Page 43 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

The key to her love was her trust and, in order to get that, I would have to make the first move. I would have to show myself worthy.

But I couldn’t be rash about it. I needed some time to think.

In the end, I gave us both a couple of days’ break, letting the idea sit in the back of my head as I busied myself with other things. My brother, in other words.

I’d had no luck getting any kind of response from his lawyers and now he’d apparently gone to ground completely. It was frustrating, but it wasn’t as if I didn’t have anything else to do.

Lately, I’d been toying with the idea of venture capital. I liked new ideas, I found them exciting, and I had plenty of money to invest, and it seemed like an excellent new field to branch out into.

So, I occupied myself with that as well as keeping an eye on the media. There was still no mention of my reappearance, which meant Constantine had well and truly suppressed it, and I was curious about that. What was he doing?

I’d expected him to come after Olivia, if not immediately, then at least within a day or two, but he hadn’t. No one seemed to know where he was.

You should find him. You should talk to him. Remember the way he looked at you at Domingo’s wake?

Oh, I remembered. He hadn’t been shocked that I was alive and well; no, he’d been furious. Almost as if he’d already known that I wasn’t dead.

Perhaps he’d known all this time, in which case...

Why didn’t he come for you?

An emotion I didn’t recognise shifted in my chest, but I ignored it. I didn’t want to go there. Despite all my efforts, Domingo had turned Constantine so completely against me that he’d betrayed Olivia and me without a second’s regret. So, of course he wouldn’t come for me. Of course he’d only be furious.

That wasn’t his fault, though. He’d been a child, Domingo far too powerful, and I hadn’t protected him well enough.

My gut twisted, but I shoved the thoughts away, directing my attention to the financial spreadsheet I had on my computer screen instead.

It was afternoon, and it had been two days since I’d walked out on Olivia.

I hadn’t seen her since then, deliberately keeping my distance as I worked through various plans to prove myself worthy of her.

I had options, of course, but none of them were good ones, since they mostly consisted of influencing her in ways she’d no doubt find problematic and not trustworthy in the least.

I was in the process of turning over yet another one, while I fiddled with my spreadsheet, when suddenly the door to my study opened and Olivia came striding in.

She was wearing another of those long, floaty dresses—not that she had a lot of choice, since those dresses were the only clothing in the wardrobe—in dark blue this time with a deep V-neck and long, loose sleeves.

The colour made her skin look like crystal, gave her grey eyes a blue glow and set off her long blonde hair to perfection.

My entire body tightened at the sight of her, desire licking up inside me. It had only been two days, but that had been a long time without her, and my fingers itched to tear that dress off, no matter how lovely it was, and take her right on the floor.

She stopped in front of my desk, folding her arms and lifting her chin.

‘Nice to see you, Livvy.’ I tried to control the sudden leap of my heart at the sight of her. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’

‘Have you finished sulking, Val?’ She gave me an imperious look. ‘I’m tired of waiting for an answer. If you’re not going to marry me, then where is my plane?’

Delight surged inside me, because I’d missed her. And,Dios, how I loved it when she was commanding. It provided me with such a delicious target.

I leaned back in my chair and said lazily, ‘Considering you didn’t ask for a plane, it’s probably still in its hangar.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘I told you I’m not—’

‘I missed you,’ I interrupted, the truth coming out of me before I could stop it.

She blinked, the imperious look fading, her expression softening. ‘You could have come to me at any time. You were the one who walked away, remember?’

And abruptly I was tired of this. Tired of the games. Tired of the fighting. Tired of making plans that didn’t work. They weren’t getting me what I wanted, and I was done with them.

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