The tension between Leila and the duke was like a blazing flame that would consume her sister. Eva wanted someone softer and more compliant for quiet little Leila, not some rampaging barbarian from a rugged mountain range in some far distant corner of Europe. The duke might be an aristocrat, but in name only, in Eva’s opinion. His eyes were hard and unforgiving, and his manner was borderline aggressive. His manners were good enough, but she soon worked out that everyone, apart from Roman and Sheikh Sharif, was more than a little wary of the Spanish grandee. And with good cause, she thought as Raffa pushed away from the table with some cursory excuse.
And good riddance to you, she thought, irritated to see Leila’s gaze follow the Spanish duke to the door. The other two men soon found a reason to join him and leave the Skavanga sisters to discuss the wedding.
‘Let me see your ring,’ Leila begged.
Telling herself to calm down, and that her sister was a big girl now, who could take care of herself, Eva refocused on the most important event of her life. ‘I don’t need a ring to get married. That’s such an old-fashioned concept.’
‘Uh-oh, what’s wrong?’ Britt stared at Eva. ‘I can’t believe you just said that. You do know what industry we’re in? We mine diamonds?’ Britt exchanged a concerned glance with Leila. ‘So what do you mean, you don’t need a ring, Eva?’ Britt demanded, flashing her own multi-carat whopper. ‘What’s going to happen when the official asks for the rings to marry you?’
‘Well, I’ve got Roman’s ring here,’ Eva protested, revealing the plain platinum band she and Roman had chosen together.
‘Yes. Very nice,’ Britt agreed, ‘but what about your wedding band?’
‘Or are you going all Boho, and using a lock of his hair to tie around your finger?’ Leila suggested, flashing anxious glances between her sisters.
‘Don’t be so ridiculous,’ Eva flared. ‘I only need Roman.’
Eva felt her throat dry on the lie, realising the subject of her wedding band hadn’t even figured in her discussions with Roman. It seemed they had both forgotten. In her heart of hearts she had been hoping for a surprise, but it was too late for that now.
* * *
The morning of the wedding dawned bright and sunny, and, though it seemed a long time until the sunset ceremony on the beach, the day was packed with so much to do that it seemed five minutes since Eva had last caught sight of Roman as he left after supper the night before.
‘I wish you had a ring,’ Leila fretted, always the one to think of other people before herself. ‘Are you sure you’re not upset about it?’
‘Not a bit,’ Eva said briskly.
‘Anyway, it’s too late to worry about it now,’ Britt observed as she tweaked the hem of Eva’s ankle-length ivory silk dress. ‘You look beautiful, by the way. And you’re right. You don’t need a ring. All you need is the man you love.’
‘Says you, with a hand you can hardly lift up, it’s so weighted down by diamonds,’ Leila observed wryly.
‘And any man who can tame you, Eva, should be thinking in terms of fur-lined handcuffs and other delicious devices to bring you back into line when you get in one of your moods, not just a ring,’ Britt continued unabashed.
They all laughed wildly—a little too wildly, quite possibly in Eva’s case. Wedding fever, she convinced herself as she led the procession of Skavanga sisters towards the flower festooned canopy set out on the beach. She had no intention of sharing her intimate bedroom secrets with anyone, not even her sisters.
Roman was waiting for her, looking more gorgeous than ever, if such a thing were possible.
‘And the rings?’ the woman who was going to marry them prompted as Eva handed her bouquet of orchids to Leila.
Leila bit her lip and heaved a worried sigh as she carefully positioned the platinum band Roman would wear on the crimson velvet cushion.
The woman waited, and then prompted, ‘May I have both the rings, please?’
‘Oh, forgive me...’
All three sisters turned to look at Roman, who was rummaging in his pocket. ‘Will these do?’
Eva gasped as Roman tipped two fabulous rings onto the cushion.
‘I’m sorry there’s been a delay,’ he explained discreetly, ‘but you know I’m a stickler for design and cut. The stones are the finest quality and have the distinction of being amongst the first batch to be taken from the Skavanga mine. You do like them?’ he prompted when Eva remained speechless.