Page 123 of A Diamond Deal
Longed for, and done nothing, Amelia thought with a flicker of impatience. But she smothered it, nodding instead, shaking her grandmother’s hand. It was hardly the warmth and joy they might have been hoping for, but Amelia was here. And so, thankfully, was Massimiliano, because without him, she wasn’t sure she could have got through the evening with anything like aplomb. But despite the fact he’d exuded a cool, single-minded determination ever since they’d met, in this environment, she saw a different facet. He spoke easily with her grandparents, about subjects they had in common—art investments, his hotels—so Amelia found herself sitting there feeling like a child at the grown-ups’ table. By the time coffee was served, it was a relief to know the night was almost over.
Massimiliano had also relaxed into the role of fiancé. His arm was stretched along the back of Amelia’s chair, his fingers dangling carelessly across her shoulder, so sparks flew through her body, making it almost impossible to think straight.
‘Tell us about the wedding,’ Nicoletta invited, leaving Amelia totally tongue-tied. Because of course she knew none of the specifics, and she cursed herself then for not having asked more questions.
‘It will be Saturday morning,’ Massimiliano answered, naming a church with a long Italian name. ‘I presume you can make it?’
‘Make it,’ Nicoletta sobbed. ‘We wouldn’t miss it for the world. We never got—’ She closed her eyes then, on a wave of emotion, and Amelia understood. They’d never seen their own daughter’s wedding, as Amelia’s parents had eloped. ‘We wouldn’t miss it,’ she repeated.
‘Shall we send you a guest list?’ Gianni suggested. ‘I know many of our friends would like to see—’
‘No.’ For a moment, Massimiliano’s mask of congeniality dropped. ‘It will just be the five of us.’
‘Five?’
‘My grandfather.’
At that, Gianni’s face paled. ‘I see.’
Amelia glanced at her future husband and saw the glint in his eyes, the muscle throbbing in his jaw, and realised she wasn’t the only one riding a wave of difficult emotions. She put her hand out instinctively, curving it over his thigh, to bring him back to the moment. The pretence. But touching him was like setting off a whole bundle of fireworks, just beneath her skin, so she gasped softly, drawing his gaze to her face. Her parted lips. And dropping his head, before she could realise what he intended, suddenly, he was kissing her.
The whole world tilted.
Then shot into Technicolor.
Then seemed to explode with a heat and sparks, until she could hardly think straight. It was over too quickly. Just a brush of his lips against hers, no doubt for her grandparents’ sake, but if she’d thought touching his legs had set off fireworks, then the promise of a real kiss, at some other point, had her tingling from head to toe. She couldn’t look away from him, and, for a moment, she wondered if the same was true for him, as his eyes held to hers, boring through her with the force of his gaze.
‘You’ll send us all the details,’ Nicoletta murmured, all but slicing through the moment like a knife.
Sure enough, Massimiliano shifted, moving his leg beneath the table so her hand dropped free, but thankfully leaving his own fingers still trailing on her exposed shoulder. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘My assistant will be in touch. Naturally, I’ll send a car to collect you.’
‘That’s not necessary.’
‘It’s our wedding. Of course I shall take care of the details.’
Gianni nodded, clearly sensing there was no point arguing with Massimiliano. ‘Very well.’
With a few more pleasantries exchanged, the dinner was over. As they slid back into the limousine, Amelia expelled a long, slow sigh, closing her eyes as she tried to process everything that had just happened.
‘Was it as bad as you thought?’ he asked and, with her eyes closed, his voice wrapped around her like silk.
‘Better in some ways, worse in others.’
He made a grunting sound, which she took to be of agreement.
‘You don’t like them, do you?’ she asked, softly.
‘Why do you say that?’
She pulled a face. ‘I have eyes and ears.’
He let out a short bark of something like laughter as the car pulled into traffic. ‘I take a dim view of people like them. It’s not personal.’
‘Isn’t it?’ she murmured. ‘It sounds like the people you cared for let you down the most.’
‘They were my grandfather’s friends, not mine.’
‘Still, it must have hurt you to see him hurt.’
