“It was my great-grandmother’s.” I struggled to rein in my emotions. “My mom wore it when she married my dad, and I hoped I’d get to wear it on my wedding day.”
“Well, now you can.” He let go and drew back out of my hands, his expression shuttering. “Even if it’s not to me.”
“Why wouldn’t it be to you?” My heartrate inched toward the chandelier.
He ignored my question. Royce grabbed the box, dipped a hand inside, and gently lifted the necklace out. He unclasped it and stood, draping it down over my front. The cold line of diamonds kissed the sides of my neck and I held still as he fastened it. It was heavy, but it belonged. I hadn’t felt like something was missing until it was there, completing me.
His hand lingered at the nape of my neck, fingers trailing down the line of my spine. It gave me a delicious shiver.
“There’s a mirror,” he said softly.
It hung over the banquet, and I rose from my chair. He followed alongside, and when I gasped at the sight of the glittering necklace, his eyes filled with pride. I slipped a hand up to curl around the back of his neck, fisting his hair and pulled him into my urgent, grateful kiss.
Even though our lips were pressed together, he held himself back from me. The kiss was . . . reluctant. Guilty. Like he thought he had no right to accept it from me, when it should have been the other way around. He’d spent a fortune on this necklace, and if I wasn’t so desperate, I should have refused.
When he ended the kiss, the mood in the room shifted, and in the flickering candlelight, his hesitation made him look like a statue. “I need to remind you of the non-disclosure you’ve signed, because what we’re going to talk about can’t be repeated. Ever.”
He motioned to the chairs, all businesslike. I shook my head. “I think I’d prefer to stand.”
He looked pained all over again, a frown twisting the lips I’d just kissed. “Marist, please. This is hard for me, and if you could—”
“I know,” I interrupted. I gave him the most serious look I possessed so he would understand. “I already know.”
His eyes narrowed with distrust, disguising his worry. “What do you think you know?”
“You’re going to take my virginity in front of them.”
He flinched and went wooden.
Whatever was going on in his mind, I couldn’t read it. His expression was devoid of emotion. The longer he stood there, simply blinking at me like I was a ghost he couldn’t believe he was seeing, the more upset I became.
I’d held out hope that he would laugh and tell me I was being ridiculous. Or that he’d say he’d found a way out. He could forgo the archaic and insane tradition.
That hope died earlier when I came into this room. I sensed it in the air and tasted the hint of promised debauchery. Plus, it was foolish to expect any other outcome. He’d made it perfectly clear he was willing to do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. He wasn’t going to give up a seat with the board to save me.
Royce looked like he wanted to ask a question, but he must have discovered the answer on his own. “Emily.”
He’d been wondering how I’d found out. “Yeah,” I said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Betrayal colored his voice. It threw me off-kilter to see him look wounded. “For fuck’s sake, Marist. Do you have any idea what this has been like? I didn’t sleep at all last night. It’s been fucking tearing me apart.”
“Are you seriously upset with me for withholding information?” I scowled. “You don’t tell me anything.”
He jammed a hand into his hair, possibly to yank it out. “I couldn’t tell you, no matter how much I wanted to. And—fuck—I wanted to so badly.”
I sighed, not sure what to believe.
He took off and paced a few steps before coming to an abrupt stop. “Wait a minute. Why are you here?”
Had the champagne gone to his head and killed all his brain cells? “What do you mean, why am I here?”
“You know what’s going to happen, and you’re still . . .” He couldn’t seem to process it. His dubious gaze trapped mine. “You’re going through with it?”
I fought a losing battle to sound tough and unaffected. “I don’t understand it, but unless you tell me there’s another way, I came prepared to do what”—I struggled to find the words—“needs to be done.” I gripped the elbow of my other arm in awkward posture that Alice would probably scold if she saw. “We both need this to get what we want, right?”
His chest expanded with a deep breath, and his voice was quiet. “I was sure you were going to say no. That you’d walk away, and I’d never see you again. It’s why I wasn’t allowed to tell you until today.”