“The wedding,” filled in Sebastian smoothly. “Although in Latin that would benuptia. Orproditio,” he added, his eyes narrowing at Tom. “Depending on how you look at it.”
With a silent nod, Ari tore her eyes from Tom’s, taking Reine’s little hand within her own. It worried her how little he was looking at Reine. It worried her how little interest he was taking in their child. He’d been staring at her, imploring her to be silent, she realised. He didn’t want his dirty little secret reaching Sasha’s ears. Didn’t want to spoil his precious bride’s happy day. Ari felt her heart harden against him. She would keep his secret, she knew.
But she wouldn’t make it easy for him.
“Sasha, remember to take off all your jewellery but your engagement ring,” Ari said coolly, keeping Reine’s hand in hers while turning to the bride.
“Why?” Sasha asked.
“In art, we’d call it a blank canvas,” Ari explained. “Luis will design your gown to complement you and your engagement ring. Your token of Mr Somerset’slove.” She restrained the anger in her voice. “Any other jewellery might spoil the effect.”
“Oh, that’s a good tip,” Sasha smiled, blooming under everyone’s attention once more. “And my engagement ring is beautiful, isn’t it?”
She held out her hand, letting the light catch the massive diamond ring on her finger.
“It’s lovely,” Ari agreed, her voice catching on a lump in her throat.
He’d given Sasha this ring. A token of his love.
“Diamonds are the most valuable of all gems,” Sasha intoned, smiling at her ring. “Thank God Marnie wouldn’t let Tom give me the Somerset family ring. That hideous, sapphire thing—”
“What?” Marnie straightened. “I never said Tom couldn’t have the Somerset ring. Tom, I—”
Ari turned to Tom, who had gone pale.Why hasn’t he given Sasha that ring?she wondered.
But Sasha didn’t seem to care. “I’m sure Tom had his reasons. Besides, diamonds are worth more than sapphires. And Ari’s right. It is a pretty token of his love.”
“Yes,” Ari agreed, squeezing Reine’s hand within her own. “Yes, it is.”
She turned away, biting on her lip hard. It was the only way to stop the tears that were building from beginning to fall.
He gave Sasha a ring,she thought again, hurt building within her.
The only token he’d ever given her was a worthless piece of card.
Chapter 14: Spark
Ari was here, but it was all wrong.
Tom took a deep, gasping breath, rubbing at his forehead anxiously. His mother pressed a glass of whisky into his hand, and he looked down at it dumbly, the scent of peat and malt suddenly strong in the air. Tom winced, for the smell of whisky was as familiar to him as the smell of roses, freshly cut grass, and — once upon a time — Ari’s skin. This was his father’s whisky. He took a sip, only to immediately begin coughing on the hard, smoky burn in his mouth and throat.
Doug always made drinking this whisky look easy. He made everything look easy.
His father, dead these seven years, but living on in his son, in the memories brought forth by an amber liquid in a crystal tumbler, and now also in the small girl being put to bed by her mother upstairs.
Doug’s granddaughter,Tom realised.My daughter,his mind then added.
Abruptly, Tom’s hand began to shake, the whisky sloshing precariously within his glass. Within a second, it was plucked from his hand, and Sebastian was staring at him hard.
“So,” Sebastian began lightly, sipping Doug’s whisky slowly, and for a moment Tom wondered at the sheeraudacityof this man to drink his father’s whisky with such ease. “You’re Tom Miller.”
“No—” Tom began to argue, before his shoulders slumped. “Yeah.”
“Tom Miller is fiction,” Marnie protested, pouring a large measure of whisky out for herself. “Just a character invented by a confused twenty-five-year-old. He wasn’t real.”
At that Sebastian shook his head. “He was real to Ari.”
Tom felt a dart of pain. “I know. I never meant to hurt her,” he offered weakly, “I loved her.”
