The Platinum Collection: A Diamond Deal: The Flaw in His Diamond / The Purest of Diamonds? / In the Brazilian's Debt

‘Are you sitting comfortably, Eva?’

His voice with its metallic twang as it came through the headphones startled her. Raising her chin just in time, she said, ‘Fine, thank you.’ Mighty fine.

Roman turned back to his pre-flight checks. His harsh, unyielding profile, with the customary coating of stubble, was incredibly sexy. Roman Quisvada was the most compelling individual she’d ever met, and she had to force herself not to take in any more of him and just stare straight ahead.

Before she knew it the ground was sinking away through the worryingly see-through panel on the floor at her feet. As she watched, the island became a playroom carpet of bright colours: green, orange, brown and blue.

‘Can you hear me clearly?’ Roman checked, bringing her back with relief to the reassuring sight of him in full control of the situation.

‘Perfectly, thank you.’

‘And you’re not nervous?’

Tongue in cheek: in what context? ‘Not one bit,’ she confirmed.

‘Good. We’ll be in the air around an hour.’

‘Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?’

‘To one of my facilities on the mainland. And you don’t need to shout. I can hear you perfectly too.’

‘I thought your work was cutting and polishing diamonds?’

‘It is.’

‘So that’s where we’re going?’

Roman didn’t answer. He had started talking to someone on the other end of the radio link, and so she fell silent, frustrated by the lack of information. Roman always contrived to be one step ahead of her, and that was something she had to change.

Heat rushed through her as, conversation over, Roman turned to glance at her. ‘I’m going to teach you all I know, Eva.’

About diamonds? There was a suspicious amount of humour, even in the robotic tone of voice coming through her headphones. So long as it wasn’t her klutzy lack of skill when it came to Roman’s advanced class last night.

‘Diamonds can do more than buy a woman or ruin a man.’

‘That’s a very jaundiced view.’

‘Perhaps I have a very jaundiced view of life, Eva.’

Perhaps he did.

Her thoughts turned from daydreams to reality as the glittering blue ocean gave way to pristine white seashore and then on to neatly cultivated land where the soil was a rich shade of ochre. It was some time more before she spotted any real signs of habitation other than the occasional farmhouse or barn, but then came increasingly busy roads and small towns, until they were hovering over what looked like a brand new industrial park.

‘Welcome to Quisvada Industries, Eva,’ Roman announced as he took them down. He landed the helicopter exactly on the centre of a yellow cross in the middle of a number of immaculately maintained, pristine white buildings. ‘This is where we cut and polish the diamonds.’ He switched off the engines and signalled that she could remove her headphones now. ‘And where we do a few more things you probably won’t be expecting.’

Diamonds, always diamonds. Her mind rioted with impatience. Would she never escape them? Why were diamonds so important to everyone but her? Yes, she wanted the mine to survive, but she couldn’t help wishing that Skavanga could be saved by some other means. Couldn’t Roman see she was desperate to get their talks under way? She was grateful to him for taking this time out to show her round, but she was desperate to move on so they could talk and she could go home. There was only so much torture she could take and she was just about at her limit. Being close to him, yet poles apart in their thinking, was unendurable. ‘I know all about diamonds,’ she exclaimed with frustration, ripping the headphones from her head.

‘No,’ Roman argued as he dipped his sunglasses down his nose. ‘You only think you do.’

He was right again. Their visit to his facility was a revelation for her. Everyone had heard about industrial diamonds, though Eva hadn’t realised that the demand for them far outstripped gem-quality diamonds.

‘Although the use of synthetic diamonds is on the march,’ Roman explained.

And he was on top of that too, Eva realised as he took her through another sterile white building. ‘I must admit I wasn’t aware of the many uses of industrial diamonds in medical situations.’ She paused and spoke her next words with care, sensing Roman’s particular interest in this subject as his hand strayed to the gold chain he wore. ‘I knew that diamond dust was used to coat various medical instruments, but I had no idea that it was used to target rogue cells.’

‘The list goes on and on,’ he confirmed.

She had wondered about Roman’s obvious obsession with the medical application of diamond dust, as explained to Eva by one of the technicians working in that particular department. Roman’s eyes had gleamed with fervour as he had stood beside her listening.

‘Our boss is one of the biggest supporters of medical research in the world,’ the technician had told her proudly. ‘Without him there would be no progress.’

‘It might be slower, Marco,’ Roman tempered, resting his hand on the man’s shoulder, ‘though I appreciate your confidence in me. But I can tell you, Eva, that without people like Marco nothing would be achieved.’

More surprises were in store when Roman took her for lunch. He chose a low-key beach shack rather than some high-tone restaurant.

And this was better, she thought as they kicked off their shoes. She could relax and be herself—maybe even forget who she was for a couple of hours, forget who Roman was and their respective roles in life. She could forget the fact that she was having lunch with a billionaire who just happened to have flown her here in his helicopter.

‘Is that okay for you?’ Roman checked with her when the handsome young waiter suggested the fresh catch of the day for lunch.

‘Perfect,’ she confirmed, resting back in the wicker chair. ‘This is heaven.’ And after the ups and downs of the past couple of days, to be sitting like this with her feet in the sand and Roman at her side, with the lazy surf rolling rhythmically back and forth in between them, this was heaven.

‘Have I convinced you?’ he asked in a lazy drawl, leaning back.

She smiled as his chair creaked. It hardly seemed substantial enough to contain such a significant force. ‘I can see the need for those diamonds now, and it goes far beyond what I thought...’

‘But?’ he queried, sensing a question in her words.

She waited until the waiter had served their cold drinks. ‘I suppose your particular interest in the medical application fascinates me. You seem...’ She hesitated.

‘Unusually passionate?’ Roman suggested. ‘That’s because I am.’

‘It wasn’t your passion that surprised me. It’s the direction it takes. Is there some particular reason for that?’ she asked carefully. ‘A personal reason, perhaps?’

He shrugged and finished his glass of water, pouring another before he spoke, and then he just said, ‘Yes.’

She waited, but then their food arrived and they were both distracted for a few moments. When everything had calmed down, she tried again. ‘So...’

‘Eat, Eva. Your food will get cold, and it looks delicious.’

‘Yes, it does,’ she agreed, but she didn’t make any move to pick up her knife and fork.

‘All right,’ Roman threatened as he shook out her napkin and spread it across her knees. ‘I’ll have to feed you if you won’t eat. You have been warned.’

‘No. Seriously. Please tell me—’ She jumped in with both feet. ‘Starting with the gold chain...I can tell it means a lot to you. Why do you wear it?’

When his eyes flashed she was sure she had gone too far too soon, and wished she could call the words back, but Roman quickly gathered himself.

‘It was my mother’s chain. She got sick and died,’ he said briskly, unemotionally. ‘I’m just trying to do some good, Eva. We all have to do what we can, even if it’s all too late. So now you know. Do you mind if we eat now?’