Shine Bright Like A Diamond: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story (17 page)

The Final
Chapter

It seemed like it had been forever since Mr. Arko Kumi had gone into the study to talk to Jacob. Almasi was sitting in her lounge across the hall, trying to be patient as she waited. Eventually, she stood up and went over to the bookcase. There was a whole assortment of books, everything from dry engineering manuals and medical textbooks to historical fiction novels and anthologies of poetry.

Normally, Almasi was more interested in the serious and more academic side of things, but she found herself browsing through the poetry section, eventually choosing a collection of poems by Robert Frost. She returned to the sofa and flipped through the pages, allowing herself to become engrossed in the words. Eventually, she settled on a poem she really liked, one about birch trees, and she sat and read it over twice.

A knock on the door drew Almasi out of her reverie, and she looked up, startled. It was Mr. Arko Kumi, with Jacob in tow. Jacob looked embarrassed and uncomfortable, and wasn’t meeting her eyes. Mr. Arko Kumi muttered something to him, and he nodded. “I will let you two have some time alone,” said Mr. Arko Kumi, and he left, closing the door behind him.

Jacob stood near the doorway. Neither he nor Almasi spoke, and he didn’t know where to begin. When Mr. Arko Kumi had come to talk to him, he had initially been confused and worried, and then when he had contextualized Almasi’s behavior, Jacob had been relieved. Mr. Arko Kumi had emphasized how brave it had been of Almasi to do what she had done, and Jacob couldn’t agree more.

However, he felt that he himself had been a childish coward by comparison, and now he didn’t know what to say to ask for his wife’s forgiveness. Eventually, he looked up at her, and he saw that she looked just as afraid as he was. So he cleared his throat, and spoke. “I owe you an apology, Almasi.” She opened her mouth in protest, but he continued. “I allowed myself to be deceived by Mr. Kofi Kumi instead of listening to you. I didn’t even give you the chance to explain everything to me. I just ran away like a little boy, and you deserve better than that. You deserve to be married to a man.”

“Jacob, I…” she began.

“I understand if you’re mad at me,” he interrupted. “You have every right to be angry, but I just want you to know that I see now how wrong I was, and I… I hope you can forgive me.”

He looked so plaintive, so broken. Almasi’s heart swelled with affection and pity. Poor Jacob. He’d only done what he thought was right, and now he was so clearly remorseful. She stood up, and walked toward him. “I will forgive you,” she said, “if you can forgive me for not telling you about what had happened sooner. My pride got in the way. I should never have doubted that you would be kind and that you would understand.” She smiled tentatively and reached for his hand, and he looked into her eyes and intertwined his fingers with hers.

“Mr. Arko Kumi… He told me that you had something to tell me,” said Jacob. “He wouldn’t tell me what it is. He said that you deserved to be the one to tell me. What is it?”

Almasi took a deep breath. “Well…” she began. “You know how I’ve been gaining weight in the past few weeks?”

Jacob was confused. “Um, well, I mean, I have noticed it a little bit,” he said, not really knowing how to respond. “But I figured that it was because you were finally in a less stressful environment and had more food to enjoy, and,” he added quickly, “I think you look beautiful when you’re heavier.”

Almasi laughed. “Well, that’s just your luck,” she said, “because I’m going to be getting heavier for another nine months or so.” She smiled up at him.

Jacob still didn’t catch on to her words. What was she talking about? Did Almasi… ? Then suddenly it dawned on him. He looked down at her belly, and then back up at her face, and then down to her belly again. “Almasi… Are you telling me that we’re having a baby?”

Almasi noticed how he had said “we.” She smiled wider. “Yes… Yes, Jacob, we are,” she said.

He spanned the space between them in half a second, and then she was in his arms, and they were embracing tightly as if neither of them ever wanted to let go. “How long have you known?” he asked as he hugged her. “And why didn’t you tell me sooner?” There was a small hint of betrayal in his voice at the second question.

Almasi’s eyes welled up with tears. “I wasn’t sure if you…” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t think you’d want to raise a child with me. Our marriage was only meant to be for a month, and… I didn’t want to pressure you into staying with me just because you had gotten me pregnant.”

Jacob let go of her, holding her by the waist and looking deep into her eyes. His own bright blue eyes shone back at her. She had missed that. The intensity of his gaze, the beautiful color of his eyes. She wanted to get lost in his eyes forever. “Almasi,” he said, “of course I would have let you stay.”

One of his hands moved to her belly, lightly circling the spot where their teeny, tiny little beginning of a child was growing. “What kind of a person do you think I am, who would get someone pregnant and then leave her to fend for herself?” He shook his head incredulously.

Almasi sighed. “That’s just the thing, though,” she said. “I didn’t want you to stay with me out of a sense of duty or some kind of chivalrous obligation. If you stay married to me, I want it to be because… ” She drew in a shaky breath, steeling herself for what she was about to say. “I want it to be because you love me.”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “Of course I love you,” he said softly. “Of course I do. I love you, Almasi.” The sentence tasted sweet on his lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you!”

Almasi was shaking and laughing and crying all at once. “I love you, too!” she exclaimed. “Oh my God, Jacob, I love you so, so much.” She reached up to kiss him, and he kissed her back with fervor. They both felt high with joy and relief. Why had they not trusted each other sooner? Why had neither of them believed their hearts when they had seen it? They had both been so afraid, but there was no need for that fear now. They loved each other, and they knew it, and they would be together forever now.

After a long, long kiss, they pulled apart for air. Jacob shook his head, smiling. “You know, I never thought I could love a woman like this until you came along,” he said. “But then when I met you… everything changed. You changed me, Almasi, and I will forever be thankful that I bumped into you that morning at the office.”

Almasi laughed. “Well, at least something came out of my best work shirt being ruined by a clumsy good-for-nothing!” There was no bitterness in her tone, only mirth, and Jacob found that he loved the sound of his wife’s voice teasing him. “And you spilled my coffee, too!”

Jacob laughed. “Yeah, well if you had just taken the stairs instead of the elevator, that could’ve all been avoided.”

Almasi leaned in for another kiss. “Well then I’m glad I took the elevator,” she said softly.

“Me too,” said Jacob. He smiled widely. “Me too.” And he took his wife in his arms, making a mental note to tell Jeremy to cancel the annulment. Jacob would never spend another day of his life without this woman. They belonged to each other, and as their lips met, they silently renewed their vows with every kiss.

Eventually, it was time for dinner, and the two of them made their way out to the patio to eat. Only Mr. Arko Kumi was outside when they arrived hand-in-hand, much to Almasi’s relief. As they sat down, Mr. Arko Kumi spoke.

“I’m afraid that my brother will not be able to attend this meal tonight,” he said. “He’s feeling a little bit under the weather.” He looked at Almasi, and Almasi smiled back.

Jacob looked back and forth between the two of them, confused. “What am I missing?” he asked.

Almasi adopted her most polished and professional tone. “I sacked him in the nuts,” she said with her sweetest, most innocent smile.

Almasi began to laugh as she saw Jacob’s jaw drop, but Mr. Arko Kumi was laughing as well, so eventually Jacob started to chuckle, too. He shook his head in amazement.

“That’s my wife,” he said. He turned to Mr. Arko Kumi and adopted a faux serious tone. “Please do send your brother our regards.”

Mr. Arko Kumi resumed his usual facial expression, although there remained a twinkle of merriment in his eyes. “Thank you, Mr. Adamson,” he said. “I shall do so.”

As the group was served their dinner, the topic of conversation changed, moving from commerce to international politics to the diamond deal. Almasi knew that, although Mr. Arko Kumi had been kind in helping her, his views were still old-fashioned when it came to women speaking on these topics. Although it made her a little sad, she decided not to push her luck and come off brasher than she could afford to be.

Jacob loved her for her quick wit and well-rounded education, and she knew that the time would come when she could have in-depth conversations with her husband and other guests and business associates about all of these topics. For now, though, she smiled and stayed quiet, eating her pasta. The pesto sauce was delicious, and she found that she had quite an appetite for it.

Almasi listened as Jacob spoke about the deal with Mr. Arko Kumi. “I’ve contacted my assistant Mr. Sanchez, and he’ll be coming over in the morning to witness our signatures on the deal,” he told Mr. Arko Kumi. “As you have requested, we have changed your itinerary to allow you to leave in the afternoon tomorrow, instead of staying for another day.”

“Perfect,” said Mr. Arko Kumi. “Thank you very much, Mr. Adamson. It’s important that my brother and I don’t impose longer than is necessary.” He glanced at Almasi. “And I do believe that you two deserve some time on your own to catch up,” he added thoughtfully. She smiled thankfully at him. She and Jacob had had such a strained few days, and they really did need some time on their own to sort things out between themselves and to get into a better groove.

Besides, even though she didn’t mind Mr. Arko Kumi’s company, the sooner Mr. Kofi Kumi was gone, the better. She knew that he would not approach her again now that the others knew of his conniving ways, but she didn’t like the idea of being in the same place as the horrible man who had tried to force himself on her and manipulate her into thinking that her husband would not love her. The sooner Mr. Kofi Kumi was out of her house, out of the country, God, out of the continent, the sooner Almasi would be able to rest easy.

They finished the meal relatively uneventfully, and then Jacob and Almasi said goodnight to Mr. Arko Kumi and went upstairs. When they got to the hall, Almasi remembered that she had moved all of her things out of the master bedroom earlier when she had been afraid that Jacob would think she had cheated and not want her around him anymore.

Although it had only been less than a day, it seemed so bizarre to Almasi that things had been the way they were before all of the drama had unfolded and been cleared up. She turned to Jacob. “So,” she said. “I could use a hand bringing my stuff back to our room.”

Jacob noticed the emphasis Almasi put on the word “our.” He smiled. “Yes. It’s funny how things travel from place to place in this house, is it not?”

“Absolutely,” said Almasi. “It’s spooky, really. It must be a ghost. Or maybe Beatrice.”

Jacob laughed, and together they went to collect Almasi’s things from the guest room and bring them back to their room.

After arranging everything and putting it all back in its proper place, Jacob and Almasi got undressed and headed to the master bathroom. They didn’t need any words as they stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water, kissing so much that they forgot about washing completely for a long few minutes.

When they finally did get around to it, they still couldn’t manage to get their hands off each other, instead lathering the soap on each other’s bodies and sighing in delight at the feeling of their hands touching each other’s skin.

Jacob gently massaged Almasi’s breasts with the lavender soap she had brought back from the other room, and she moaned, enjoying the touch of her husband’s gentle hands on her sensitive breasts. For his part, Jacob felt his arousal growing with every sound that escaped Almasi’s lips, and he delighted in the slickness of her beautiful dark skin under the water.

Almasi noticed that Jacob had become hard, and she brought her own hand down from his chest to his abs, teasing lower and lower as she went. Jacob moaned out loud, and she laughed a little, kissing his mouth and feeling the resonance of his moans get stronger and stronger as she worked her hand along his shaft from base to tip. They kissed hard as she stroked him, the tip of her thumb circling the head of his erection in a rhythmic motion that went faster and faster.

Eventually, just as his breathing had become labored, she stopped, and broke their kiss. Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Almasi smiled gently. “I want to finish this in bed,” she said. He smiled back and nodded, and so they rinsed off, kissing some more, and stepped out of the shower, shutting off the water and grabbing towels so they could dry themselves off as they made their way to the bedroom.

Jacob laid on his back on the bed as Almasi climbed gently over him. She reached down to stroke herself first, preparing to slide onto him. Seeing what she was doing, Jacob moved a hand up to touch her, gently sliding a finger inside her. She moaned quietly, and when she was ready, she took his hand in her own and gently positioned herself to move slowly onto his thick erection.

The pace was agonizingly slow for him at first, as he wanted more, more, more. Almasi could tell, and her grin was a little wicked as she languorously took her time, rocking her hips oh so slowly, as she moved herself up and down. She rested her palm on his chest, idly drawing swirly little patterns over his skin with the tip of one of her fingers. That motion itself felt so erotic to Jacob, so intimate, and it was not long before he was begging, pleading for her to go faster.