Page 115 of A Diamond Deal
His eyes bored into hers. ‘You should learn.’
But when she heard Italian, she thought of her mother, and the visceral ache of missing her was so incredibly intense, she almost couldn’t bear it. ‘I’ll think about it.’
He dipped his head once, as if to signal the conversation was closed. ‘In terms of university online, I have no issues with that, obviously. I work long hours, and, as I said last night, we will essentially live separate lives. How you keep yourself occupied is of no concern to me.’
She ignored the lump of ice that formed in the middle of her chest at the marriage he was describing. But at the same time, this wasn’t a real marriage. She had to get beyond thinking of it as anything like that and focus on it being a trade. A quid pro quo. She had something he needed, and he could substantially change her entire life.
She swallowed. ‘There’s something else,’ she murmured, nervousness tripping through her. But she had no option. Amelia knew she was unlikely to break their vows. While it wasn’t a real marriage, she just couldn’t bear the thought of being married to one man and dating another, let alone sleeping with them. It went against everything she believed.
‘I’m listening.’
He crossed his arms over his chest, with no idea how that was affecting her, making it almost impossible to speak. She took another sip of her coffee. ‘I want us to have a wedding night.’
He frowned, perhaps not understanding her at first. But she saw the moment comprehension dawned. ‘Why?’
And here she’d been hoping she could just make a demand and have it accepted, without the need to explain. Her cheeks flushed, she moved away from him, towards the windows that showed a view down over Hyde Park. It was easier to talk when she wasn’t looking at him.
‘I have pretty much no experience with men. I mean, I went to a few parties in high school, had a few fumbling kisses, but nothing amazing. And then my dad got sick. Ever since then, I’ve been in survival mode. Looking after him, working, trying to pay bills.’ Her brow furrowed. ‘I haven’t had time to even think about meeting someone.’ She sucked in a breath, forcing herself to be brave and face him. Turning slowly, she saw he hadn’t moved. His body was rigid, his eyes locked to hers.
A frisson ran the length of her spine as she gave herself one last opportunity to back out of this. Not to deliver the counter-proposal that had been running on a loop through her mind since he’d suggested marriage. It wasn’t just her inexperience at play, though. There was something aboutthisman, the hum she felt in her body when he looked at her, the way the air seemed to crackle as though an electrical storm were stirring to life, that somehow convinced her sex with him would be both eye-opening and satisfying. She dragged in a deep breath and forced herself to be brave. ‘I’m a twenty-three-year-old virgin, and if I’m going to get married, I want to have sex with my husband, on our wedding night.’
His jaw was set, his face all angles and darkly assessing eyes. ‘You should not barter away your virginity, Amelia.’
‘Why not?’
If anything, his response only strengthened her resolve. ‘Because your first time should mean something.’
‘It will mean something,’ she said. ‘It will mean I’m doing something for myself. Isn’t that enough?’
A muscle flexed low in his jaw. ‘Sex will not be part of the bargain.’
‘It won’t be, after our wedding night. You can go back to whatever it is you do, with whomever you want, and I won’t care. This is a one-time proposition.’
‘No.’
Her heart flipped. She hadn’t expected an instant rejection. It was possible—no, entirely probable—that the way the air crackled between them was one-sided, yet she couldn’t give up so easily. She was a fighter, through and through. ‘This is a requirement, for me.’
‘You’re saying if I don’t agree to sleep with you, you’ll go back to waiting tables, drowning in debt, knowing your grandparents will lose everything they have left that they value?’
She felt the blood drain from her face at his crude summation of her situation. She had no real bargaining strength here. And yet, she did. For all her circumstances were weakened, he wanted something from her. Something that was important enough to him to fly to England and proposition her with a deal worth millions.
‘And you’ll have to find another woman with the right pedigree who’s willing to marry you for the sake of your family’s honour, or whatever. A woman who will keep to herself, and have no expectations of you, whatsoever. Or…’ she let him digest that a moment ‘…you can marry me, get everything you want.’
The air between them sparked with her ultimatum.
‘This is madness,’ he said, with a curt shake of his head. But the words lacked conviction, and she sensed he was on the brink of agreeing.
‘Madness is being twenty-three and having no idea what it’s like to be touched as a woman.’
A muscle ticced in his jaw as his eyes roamed her face with a different expression now, one of genuine curiosity. ‘And you understand that sex is not a precursor to anything more? That sleeping together does not mean anything?’
‘Of course,’ she almost laughed. ‘I’m a virgin, not totally clueless. I get that sex is different from love. And I’ve already told you, I’m not looking for you to love me. I know exactly what this marriage is, and if you agree to my terms, then I’m all in.’
Her terms were not exactly onerous. He’d expected her to come with a renewed dollar amount in mind. He’d presumed she’d have googled him, and would know exactly how much he was worth. It would not have surprised him if she’d shown up and asked for a billion dollars in exchange for her hand in marriage. Hell, he’d have paid it.
Coming home with Amelia as his fiancée, the lost daughter of the prestigious Rossis, the sole descendant now of one of Italy’s oldest families, would ensure the Moretti name was once more seen to hold value. For his grandfather, he would do anything—even this. It was the final pathway to erase the memory of his father’s sins, and the stain it had left on their family’s legacy.
But as she stood there, so slim and youthful, with those huge eyes looking at him beseechingly and her fingers fidgeting, he felt a lump of dread forming. This marriage was a business transaction, and he’d have preferred to keep sex out of it altogether. While his would-be wife was beautiful, he could appreciate that academically without needing to take her to bed. There were myriad other women he could seek pleasure with.
