Page 38 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Olivia

NAKEDSUNBATHINGWASa calculated gamble. But, if Valentin could climb out of the ocean stark naked and wander about in front of me, I could certainly lie on the sun-lounger without any clothes on in front of him.

And I’d had to do something. I couldn’t sit in my room, twiddling my thumbs all day. I’d had to act.

This morning I’d already been in touch with Rachel, making enquiries as to flights from the Maldives. She was surprised that I wanted to come home so soon but hadn’t questioned it.

I couldn’t let anyone know the real situation, because that was my only advantage. If the board didn’t know I’d been kidnapped by Constantine’s twin brother, if they still thought I was on some Caribbean holiday with Constantine himself, then at least I wouldn’t look weak. I wouldn’t look like some damn trophy wife two brothers were fighting over.

Which is what you are.

Not for much longer. Not if I could help it.

I had to get back to Madrid, and quickly, and I’d use every weapon in my arsenal to do so, including my new-found feminine power: sex.

It was the kind of tactic my mother had often used, prettying herself up for Dad with a nice dress, salon hair and expert make-up. Sometimes it had worked and sometimes it hadn’t, and I’d never known why she’d bothered. Why she hadn’t just up and left him, because I certainly would have.

Using such tactics myself felt like a step in the wrong direction, but Val was so strong-willed. So stubborn. Yet I knew he had one weakness: me.

I’d heard him come striding down the hallway and it had been a matter of moments to pull off the bikini I’d been wearing in preparation for a swim and lie down on the lounger, my heart beating fast.

I had to make him want me more than he wanted to keep me prisoner. Show him what he could have if he gave me what I wanted.

But you’re using the same tactics against him that Domingo used.

The thought sat uneasily in my head, memories of what he’d told me last night replaying themselves over and over. Of him locked in that room. Of him wanting to draw his father’s attention to save his brother. Of the anger inside him whenever he talked about it that he probably thought he’d hidden. But he couldn’t hide it from me. I could see the flames in his eyes.

No wonder he’d always burned so brightly. He was a furnace of rage.

A part of me wanted to help him, while another part wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible. Because I knew what happened to women who stayed with difficult men. Their lives became miserable.

My mother’s being a case in point. She’d stayed true to a man who’d married her because she’d been young and beautiful. A man who hadn’t respected her, who hadn’t even seemed to love her. Who’d blamed her for something that hadn’t even been her fault.

So, if I stayed with Val, what would happen to me?

He’d burn you both alive...

My thoughts fractured as I heard his step and I threw one arm over my eyes, even though the sun umbrella was providing me with shade. I didn’t want to see him just yet, not until my armour was in place.

His footsteps came to a complete stop.

Good. He’d obviously seen me.

I kept my arm over my eyes, my heart racing despite all my efforts to still it.

The room was silent, but I could sense his presence. He was watching me. I could feel the pressure of his gaze sending hot shivers all over my bare skin.

I’d never realised before how erotic it was to lie there naked while a man looked at every part of me. Wanting me. And he wanted me; I knew he did.

I didn’t move. Every sense I had was trained on him, so very conscious of my nakedness and the ache between my thighs, a growing neediness that was difficult to ignore.

‘Nice to see you enjoying the sun.’ The deep, rough sound of his voice came from very near. ‘I hope you’ve got some sunscreen on.’

He must be standing right beside my lounger.

I kept my arm where it was, my heart pounding, my mouth dry. Then I gave a stretch, arching my back as if I’d been sleepy and was trying to wake up.

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