She brightens, her eyes now shining like the water found on the shores of a tropical beach. “Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’m so relieved. Carina said I was crazy for wanting to get it, but then Rafael found out and complained she wasn’t wearing one for him. Don’t get me started on the number of times he referred to her as a ‘cat’ but without using the actual word. He preferred a synonym. My sister and I were traumatized by the time he left the room.”
“I’ll speak to him.”
My hard tone has her blinking rapidly. “No, please don’t. I didn’t mean it like he was horrible. The entire thing was just extremely embarrassing, which is why I couldn’t bring myself to wear it and leave the room. Hence, me being late meeting you…” She tilts her head and some of her curls sway, making me want to wrap one around my finger. “What am I late for exactly? Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
Unable to keep from constantly touching her, I tuck one tendril behind her ear and then take her chin. After sweeping my mouth across her soft lips, I inwardly groan.
I always want her.
No matter how many times I fuck her, where I do it, or how long I do it.
Maybe it’s good Violetta is young, so she can keep up with my voracious sexual appetite.
“I wanted to ask you something,” I say, my tone serious. “But I wanted to do it in my office, not out here.”
“Okay.”
“Mr. Jones, you may leave us in private and return when I call for you.”
Violetta’s brows lift when the man scurries around us and then takes up a seat in the formal waiting area across the hallway. She leans closer and lowers her voice again. “I hope he’s not on your payroll. He’s too scared of you to do his job if he is.”
I grin at her. “Don’t worry about him, He’s a guest.”
“Oh.”
Seeing her lips in a perfect O shape brings lustful thoughts and seductive images to my mind and I drop my hands away from her before I ruin all my plans. I offer her my arm to take and she starts to wrap hers around it but stops. Instead she takes my hand in hers and lowers them to rest between us, right before squeezing mine gently.
“It feels like our relationship is less formal, yet more official this way.”
It’s about to bea lotmore official in a few seconds.
She beams up at me and I find myself smiling down at her. Violetta’s youth softens the layers of hardness that life has draped over me. Every day she slowly chips away at my soul, removing the ugly, jagged exterior and exposing the diamonds underneath.
Now it’s my turn to do the same.
Except I’m not removing anything, only enhancing her internal beauty with something external.
Once we’re fully inside my office, I reach behind me to shut the door while keeping my gaze fixed on Violetta’s face. I don’t want to miss a single thing.
Her breath hitches and her eyes widen first, and that’s followed by Violetta clasping her free hand to her chest. “Tristano, what is all this?”
Her words are a gentle breeze and what I need to breathe.
“These,” I say, sweeping my arm to gesture at the tables, “are diamonds. Mr. Jones is a jeweler and he’s going to customize whatever you wish.”
Violetta opens her mouth, closes it, and then opens it again. “I don’t understand. Is this a belated birthday present? Because I was very happy with what you did for me.” A blush stains her cheeks and I have no doubt she’s recalling every intimate detail. “I don’t need another gift.”
“How about an engagement ring?” I say with a lifted brow. “You were very open about the fact that I hadn’t given you a proposal to consider and that there wasn’t a ring present. I’m rectifying that mistake. One, or several, of these diamonds will be yours to select from and put in a design of your choosing. As for the proposal to consider?” I shrug. “I’m still not giving you the option to sayno. However, I’m a businessman and offering you a contract of marriage is something I’ll not only consider, but will sign with a blood oath.”
“Loyalty ‘til death.” She murmurs it so softly I almost can’t hear her.
“Yes. I give you my vow, and those of my ancestors, ‘loyalty ‘til death,’ribelle. That’s what you will have from me.”
She lifts her gaze to mine, allowing me to see the sheen of tears, and her lips tremble when she inhales several times.
