Alice looked at the box without making an effort to touch it.
‘Your ring,’ he prompted after a beat.
Only then did Alice slowly push her hand across the table, her fingers trembling as she cracked open the lid.
She couldn’t have said what she’d expected. Certainly something worthy of the bride of Thanos Stathakis. But this?
It was ludicrous. She lifted the solitaire ring from its velvet enclosure. Without any real experience it was impossible for Alice to say if the diamond was ten carats or twenty, only that it was as large as two of her thumb nails put together, and so bright it almost blinded her. The setting was simple, six claws and platinum gold.
She felt Thanos’s eyes on her as she slid it onto her finger, the weight of it strangely familiar, something she felt she could get used to.
‘It’s...lovely.’ She swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat.
Thanos shrugged. ‘I thought it appropriate.’
‘It is.’ She looked up at him, a small frown tweaking her lips. ‘Is this what the women you date would generally expect?’
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‘A ring like that?’ He lifted his shoulders once more. ‘I suppose so.’
She shook her head. ‘Not just the ring. The whole deal.’ Her hand gestured towards the divorce settlement. Thanos’s eyes followed the gesture.
‘No, agape. If this were a real marriage, my wife would undoubtedly expect a lot more.’
Shock was reflected in Alice’s expression. ‘Seriously?’
‘You know what I’m worth?’
Alice tilted her head to the side. ‘A lot.’
His laugh was short and sharp. ‘Yes.’
‘So? You think that means your wife—your real wife—would be automatically entitled to a huge share of that wealth?’
His eyes narrowed imperceptibly. ‘It’s a moot point, Alice. This will be my only wedding, you my only wife.’
‘Why?’ She stood, and then regretted it, when the simple action brought her body so close to his.
‘Because I,’ he said slowly, his eyes boring down on hers, the air between them suddenly crackling with an awareness that Alice assured herself was completely one-sided, ‘am not made for marriage.’ His smile covered a deeper confession, Alice was sure of it.
‘In what way?’ It was curiosity that fired her to ask it.
‘In every way.’ His own response was teasing, and she had a feeling he was hiding himself away from her, covering a truthful response with a glib joke.
Then again, who was she to pry? This wasn’t a real marriage. They weren’t even friends. It was business—purely business.
‘So, all that is left now is to seal the deal.’
Alarm jolted down her spine, as for a moment, out of nowhere, the image of Thanos kissing her crashed into Alice’s mind. Her knees began to tremble and her pulse was thready and inconsistent. Her eyes, when they lifted to his, were half shuttered, her lips parted in a breathy, silent, invitation she had no idea she was issuing.
‘Seal the deal?’ she heard herself whisper.
He made a throaty noise of agreement, and then took a step backwards, away from her, a desertion that had every single one of her senses screaming with disappointment.
‘I thought we would go out.’
‘Out?’