Deserving of His Diamonds (2 page)

fragile little daughter for just that little bit longer. She felt close to Lily here, surrounded by the handmade blankets and bonnets and booties she made for

other babies to wear. It was her only connection now with motherhood and

she wasn‘t going to relinquish it in spite of the pain it caused to see those

brand-new prams being pushed through the door day after day. No one knew

how hard it was for her to look and not touch those precious little bundles

inside. No one knew how long at night she clung to the bunny blanket she

had made for Lily‘s tiny body to be wrapped in during those few short hours

of her life. Emilio‘s eyes came back to connect with hers. ‗Dinner then,‘ he

said. ‗You don‘t work past six, do you?‘ Gisele watched in irritation as the

young mother left the shop, no doubt put off by Emilio‘s brooding presence.

She sent him a glare. ‗Dinner is out of the question,‘ she said. ‗I have

another engagement.‘ ‗Are you involved with someone?‘ he asked, pinning

her with his eyes. She worked hard at keeping her composure. Did he really

think she would have dived headfirst into another relationship after what he

had done to her? She often wondered if she would ever feel safe in a

relationship again. But she daren‘t admit to her singleton status. She had a

feeling he wasn‘t just here to apologise and to clear the air between them.

She could see it in the dark magnetic pull of his gaze. She could sense it in

the atmosphere, the way the air she shared with him thickened with each

breath she took into her lungs. Damn it, she could even feel it in her

traitorous body as it reacted to his dark, disturbing presence the way it had

always done in the past. Her senses went on full alert, her legs giving a little

tremble as she thought of how he had taught her all she knew about physical

intimacy, how it had been his body and his alone that had shown her what

hers had been capable of in giving and receiving pleasure. ‗I can‘t see how

that is any of your business,‘ she said with a hoist of her chin. A muscle

flexed beside his mouth. ‗I know this is hard for you, Gisele,‘ he said. ‗It‘s

hard for me too.‘ ‗Meaning you never thought you‘d ever have to apologise

to me for getting it wrong?‘ she asked with a cutting look. ‗Hate to say I told

you so.‘ His expression immediately became shuttered, closed off, remote.

‗I‘m not proud of how I ended things,‘ he said. ‗But you would have done

the same if things were the other way around.‘ ‗You‘re wrong, Emilio,‘ she

said. ‗I would have looked high and low for an alternative explanation for

how that tape came about.‘ ‗For God‘s sake, Gisele,‘ he said roughly. ‗Do

you think I didn‘t look for an explanation? You told me you were an only

child. You didn‘t even know you had a twin. How was I supposed to come

up with something as bizarre as that? I looked at that tape and I saw you. I

saw the same silver-blonde hair, the same grey-blue eyes, even the same

mannerisms. I had no choice but to believe what I was seeing.‘ ‗You did

have a choice,‘ Gisele said, shooting him a blistering glare. ‗You could have

believed me in spite of, not because of, the evidence. But you didn‘t love me

enough to trust me. You didn‘t love me at all. You just wanted a perfect wife

to hang off your arm. That wretched tape tarnished me so I was of no further

use to you. It

wouldn‘t have mattered if the truth had come out in two minutes or two

hours instead of two years. Your business was always going to be the

priority. You put it before everything.‘ ‗I put my business on hold to come

out here to see you,‘ he said, frowning at her broodingly. ‗You‘ve seen me,

so now you can jump back on your private jet and fly all the way back,‘ she

said, sending him a haughty look as she spun on her heel. ‗Damn it, Gisele,‘

he said, snagging one of her arms to stall her. Gisele felt the steely grip of

his long, strong fingers on her bare arm as he turned her back to face him.

His touch was like a flame. It seared her skin like a brand. Every nerve

flinched beneath her skin. She felt her stomach go hollow as his eyes locked

on hers. She didn‘t want to lose herself in that glittering dark gaze. Not

again. Once was enough. It had been her downfall, falling for a man with the

inability to love and trust.

She didn‘t want him this close.

She could smell the heat of him, the sharp and heady cocktail of musk and

male and lemon-based aftershave that made her nostrils flare and tingle. She

could see the black pepper of the stubble on his jaw and her fingers suddenly

itched to feel that sexy rasp under the soft pads of her fingertips. She could

see the grim line of his beautifully sculptured mouth. The mouth that had

wreaked such havoc on her senses from the very first time he had kissed her.

She only had to close her eyes to remember how it felt to have those hard,

insistent lips press down on hers … She snapped out of her reverie like an

elastic band that

had been stretched too far. That same mouth had vilified her cruelly. Her

ears still rang with his hateful, unforgettable, unforgivable words. There was

no way she was going to let him off lightly, if at all. Her life had come

undone the day he had cut her adrift. She had been so devastated and alone.

Her happy future had suddenly been ripped away from her without warning.

She had been shattered by his accusations. She had been left so raw with

pain she had barely been able to drag herself through each agonising day.

Finding out she was pregnant a couple of months after she had returned to

Sydney had been her only glimmer of hope in that very dark place she had

found herself in. But then that hope had been cruelly dashed a few weeks

later at the second ultrasound. She had always wondered if that was her

punishment for not telling Emilio about the pregnancy. He had forbidden all

contact after their breakup, but she had been too devastated and hurt to even

try.

And too angry.

She had wanted to punish him for not believing in her. She still wanted to

punish him. It was like a rod of steel inside her. The only thing holding her

upright was her fury and resentment and hatred towards him. Nothing was

going to melt it. ‗Why are you making this harder than it already is?‘ Emilio

asked. Gisele needed the trench of her anger to hide in and the deeper and

dirtier the better. ‗You think you can breeze in here and issue some half-

hearted apology and I‘ll forgive you?‘ she asked. ‗I‘ll never forgive you. Do

you hear me? Never.‘ The line of his mouth was grim. ‗I don‘t expect you to

forgive me,‘ he said. ‗I do, however, expect you to act like

an adult and hear me out.‘ ‗I‘ll act like an adult when you stop restraining

me like an out of control child,‘ she said, shooting him a livid look. ‗Let go

of my arm.‘ His fingers softened their hold but he didn‘t release her. Gisele

felt her heart give a nervous flutter as the broad pad of his thumb slid down

to her pulse. Could he feel the thud of those hit-and-miss beats? She

surreptitiously moistened her mouth but his gaze caught the movement. His

eyes darkened, the pupils disappearing into the chocolate-brown of his irises.

She knew that look so well. It triggered a visceral reaction in her body. The

pulse of longing was like a lightning strike to that secret place between her

thighs. Every erotically sensual moment they had ever shared flashed

through her brain like a film on fast-forward. Those sensually provocative

images made a mockery of every paltry attempt she had made to keep

herself immune. What hope of immunity when one look from those dark

eyes made her blood rush through her veins at breakneck speed? ‗Have

dinner with me tonight,‘ he said. ‗I told you I already have an engagement,‘

she said, not quite meeting his eyes. Emilio tipped up her chin with his other

hand, his eyes dark and penetrating as they held hers. ‗And I know you are

lying,‘ he said. ‗What a pity you weren‘t such a hotshot detective two years

ago,‘ she threw back resentfully as she finally managed to break free. She

stood and pointedly rubbed at her wrist, still glaring at him. ‗I‘ll pick you up

at seven,‘ he said. ‗Where do you live?‘

Gisele felt a bolt of panic rush through her. She didn‘t want him at her flat.

That was her private sanctuary, the one place she felt safe enough to let out

her grief. Besides, how would she explain all the photos of Lily? It was

much better to leave him ignorant of their baby‘s short life. She wasn‘t ready

to tell him. She would never be ready to tell him. How could she cope with

the pain of him telling her she should have had a termination as she had been

advised? It had been hard enough hearing it from her mother and some of

her friends. Emilio wouldn‘t have wanted a child who wasn‘t perfect. It

wouldn‘t have suited his plan for a perfectly ordered life. ‗You don‘t seem to

be getting the message, Emilio,‘ she said with a defiant look. ‗I don‘t want to

see you again. Not tonight. Not tomorrow night. Not ever. You‘ve

apologised. End of story. Now, please leave before I have you evicted by

Security.‘ His expression was faintly mocking. ‗What Security?‘ he asked.

‗Anyone could walk in here and empty your cash register while your back

was turned and you wouldn‘t be able to do a single thing to stop them. You

don‘t even have CCTV cameras installed.‘ Gisele pressed her lips together,

hating him for pointing out what he obviously perceived as a flaw in her

personality. Her mother … her adoptive mother, she corrected herself, had

communicated much the same thing only a few days ago, saying she was far

too trusting with her customers. It didn‘t come naturally to Gisele to mistrust

people, but then wasn‘t that why her life had ended up the way it had? She

had been so naive and trusting with Emilio and it had backfired

spectacularly. Emilio continued to study her for a lengthy moment. ‗Have

you been ill recently?‘ he asked.

Gisele suddenly froze, caught off guard by that dark penetrating gaze that

refused to let hers go. ‗Um … why do you ask that?‘ ‗You look pale and

much thinner than when we were together,‘ he said. ‗Not quite up to your

impeccable standards any more?‘ she said, giving him a hardened look.

‗What a lucky escape you had in calling off our wedding. It wouldn‘t suit

your image to be married to a frump, now, would it?‘ Another heavy frown

appeared between his brows. ‗You misunderstand me,‘ he said. ‗I was

simply commenting on your pallor, not your lack of beauty. You are still one

of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.‘ It was amazing how easily

cynicism came to Gisele now. In the past she would have blushed and felt

incredibly flattered by such a compliment. Now all she felt was a simmering

fury that he was trying to charm her into forgiving him. He was wasting his

time and hers. Forgiveness was a word she had long ago deleted from her

vocabulary. She walked over to the shop service counter and barricaded

herself behind it. ‗You can save your shallow compliments for someone who

will believe them enough to fall into your bed,‘ she said. ‗It‘s not going to

work with me.‘ ‗Is that why you think I am here?‘ he asked. Gisele felt

herself being swallowed by that charcoal-black unreadable gaze. The air

seemed to be charged with an erotic energy she had no control over. Her

hands gripped the edge of the counter for support, her heart beating too hard

and too fast as his hooded gaze slipped to her mouth.

She held her breath in that infinitesimal moment as his gaze rested on her

lips. His gaze was like a touch. It burned her with its intent. She felt the

tingle of her lips as if he had reached across the counter and pressed his

mouth to hers … But her best friend cynicism came to her rescue just in

time. ‗I think you are here to clear your conscience,‘ she said. ‗You‘re not

here because of me. You‘re here because of you.‘ His expression gave no

clue to what was going on behind the screen of his dark eyes, but a tiny

nerve twitched at the edge of his mouth as if it were being tugged by an

invisible needle and thread. It seemed a very long time before he spoke. ‗I

am here for both of us,‘ he said. ‗I want to wipe the slate clean. Neither of us

can truly move on with our lives with this lying like a festering sore between

us.‘ Gisele put up her chin with cool hauteur. ‗I have moved on with my

life,‘ she said. His eyes challenged hers for endless seconds, but when he

finally spoke his voice was gruff. ‗Have you, cara? Have you really?‘ Was it

his unexpectedly gentle tone or his use of an all too familiar endearment that

made her throat suddenly close over as if someone had gripped it and cruelly

squeezed? She blinked against the sting of tears, once, twice, three times

before she was confident they were not going to break through. ‗Of course,‘

she said coldly. ‗Or would you rather I said I‘d been pining for you forlornly

ever since you cut me from your life?‘

‗That would indeed be a punishment I would not like to have inflicted on

me,‘ he said with a rueful movement of his lips. ‗It would make the guilt I

feel all the harder to bear.‘ Gisele looked at him standing there, so tall, so