The Platinum Collection: A Convenient Proposal: His Diamond of Convenience / The Highest Price to Pay / His Ring Is Not Enough

But up front, she stood firm. “Oh, you were never going to refuse. I knew that. And there were safeguards in place just in case, because I’m tidy like that. But they weren’t needed because you were never going to refuse.”

His expression hardened and so did his voice. “No,” he said, “I don’t suppose I was.”

“And with that, I bid you good evening. We will be in touch tomorrow to discuss a ring. I’m very classic. I quite like a white diamond.”

“And I’m old-fashioned, as well,” he said. “I would like very much for my fiancée to be surprised by the choice of ring. Failing that, I shall choose the diamond that is most convenient to me.”

She gritted her teeth, annoyance spiking through her. Clearly, he was going to fight her every step of the way. “Do as you see fit.” She nodded once and started to walk out of the room, holding her breath as she moved past him, trying to avoid breathing in the fragrance of soap, skin and a scent that she disturbingly suspected was unique to him. But she kept her posture straight, kept herself from acknowledging the fact that she was affected by him. And with that, she strode out the way that she came in.

Victoria Calder intensely disliked places like this, but she did love a victory. And this one was so close she could taste it.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_39d746fe-be56-5ac3-b8f4-785647266832)

BY ONE O’CLOCK Dmitri Markin had already had a full day. He had sent his personal assistant after a ring. A yellow diamond in a platinum setting, because he wanted to see what Victoria’s reaction would be to his defiance of her order.

He did not take orders, and she would discover that quickly. He also didn’t take well to her coming in and attempting to manipulate him, to take full rein of the situation. So he was taking control now.

He had also alerted the media. He’d told them that the two of them had been involved in a covert relationship for the past couple of months, and that last night it had resulted in an engagement. While they were on a dinner date. Which matched up with witnesses’ accounts of last night’s sighting.

Victoria Calder would realize very quickly that this was his show now. And he would conduct it as he saw fit.

Now all that was left was to speak to his darling fiancée, who was currently five minutes late. He did not take kindly to people running late. Of course, it might’ve been helpful for him to inform her that she was supposed to meet him with a bit more time for her to actually make the commute to his end of London. She had been somewhere quite a bit away, and traffic would be fairly awful at this time of day, as it was awful at any time of day.

He could very well imagine that she hated to be late, and he had all but guaranteed that she would be. The enjoyment he felt at the thought of her annoyance did somewhat temper his irritation.

And his irritation vanished completely when she burst through the door of his office, with his assistant on her heels, her blond hair escaping from its neat bun, her cheeks pink.

“So sorry to keep you waiting.” Her tone said that she was anything but sorry; in fact it did not denote apology of any kind. In fact, she sounded quite venomous. He found that quite enjoyable.

She had already backed him into a corner, her logic and facts more persuasive than a cattle prod. And here he was again, faced with a fait accompli. Faced with giving away the very last piece of his twisted soul.

He nearly laughed. Perhaps that would have been an issue if he’d had a piece of his soul left. Sadly, he was almost certain he didn’t. Not even a twisted one.

“I am a very busy man, and I do not like to be kept waiting.” He looked behind Victoria’s shoulder at his very put-out-looking assistant. “Of course that does not include you, darling.”

He could see Victoria’s muscles visibly tighten at the endearment, but his assistant’s face relaxed. Undoubtedly Louise had been afraid an intruder had got past her.

“Very giving of you, dearest,” Victoria sniffed. She crossed the room, and sat in the chair that was positioned in front of his desk.

“That will be all, Louise.” His assistant nodded, the relieved expression still on her face as she closed the door. “Nice of you to finally join me.”

“Yes, well, I was at a luncheon. I had to leave, quite abruptly. It was very rude. And I am never rude.”

“Are you not?”

“Not in public.”

“What else don’t you do in public?”

She blinked. “A great many things,” she said crisply.

“There isn’t much I won’t do in private. Or in public.” He said it to get a rise out of her, but as the words escaped his lips, and as the color deepened in her cheeks, he could not help but experience a rush of heat through his own veins. Because it made him think of all the things that a man could do in public, or private, with a woman like Victoria. Truly, there was very little he would not do with her in either setting. Especially with her.

Then he reminded himself that there was much easier game to be had. He was working with her, using her to his advantage, and that meant sex was most definitely out of the question. Of course, given the fact that they were to be playing at being a couple, and that introducing anyone else into their charade would be something of a liability, it was very likely there would be no sex for the foreseeable future. The thought made him frown. Deeply.

Victoria frowned in return. “Why do you look so grumpy? I was only five minutes late.”

“I was only pondering the specifics of our arrangement,” he said.

That word made her brighten. She seemed to relish this entire process and he hadn’t decided yet if he trusted her. “Well, talking of specifics, I have drawn up some legal documents for us to go over.”

“That quickly?”

She waved a hand. “Oh, I had these drawn up weeks ago, when I was first formulating the idea. I know better than to leave these things until the last minute. The last thing you want to do a rush job on is legal documents. I didn’t want any reference to our engagement being false in them, but also I need to guarantee that you will in fact hand over the ownership of my father’s company upon the end of our little alliance.”

“And what makes you think I’ll sign this?”

She shrugged. “Because if you don’t, I walk.”

“I see.” He leaned back in his chair, then pushed against the surface of the desk and stood. “And where is my guarantee?”

“If I break off the engagement, then I don’t get the company. However, if you break it off, I do. So, if at any point I abandon you, my side of the agreement is void. This is sort of the pre-prenuptial agreement.”

“Is that something people do nowadays?”

“Actually, it is.”

She reached down and took a folio off the ground, pulling a thick stack of documents out of it. “It outlines several things, including what will become of the ring should we break up—it returns to you—and the fact that I’m not entitled to the company should I break things off with you. It also clearly states that upon our marriage the company reverts to me, but if we divorce and it’s my fault, ownership reverts to you. We need all of this seamless. It has to look legitimate even when it’s over.”

“You certainly don’t leave things to chance.” He examined her fine features, high cheekbones, the delicate rose color in her cheeks, the faint blush of her lips. She was very pale, her blond hair silvery. To some, he imagined she would appear very fragile, but then, that was what made her interesting. The fact that beneath the soft facade she was steel and ice.

She might appear to be an English rose, but she would not be half so easily crushed.

“Only fools leave these things to chance. Even the best gamblers are calculating odds, not taking wild stabs in the dark.” She placed the stack of papers on his desk and pushed them toward his side. He bent to pick them up, slowly leafing through the pages.

“Calculation is important,” he said, as he continued to scan the papers. “But you should never underestimate the importance of being able to follow your gut. When you’re in a fight there often isn’t time to play it out like chess, even if it would be ideal. Sometimes you just have to trust that if you need to feint right, your body will feint right.”

“A nice theory. But that has nothing to do with legalities. What do you think?” She looked at him with her sharp blue eyes, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

“Everything looks good.” He sat back down behind his desk and opened the top drawer, taking out the ring he had stashed in there earlier. The velvet box made a muted sound as he pressed it slowly onto the wooden surface.

She looked down at the box, then back up at him. “Is that what I think it is?”

“That depends on what you think it is. Perhaps you should open it.”

She shot him a look that could only be described as annoyed and reached out, taking the box in her hands. She cracked open the lid and for nearly a full second her expression was blank. Tellingly so. It was very difficult to describe the shift that took place between the look on Victoria’s face when she was genuinely at a loss, and the look that appeared when she was trying to make others believe that she was blasé. A subtle softening in her eyes, an added tension around her mouth. It was barely noticeable, but it was there.

By the time she looked up at him she was in full control again. “I told you I don’t care for colored diamonds.”