Page 55 of A Diamond for My Forbidden Bride

‘Aren’t I? Domingo knew how to charm, to get people to think he was just a normal man. He knew how to manipulate them to get what he wanted. And he took what he wanted without thought. Doesn’t that sound familiar to you?’

He did. He did think that. He thought he was the same.

My heart kicked, aching for him. Because it wasn’t true. It hadneverbeen true. He was flawed, yes, and he was scarred too, but Valentin Silvera wasn’t his father. And it wasn’t true that he didn’t care. Hedidcare. He cared too much.

‘No,’ I said again. ‘You’renothim. You’renothinglike him.’

‘You really don’t think so? And don’t take the fact that I didn’t hurt you as a sign. Because he didn’t use physical force against people, not for the most part. Even with us, he didn’t beat us often. He used our emotions against us; that was his favourite method.’ Val’s gaze went straight through me. ‘The way I used yours.’

I moved closer to him, wanting him to understand. ‘You’re angry. You’re angry at what he did to you, that’s all. And anger doesn’t come from nowhere. If you didn’t care then, yes, I might be worried, but that’s not the case. You do care. You care deeply and you’re furious about it.’

But it was clear he wasn’t listening.

‘Did I care about you, though, Olivia? Did I even care for Constantine? I planned to take his company from him, and do you think I ever thought for one moment about how he might feel? And you? What about you? I didn’t care when I threw you over my shoulder. I didn’t even think about you. I was only thinking about myself.’

Bitter fury coloured his words. ‘You told me I’d cast myself as the hero of the piece, and you’re right. I did. I told myself I was making up for my failure by taking Constantine’s company, that it was for his own good. And that I was saving you from him too.’ He shook his head. ‘But what if it isn’t? What if all I’m doing is taking what I want because I want it? Because I can? Because it’s fun.’

His expression was so bleak, my heart squeezed tight with pain. ‘I’m not the hero, Olivia. I’m the villain.’

I looked at him, looked deep into his eyes, and beneath that bitterness I saw the pain. I could see, too, why he thought those things about himself. Maybe, a couple of weeks ago, I would even have agreed with him.

But I didn’t agree now. Yes, his methods had been selfish and manipulative, but he’d listened to me when I’d called him on them. He’d apologised and been genuine about it. He’d asked me what I wanted, and what he could do to earn my trust, and then he’d gone about doing it.

But, more than anything else, this whole time he’d uncovered some of my own demons and helped lay them to rest. He’d helped me realise that I didn’t have to be so hard and so cold. That I didn’t have to hold myself back, that passion was allowed.

‘You’re not a villain.’ I put every ounce of belief in my voice. ‘And you didn’t do any of that for fun. I think you did it because you’re still angry at your father and you’re trying to get back at him.’

‘But how do you know I’m not using that to manipulate you right how?’ He smiled and this time there was nothing bitter about it. It was all charm. ‘How can you ever know if anything I do is real or genuine?’

I just looked at him. ‘Like you’re manipulating me right now? Trying to scare me away? No, Val. I know when you’re genuine. Because I know you. And I trust you.’

Pain flickered over his face and I saw that change in his eyes, the shift. ‘Except you can’t, little star. You can’t ever trust me. How can you, when I don’t even trust myself?’

I had some premonition then, a certainty that gripped me. ‘Don’t,’ I began.

But he didn’t let me finish. ‘You need to leave, Olivia,’ he said gently. ‘You should go back to Madrid. Tell Constantine you’ve changed your mind. Marry him.’

Of course he’d push me away.

Of course he’d want me to leave.

A bone-deep ache settled down inside me. ‘You really want me to do that? You really want me to leave you?’

His expression had hardened. ‘You can’t stay. I won’t let you. I’ll only break your heart again, and you know it.’

I lifted my chin. ‘Maybe, but isn’t that my choice to make?’

‘So, what? You’ll stay with a man who doesn’t even know what love is, let alone how to express it?’

The ache settled deeper inside me, because I could see that he truly believed that. And that I hadn’t had long enough to teach him to believe otherwise. He didn’t trust me, and he didn’t trust himself, and I didn’t know what to do.

He was a difficult man, scarred by his terrible childhood. But his instinct had always been to protect, no matter what he told himself about his battles with his father. He’d wanted to protect his brother; that was certain. And he’d wanted to protect me too. Those feelings had been genuine.

His heart was true.

‘So that’s it?’ I demanded, suddenly furious myself. ‘After everything we’ve been through, you just give up?’ I strode over to him, giving him a taste of the passion and fire that lived inside me. ‘It’s because it’s easier, isn’t it? Easier to believe you’re just like Domingo than it is to accept that I might love you. That I might want to be with you, to marry you instead. And I do, Val. You asked me a while ago what it was that I wanted, and I know now. It’s you. I want you.’

Val stared at me, his eyes black flames. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, Olivia. Your feelings... They’re not real.’

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