Page 33 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

He opened his mouth, but I laid a finger across his lips. ‘Then you died. And I was angry about that. I was angry with you for a very long time.’

His mouth moved again, but I pressed my finger slightly harder, feeling the softness of his lips against my skin. The only thing about him that was soft. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t know the truth. I’m sorry that I never asked you what Domingo was really like or...or what kind of life you had.’ And I was so sorry. More than he’d ever guess. ‘I probably should have picked it up or...’

He pulled my finger away, holding on to my hand. ‘No, you don’t need to be sorry. You were only fifteen and you had your own issues to deal with. You weren’t to know what Domingo was like. And I didn’t tell you, not the extent of it.’

‘But I—’

‘I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to worry. Because there was nothing you could have done.’ He gathered my fingers in his and kissed the tips of them the way he’d used to. ‘Domingo had too much power, and you were only a kid, and so was I.’ He let out a breath, an emotion I couldn’t quite read flickering over his face. ‘I wish I could have done more, but it’s too late for that now.’

Was that regret? I couldn’t be sure. Whatever it was, my heart ached for him and what he’d had to put up with. What he’d had to endure, he and Constantine both.

Domingo made my father look like father of the year.

‘Anyway,’ Valentin went on, brushing his mouth over my fingertips again. ‘Enough about me. What about you? What happened to turn my Livvy into such a formidable CEO?’

Formidable. Yes, I was. Because that was what I’d wanted to be. That’s where I’d put my effort. I’d become a diamond that wouldn’t shatter, crack or get scratched. I was impervious.

Are you, though? Sitting naked in his lap in a silly dress, allowing him to kiss your fingers like you’re a princess? You know what the next step is.

No, of course that wouldn’t be the next step. There was a vast gap between choosing to sit in a man’s lap and staying in a loveless marriage while putting up with all kinds of emotional cruelty.

‘Well, after you died, I needed something to fill my time.’ My voice sounded cool even though I hadn’t meant it to. ‘And I know that back then I always said I didn’t want to run Wintergreen, but I changed my mind. So I studied hard at school and then went to university. And, when I asked Dad to take me on, he didn’t refuse.’

Valentin’s black eyes watched me with his usual intense focus. ‘Is that what this is?’

‘This?’ I frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

He touched my cheek, his fingers feathering over my skin before falling down to my shoulder and brushing gently along it. ‘This tension. This...toughness. You’re all bright and shiny and hard, like a diamond.’

I should have been pleased that he’d noticed. Pleased that he’d accurately guessed what I’d become. But for some reason it didn’t feel like he was complimenting me.

‘You say that like it’s a bad thing.’ I forced away the shiver at his touch. ‘Hardness is always admired in men, but it’s never admired in women.’

‘That’s true. And, to be clear, I don’t think it’s an inherently bad thing. You need a certain hardness when it comes to business. But when it doesn’t come naturally to someone, they over-compensate. They become hard all the way through. All their passion is leached away, which is a pity, because good business needs passion too.’

A thread of annoyance wound through me. ‘I’m not over-compensating, if that’s what you’re suggesting.’

A smile flickered around his mouth and it wasn’t the same bitter one I’d seen before. This was more rueful, and somehow a hundred times more attractive. ‘Actually, I was suggesting that.’ He touched my cheek again, his fingertips tracing the line of my jaw. ‘You never used to be like this, not so hard and bright and shiny. Why? What’s the purpose of it? It’s brittle, and I don’t think you like it. I think it’s hard work for you.’ His smile deepened. ‘You’re much more yourself when you’re slapping my face and pushing me off the jetty into the sea.’

The annoyance was starting to become anger now, and I could feel myself freezing over, trying to shut it out. Trying to detach myself from the emotion.

How he always managed to get under my guard, I didn’t know, but it wasn’t what I wanted. Not while I was naked and lying in his arms.

‘Yes, well, I shouldn’t have done any of those things,’ I said coolly. ‘And you’re not wrong about me being a diamond. Diamonds are created under pressure, and they’re impervious. Which is the best way to be when it comes to managing my company.’

I shifted in his lap, deciding I needed to get off him. It had been nice while it lasted, but I wasn’t a pet. I wasn’t going to stay there.

But his hands dropped suddenly to my hips, gripping me, preventing me from moving. ‘Why?’ he demanded. ‘Who told you that?’

‘My father. And he wasn’t wrong.’

‘Yes, well, your father is dead.’ Valentin wasn’t smiling now and there was something fierce glittering in his eyes. ‘And he can’t see you here. There’s only me and I don’t care how impervious you are. You don’t need to guard yourself with me.’

‘Don’t I?’ I shot back before I could stop myself. ‘When you’re manipulating me at every step, with my favourite foods and wine, and talking about the past? Reminding me every minute of that girl I used to be? You told me yourself that you’re going to make me fall in love with you, and that’s exactly what you’re trying to do, isn’t it?’

His expression hardened, his grip not easing one iota. ‘Yes.’

It was clear he did not like having to admit that, yet he had, and it made my anger at him ease a fraction. But only a fraction.

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