lessons Domingo beat into us, becoming cold and hard, becoming Domingo himself.

So much so that when Domingo had told me I had to give Olivia up and I’d refused, continuing to meet her in secret, Constantine had told him exactly what I was doing.

My brother used to spy on us down on our hidden beach and she’d met him a couple of times. Once or twice I’d suspected he wanted Olivia for himself, but he was too cold a fish for her, and she’d preferred me. Then he’d told Domingo that I was still meeting with her and I knew then it wasn’t her he wanted.

It was Domingo he’d thrown his lot in with.

And whose fault was that?

It was mine, of course. I’d failed to protect him from Domingo’s manipulations and, in the end, he’d turned against me. He’d become Domingo, and I took full responsibility. That was why it was up to me to save the company and all the people in it from him, and to save Olivia too.

No one else knew that Domingo had been a psychopath, and that Constantine had become just like him.

No one except me.

So, no, I wouldn’t manipulate her. That was something Domingo would have done, and I’d never stoop to that. But patience I was good at, patience I could do, and so I’d wait for her to come to me.

‘I have a few tasks I need to complete,’ I said to her slender back. ‘And they’re likely to take most of the day. However, we’ll meet tonight for dinner and I’ll answer your questions then.’

She didn’t turn. ‘And my company? What about that? What about my fiancé?’

Fiancé? No. He isnother fiancé any longer.

The thought of my brother brought my anger back to the boil and I let it bubble there for a moment, giving it some time.

Then I killed the heat, just because I could.

‘You are free to explore the villa and the island,’ I replied. ‘Nothing is off-limits. There is clothing you can change into in the bedroom and I’ll have a laptop brought to you in case you wish to work.’

Her head turned sharply at that, giving me her exquisite profile. ‘Work?’

‘Well, you did ask about your company. It’s...at a delicate stage, I understand.’ And it was. I’d seen all the financials, since I had my ways of finding out information, especially information other people didn’t want known.

Olivia glanced at me over her shoulder, her expression utterly unreadable. ‘What makes you say that?’

I debated revealing the full extent of my knowledge of her and everything she’d done since she’d been eighteen years old. Would it help my cause? Or would she find it creepy? Probably the latter.

Then again, I made no apology for it. Someone had to protect her and, while Domingo had been alive, that someone was always going to be me.

‘Oh, I know all about you, little star,’ I said gently. ‘Everything. From how your father left Wintergreen on the brink of collapse due to some terrible investments, to how much Constantine is going to pay to prop it up. I know all about the degrees you worked so hard to earn and how you came top of your class in all of them. I know that you have few friends and that you’ve never once had a boyfriend. And I know that you’re lonely and that, while Constantine will save your company, he’ll kill all of your passion stone-dead.’

She went very still, as if she’d been frozen. An ice statue of a woman.

‘I’ve been watching you,’ I went on. ‘Since you were eighteen years old. You needed protection and the only person who could give that was me.’

She said nothing for a long moment before turning around fully to face me.

I’d always been able to read her expressions; she’d never hidden how she felt from me. But now... I had no idea what she was thinking.

‘Protect me?’ She raised one imperious brow. ‘Protect me from what?’

I’d hooked her; I could see that. She wanted to know more.

Which was my cue to leave.

‘If you want to know, meet me tonight for dinner.’ I smiled. ‘I told you I’d answer your questions then and I meant it.’

I didn’t wait for her to reply; I just turned around and went back inside.

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