Deserving of His Diamonds (13 page)

‗Do you really think I wouldn‘t be able to tell if you were faking it?‘ Gisele

shifted her gaze from his, her face flooding with

colour all over again. He had known her body so well. Every pulse point,

every curve and indentation, every sensual hotspot had been his to tease and

please. Her body had sung for hours afterwards. The memory of his touch

was still on her skin. It was still in her body. She could feel it even now, the

on-off pressure of aching need building deep inside her. She would have no

hope of holding back her response even if she wanted to for the sake of her

pride. Hadn‘t last night proven that? He had been the one to call a halt, not

her. She had been incapable of it. Desire had consumed her common sense.

It had always been that way with Emilio. She had no defences against the

attraction she felt for him. She suspected he knew how fragile her armour

was. How could she keep herself safe from further heartbreak? ‗Can we

please talk about something else?‘ she asked, darting a glance either side in

case other diners were listening in. ‗What are you embarrassed about, cara?‘

Emilio asked. ‗That I know your body almost as well as I know my own?‘

‗You don‘t know it now,‘ Gisele insisted. He leaned across and picked up

her left hand, bringing it up to his lips as his eyes held hers in a mesmerising

trance. ‗Then perhaps it is time I reacquainted myself with it, hmm? The

sooner the better, don‘t you think?‘ Gisele‘s whole body shivered as his lips

brushed the tips of her fingers. The diamond he had placed on her hand

glittered as a reminder of the contract he had drawn up between them: two

million dollars for a month of her time. ‗Why didn‘t you do so last night?‘

she asked. ‗You had the opportunity. Why didn‘t you take it while you had

the chance?‘ He stroked his thumb across the soft dish of her palm,

sending powerful lightninglike sensations all the way up her arm. ‗You

weren‘t ready last night,‘ he said. ‗It wouldn‘t have been fair to take

advantage of you when you were tired and overwrought.‘ ‗I might never be

ready,‘ she said with a pert lift of her chin. ‗What will you do then?‘ His

coal-black eyes caressed hers until she wondered if she was going to

disappear in their bottomless depths and never come out. ‗You‘ll be ready,‘

he said with bonemelting conviction. ‗Your body is already there—it‘s just

your mind that has to catch up. I‘m prepared to wait until it does.‘ Gisele

pulled her tingling hand out of his. She buried her nose in the menu and

chose a dish she had no real appetite for, just so she didn‘t have to meet

Emilio‘s percipient gaze. It unnerved her how well he could read her. But,

even more disturbing, it touched her that he hadn‘t exploited her last night.

So many men would have taken advantage of her vulnerability but he hadn‘t.

How was she supposed to hate him if he didn‘t do hateful things? ‗You don‘t

seem to be enjoying that,‘ Emilio said a little while after their meals had

been served. ‗Would you like me to order something else for you?‘ She put

down her fork, which she had been using to push the rich, creamy food

around on her plate. ‗I‘m sorry,‘ she said. ‗I guess I‘m just not hungry.‘ He

looked at her for a long moment, his expression dark and serious. ‗Does my

presence upset you so much?‘ he asked. Gisele made a rueful movement

with her lips. ‗It‘s not just you … it‘s the situation between us. It feels … I

don‘t

know … I‘m not sure what you want.‘ ‗I want you.‘ She felt his statement

brush along her spine like a caress. ‗Apart from that, I mean.‘ ‗You mean in

the long term?‘ She ran her tongue over her tinder-dry lips. ‗I‘m not sure we

want the same things now.‘ ‗Isn‘t it a little early to be worrying about that?‘

he asked. ‗At this point we need to take each day as it comes. We have to

try—surely you see that?‘ Gisele nailed him with her gaze. ‗How much of

this is about restoring your good reputation with the public?‘ His brows

moved together over his eyes. ‗Is that what you think this is?‘ he asked.

‗Nothing but a publicity stunt?‘ She let out a wobbly breath. ‗I don‘t know

… How can I know? You bought me a beautiful ring and yet you‘ve never

said anything about your feelings. Not before and not now.‘ ‗What do you

want me to say?‘ he asked. ‗You hate me. You‘ve said it several times. What

would be the point in me saying what I feel? It‘s not going to change how

you feel, is it?‘ She took a breath and dived straight in. ‗Did you ever love

me?‘ His expression turned to stone, muscle by muscle. ‗I was prepared to

marry you, wasn‘t I?‘ Gisele looked at him in disdain. ‗So I‘m supposed to

feel grateful that you selected me from a line-up of hundreds,

if not thousands, of potential candidates?‘ ‗Why are you bringing this up

now?‘ he asked. ‗I want to know what you felt for me back then,‘ she said. ‗I

want to know what foundation our relationship was built on.‘ He scraped a

hand through his hair. ‗It was built on a mutual desire to build a life together.

We wanted the same things—children, a solid family base and a secure

home life. All the things most people want.‘ ‗Most people want to be loved,‘

she said with a sigh. ‗It‘s what most people want more than anything.‘ ‗I

realise that, Gisele,‘ he said. ‗I would be lying if I said I didn‘t want it too.

I‘ve wanted it all my life but I‘ve learned that it doesn‘t always happen just

because you want it to. It also doesn‘t last, or at least not in my experience.‘

Gisele could sense the conversation was over even before the waiter

appeared to clear their plates. Emilio‘s expression had closed over like a

page being turned in a book. She knew it would be pointless pushing him to

reveal more of his childhood. She wondered how many people had come and

gone in his life to leave him so cynical about love. Had people made

promises and not kept them? Said words that had no actions to back them

up? Children were so trusting and relied heavily on the adults around them

for stability and security. Had he grown up feeling he had no one he could

truly rely on, no one he could trust to have his best interests at heart? ‗Luigi

will drive you back to the villa,‘ Emilio said. ‗I have some paperwork to do

at my office.‘ ‗So you didn‘t fire him?‘ Gisele asked with a sheepish look.

He put a hand to her elbow as he escorted her out of the restaurant. ‗He‘s on

notice,‘ he said. ‗Oh, but you mustn‘t do that,‘ she said, a frown puckering

her brow as she stopped to look up at him. ‗He‘s probably got a family to

feed. It was my fault. I wanted to avoid the press. I wanted to melt into the

crowd rather than turn up in a flash car and draw attention to myself.‘ He

smoothed the tiny frown away from her forehead with his finger. ‗I don‘t

like it when my orders are disobeyed,‘ he said, ‗especially by members of

my staff.‘ ‗Thank God I‘m not on the payroll …‘ She flushed and sank her

teeth into her bottom lip. ‗Well, maybe I am, now that I come to think about

it.‘ Emilio brought her chin up. ‗You are not a member of my staff.‘ ‗What

am I then?‘ she asked. His eyes measured her gaze for a long moment. ‗Try

and rest this afternoon,‘ he said and brushed a light kiss on her lips. ‗Tonight

might be a late night.‘ Gisele got in the waiting car, but when she turned

from adjusting her seat belt Emilio had already gone.

EMILIO watched later that evening as Gisele came down the stairs towards

him. She was wearing a simple but elegant fuchsia-pink cocktail dress with a

matching chiffon wrap. She had skilfully styled her hair into a smoothly

coiffed up-do that gave her a regal air. He had never seen her look more

beautiful as she smiled at him, albeit briefly. Her smile was like sunshine

breaking through the clouds on a bleak day. He had forgotten how wonderful

it made him feel to see it. It was like a spill of warm fluid inside his chest,

slowly spreading until all the places inside him were no longer echoing with

emptiness. It was a big step for him, taking her with him tonight. He had

thought about going alone, like he usually did. Few people outside the

charity knew how deeply he was involved and why. Over the past year or so

he had felt the need to stop ignoring where he had come from and do

something to help others escape the hell he had escaped. He had done it

through sheer grit and determination but he had come to realise others didn‘t

always have the confidence or willpower to do it. Giving Gisele a glimpse of

his former life would be uncomfortable for him but that was the price he had

to pay for wanting to make a difference. It wasn‘t easy facing the dark

shadows of his past. He always came away from these things feeling

unsettled. He felt as if those ghostly shadows were reaching out of the

darkness to drag him back to the gutter and leave him there, cold and

shivering and alone. Emilio took Gisele‘s hand as she stepped off the last

stair and brought it up to his mouth, pressing his lips against the soft skin of

her bent knuckles. ‗You look stunning,‘ he said. ‗Pink suits you.‘

She gave him another fleeting smile. ‗Thank you.‘ He reached for the

jewellery box he had left on the hall table. ‗I have something for you to go

with your ring.‘ Her eyes looked at the box and then up at him with a little

frown. ‗You shouldn‘t be spending so much money,‘ she said. ‗I have the

right to spoil my fiancée, don‘t I?‘ he asked. He opened the box and she

touched a finger to the diamond-and-sapphire necklace glittering there. ‗I‘m

not really your fiancée,‘ she said. ‗It‘s just a game of pretend to the press.‘

‗We could make it real,‘ Emilio said. Something flickered in her grey-blue

gaze before she turned so he could put the necklace about her neck. ‗You

want the old Gisele back but she‘s gone, Emilio,‘ she said. ‗You can‘t get

her back, no matter how much money you spend trying.‘ Emilio put his

hands on her slim shoulders once he had fastened the necklace, breathing in

the summery fragrance of her until he felt intoxicated. He felt her skin lift in

a shiver beneath his fingers, just as it always used to do. He liked that he still had that effect on her. He liked the way her body instinctively reacted to

him, in spite of what she said to the contrary. ‗Is the money issue worrying

you?‘ He turned her back to face him. ‗The fact that I paid to have you back

in my life?‘ She gave him a pensive look. ‗It‘s not about the money … not

really …‘ ‗What, then?‘ he asked.

Her eyes dropped from his to study his bow tie. ‗You want everything to be

as it was,‘ she said. ‗But I‘m not sure life comes with a reset button. You

can‘t just pick up where you left off and expect things will be exactly the

same as they were before. Things change. People change … I‘ve changed.‘

Emilio studied her for a moment with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. She

said she had changed and she had. She didn‘t eat. She didn‘t sleep. She

looked pale and frail. He had done that to her. He had been the one to

change her. How could he change her back? He wanted it all to go away. A

fresh start was what they both needed. It was no good looking back. He, of

all people, knew that. It didn‘t change things, brooding about what could

have or should have been. Moving forwards was the only way to heal the

past. He was living proof of it. Perhaps tonight would help her to see that.

He tipped up her chin again. ‗Let‘s just take it from here and see how it

goes, shall we?‘ he said. ‗No promises. Just time to explore what we have

now, instead of what we had then, OK?‘ She moved her lips in a semblance

of a smile but her eyes looked as if a cloud had passed through them. ‗OK,‘

she said and slipped her hand in his as he led her out to the car. When they

arrived at the luxury hotel where the dinner was being held, Gisele realised

the function wasn‘t actually anything to do with Emilio‘s architecture

business but was rather a fundraising event for a homeless kids‘ charity he

had set up over the past year. She found out through the course of the

evening that he had developed a drop-in centre in the city where young

people could get a meal and a shower and a bed. His charity also offered

educational and vocational schemes

to help kids get off and keep off the streets. Counselling services were

provided as well as drug and alcohol rehabilitation for those in need. Gisele

spoke to several young people who had benefited from the charity

personally. They told her stories of how they had come to be on the streets—

desperately sad and heart-wrenching stories of neglect and abuse. It was an

unsettling reminder of how little she knew of Emilio‘s background. He had

told her almost nothing about his past. Had she known him at all back then?

Had he grown up like some of these young people? Why else had he set up

such a charity? What had happened to him on those dark, dangerous streets?

What sort of horrendous horrors had he witnessed or experienced? She

wondered how he had survived it. How had he overcome such desperate

odds to be the successful man he was today? What had happened in the past

year or so that he had decided to do something as big as this? She‘d always