Deserving of His Diamonds (9 page)

bedrooms before he found Gisele lying sound asleep on the bed in the room

furthest from his. Her silver-blonde hair was spread out over the pillow, her

slim body barely making an indentation on the mattress. She looked like an

angel lying there, a sleeping angel with features so perfect and yet so pale

she didn‘t seem quite real. How was he to get through the wall of her anger?

He had to dismantle it brick by brick, getting her to slowly warm to him

again. Looking back now, he could see how truly devastated she had been

when he had cast her from his life. At the time he had read her body

language as a greedy little gold-digger whose plans to wed a rich man had

been thwarted at the last minute, but now he could see her shattered

expression for what it was: a young woman who had loved and loved

deeply, who by a quirk of fate had suddenly found her life in ruins through

no fault of her own. Where had she gone? Who had she turned to? How

must she have felt to have her life ripped out from under her without

warning? He didn‘t like thinking about it. She would have been feeling so

shocked and frightened, so upset that she hadn‘t been able to get him to see

reason. Even worse, anything could have happened to her that night. In her

state of high emotional distress she could have come to some sort of harm

and he had done nothing to protect her. He had cast her out of his life as if

she had been nothing more than some

trash he no longer had any use for.

He had got it so horribly wrong.

Emilio watched the soft flutter of her lips as she gave an inaudible murmur

and the way one of her hands seemed to be searching for something on the

bed next to her. Her face suddenly contorted as if she was having a terrible

nightmare. She started to thrash about, her cries soft but heart-wrenching.

‗No … oh, no, please no …‘ ‗Gisele, shh, it‘s all right,‘ Emilio said softly as

he perched beside her and captured her flailing hands. Her eyes sprang open

and she jerked upright. She seemed momentarily disoriented but then her

expression turned hostile. ‗What are you doing here?‘ she asked, pulling her

hands away from his. ‗I hate to point out the obvious, but this is my villa and

you are in one of my bedrooms,‘ Emilio said. She brushed her hair out of her

eyes with an angry movement of her hand as she gave him a resentful scowl.

‗You shouldn‘t sneak up on people like that,‘ she said. ‗I didn‘t sneak up on

you,‘ he said. ‗It looked like you were having a bad dream. You were crying

out in your sleep so I came over to comfort you.‘ She bit down on her lower

lip, a soft flush rising in her cheeks as she averted her gaze from his. Emilio

turned her chin so she had to meet his eyes. ‗Do you often have bad dreams,

cara?‘ he asked. A shadow passed over her blue eyes. ‗Not often …

sometimes.‘

He caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb. ‗I wish I could wipe out

the last two years,‘ he said. ‗I wish I could just reset the clock. I wish I could take back every horrible word I threw at you.‘ She didn‘t answer. She just

kept looking at him with that grey-blue accusing gaze of hers. ‗What did you

do the night I sent you away?‘ Emilio asked. ‗I found a hotel,‘ she said. ‗The

press gave me a hard time but eventually I managed to shake them off. I

caught a flight back to Sydney the next day.‘ ‗You never tried to contact

me,‘ he said, still stroking her creamy cheek. ‗Not even once.‘ She gave him

a brittle look. ‗You forbade me to, remember?‘ He studied her for a long

moment before dropping his hand from her chin. ‗Dinner is in half an hour,‘

he said as he rose from the bed. ‗I‘ll see you downstairs.‘

AFTER Gisele had a shower she dressed in a slim-fitting sheathlike taupe-

coloured dress and a pair of heels. She dried her hair and scooped it up into a

knot at the back of her head and put on a bare minimum of make-up. She

looked down at the engagement ring on her finger. It was too loose for her

now. The huge diamond kept slipping round the wrong way out of sight.

Was that some sort of omen? she wondered. Emilio was in the salone when

she came downstairs. He was sipping at an aperitif, looking out of the

window to the gardens outside. He turned and looked at her, his gaze

moving over her body like a warm caress. ‗You look beautiful,‘ he said.

‗Thank you.‘ Gisele fought for cool poise but a blush crept over her cheeks

in spite of her best efforts. ‗What would you like to drink?‘ he asked. ‗Um

… white wine if you have it.‘ He poured her a glass of wine and brought it

over to her. She saw his nostrils flare as if he was taking in the fragrance of

her perfume. She saw too the way his eyes darkened as they caught and held

hers. ‗Do you feel a little more refreshed after your rest?‘ he asked. ‗Yes,‘

she said, taking a generous sip to settle her nerves. ‗Why didn‘t you put your

things in my bedroom as I asked you to?‘ he said. She gripped her wineglass

a little tighter. ‗You can‘t force me to occupy your bed. I need more time.

It‘s a big step for me.‘

‗Didn‘t you like the new decor?‘ he asked. ‗It looks like no expense has been

spared to rid your bedroom of every trace of my previous occupation of it,‘

Gisele said with a touch of asperity. His expression was unreadable as he

raised his glass to his lips. ‗I thought it was time for a change.‘ ‗Out with the old, in with the new?‘ she said with a cynical look. ‗Did all your subsequent

girlfriends like it?‘ A brooding frown appeared between his eyebrows. ‗If

you don‘t like it then we can occupy another room,‘ he said. ‗But you will

share a bed with me, Gisele. I will not have any rumours circulating that this

is not a proper relationship.‘ ‗How soon did you replace me?‘ she asked. A

muscle worked in his jaw. ‗Gisele, this is not going to help matters.‘ ‗How

many?‘ she asked, feeling a lump rise in her throat. ‗I could ask you the

same thing.‘ ‗Go on,‘ she said. ‗Ask me.‘ The muscle in his jaw worked

even harder. ‗All right,‘ he said on an expelled breath. ‗How many lovers

have you had since me?‘ Gisele wished now she hadn‘t provoked him.

Could she lie just to hurt him? Could she play payback with a host of

imaginary lovers, not one of whom would have come close to being as

perfect for her physically as him? What was the point? She suspected he

would see through it

anyway. Hadn‘t the way she‘d responded to him so far given him enough

proof that she hadn‘t moved on? ‗There‘s been no one,‘ she said after a tight

pause. ‗Gisele …‘ ‗Don‘t get me wrong.‘ She cut him off quickly. ‗I‘ve had

plenty of opportunities. I just didn‘t want to rush into anything. You don‘t

have to automatically assume I was waiting for you to take me back because

I wasn‘t.‘ He took his drink and moved over to the windows again, his back

turned towards her. It was a moment or two before he spoke and, when he

did, his voice was rough around the edges, as if it had been dragged up from

a place deep inside him. ‗Would you believe me if I told you I was thinking

of making contact with you even before the press release came out about

Sienna being the one in the tape?‘ Gisele felt her heart give a little hit-and-

miss beat. ‗Why?‘ He turned from the window and faced her with an

inscrutable look. ‗I‘m not sure,‘ he said. ‗I guess I wanted to see if you had

fared any better than me.‘ ‗What do you mean?‘ ‗Anger and bitterness are

pretty corrosive things to be carrying around,‘ he said. ‗I think I got tired of

being angry. For two years I was totally consumed with it. I could think of

nothing else. I finally got to the point where I wanted to move on. I thought

if I contacted you, perhaps met with you face to face to ask you why you‘d

betrayed me, it might‘ve helped.‘ ‗But I hadn‘t betrayed you.‘

He let out a heavy sigh. ‗No,‘ he said. ‗You hadn‘t. And that‘s what I have

to live with. I made a mistake. It‘s new territory for me. I‘m not usually

wrong about anything.‘ Gisele looked at the wine in her glass and thought

about what he had said about carrying around anger. Her anger had burned

like acid inside her. It was still burning, eating away at her, keeping her

awake at night. But she wasn‘t quite ready to relinquish it. Marietta appeared

at that point with the announcement that dinner was ready. Gisele followed

Emilio to the dining room where the long highly polished table had been

beautifully set up for a romantic dinner for two. Flowers from the garden

made a fragrant centrepiece along with the flickering candles in the

candelabra that added to the tone of intimacy. So many times in the past she

had sat here at this table and looked lovingly across the table at him. She had

pictured their children one day joining them there, their little faces shining

with good health and happiness and vigour. How far from her dreams and

romantically infused imaginings had she travelled? There would be no

happy family now. Not for her at least. Emilio seated her before he took his

own place. ‗I‘ve been thinking about your business,‘ he said. ‗Do you

outsource any of the needlework?‘ ‗No,‘ she said. ‗I do it all myself. I like

working to commission. I think it gives the customer that sense of a personal

touch.‘ He reached across to pour her some wine. ‗But you surely can‘t

expect to keep up with demand if things were to take a sudden upswing?‘

‗I‘ve managed to keep ahead so far.‘

‗Yes, but that will change as soon as things take off over here,‘ he said.

‗How will you keep up then?‘ She bit her lip. ‗I‘ve brought some work with

me …‘ ‗Gisele.‘ He sounded like a world-weary parent speaking to a naive

child. ‗You can‘t expect to run things as you have done in the past. You‘ll

have to consider outsourcing. You have no choice. You can hand-pick your

needlewomen. You‘ll still have total control over the standard of your

product.‘ She flashed him a defensive glare. ‗I know what I‘m doing. I‘m

good at what I do. I love my work.‘ ‗The creative side of it is not the

problem, cara,‘ he said. ‗I‘ve seen your needlework. It‘s exquisite. You are

extremely talented. I‘m not saying you aren‘t. I‘m just saying you can‘t

possibly do it all. You need to think about how to meet demands for more of

your work, otherwise people will go elsewhere.‘ Gisele pressed her lips

together before answering. ‗OK, I‘ll think about it.‘ He gave a sigh and

reached for her hand across the table. ‗Look at me, cara,‘ he commanded

gently. She met his gaze with resentment burning in hers. ‗I won‘t allow you

to take over my life. I‘ve been doing perfectly fine without you. My shop is

the busiest one on that stretch of the street.‘ ‗I know that,‘ he said. ‗You‘ve

done amazingly well. I‘m just trying to help you do better, to maximise your

profits. At least if things don‘t work out between us you will have a stronger

base to go home to.‘

Marietta came in with their meal and Emilio deftly steered the conversation

into less contentious areas. Gisele made an effort to do the delicious food

justice but being in Emilio‘s presence made her feel nervous and excited at

the same time. He could be such charming company when he put his mind to

it. She felt the intoxicating lure of it each time he looked at her with that

sexy slant of a smile. His eyes took on a dark mesmerising heat as they held

hers, the sensual promise in them making every hair on her body stand up

and take notice. After Marietta had served coffee in the salone she

announced she was leaving for home. ‗She doesn‘t live here like Concetta

did?‘ Gisele asked once the housekeeper had left. ‗No,‘ Emilio said. ‗She

has a husband and a couple of daughters who still live at home. She likes to

spend the nights with them.‘ ‗So if she‘s not here at night then there should

be no problem with me having my own room,‘ Gisele said. His expression

tightened. ‗She is back first thing in the morning,‘ he said. ‗What are you

going to do? Run along the hall and jump in beside me just for show?‘ She

put her coffee cup down and rose to her feet agitatedly. The thought of

jumping into bed with him for real was far too tempting. It was all she could

think about. Her body burned with hot flames of need and there was nothing

she could do to dampen them down. ‗Lots of couples don‘t sleep together,‘

she said. ‗My parents didn‘t share a bed for most of their marriage.‘ He

came over to where she was standing. ‗That is not how this relationship is

going to be run,‘ he said. He took

her hands in his and held them gently but firmly. ‗Why are you fighting what

is inevitable? I know you were hurt by our break-up. I understand that

you‘re still angry. We have this chance to reconnect but you seem intent on

sabotaging every attempt on my part to put things right.‘ ‗Some things can

never be put right,‘ she said, looking down at their joined hands rather than

meeting his gaze. Her belly quivered as his thumbs began stroking her

fingers, his darker-toned skin against hers a spinetingling reminder of how

very masculine he was and how she couldn‘t help but respond to his primal

call to all that was feminine in her. She could feel the flicker of desire

between her thighs, a tiny rhythmic pulse that was like a faraway drumbeat