‘Do you like it here?’
The question was guarded, carefully blanked of any of Annie’s own thoughts.
‘Oh, yeah. It’s great. I love the soccer team, and the school looks awesome. I love the house and the pool and the golf course and my room.’
Annie nodded, difficulties cracking through her mind. ‘Good, darling. I’m glad. Now, where’s that car...?’
Dimitrios patted the box in his pocket as he strode through the front door, a smile on his face, impatience making his movements swift. His day had been long, far longer than he’d intended. A crisis had blown up with one of his corporate investments—the kind of crisis that would usually necessitate Dimitrios’s personal attention, requiring him to jump on the jet and fly straight to Hong Kong to sort it out.
But he didn’t. Instead, he did phone conferences and worked over email to resolve the situation, and in the back of his mind was the certainty that he didn’t want to leave Annabelle and Max.
His family.
Max was in bed when he returned home. ‘I’m late,’ he said to Annabelle, shaking his head. ‘I couldn’t get away sooner.’
Her eyes didn’t quite meet his, reminding him of the first time they’d met, that memory still fresh in his mind despite how much had happened—and changed—since then.
‘It’s fine. He was tired. We walked a lot today.’
He smiled, but also a kernel of jealousy lodged in his chest. He needed to scale back his hours—he should be joining Max as he got to know his new city.
‘Where did you go?’
‘Everywhere,’ she said. ‘Are you hungry?’
There was something in her tone that raised a hint of alarm. Instinctively, he wanted to erase that. ‘Sure. But first, I have something for you.’
She froze, her body quite still, her eyes wide as they lifted to his. ‘Oh?’
He reached for her hand at the same time he removed the jewellery box from his jacket. The world-famous turquoise would communicate to her that something special was inside. He watched as she lifted the lid, her fingers a little unsteady. The ring shone in the light of the hallway. Large diamonds formed a circlet, and in their centre there was a canary-yellow diamond the size of a fingernail, cut in a perfect circle and set in four shimmering claws. Annabelle stared at it for a long time, as though she’d never seen a ring before.
‘It goes on your finger,’ he said with a droll smile.
She didn’t look at him. ‘I know. It’s just... Whatever did you buy it for?’
He pulled the ring from the box and took her hand in his, lifting it so he could slip the ring on to her finge
r.
It was a perfect fit. She flexed her fingers, staring at it, before flicking her eyes in his direction. ‘Why are you giving me this?’
He reached for her hand, stroking her fingers. ‘Last night felt like a beginning. I wanted to mark the occasion.’
The column of her throat shifted as she swallowed. She looked the opposite of overjoyed. It was as though the ring was some kind of burden. ‘Thank you.’
Her reaction wasn’t what he’d expected. He spoke carefully, his voice calm, but his every instinct was flaring to life, telling him something was up.
‘You don’t like it?’
Her white teeth sank into her lower lip. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she contradicted, but so quietly he had to strain to hear. ‘It’s just...’
‘Go on.’
‘About last night...’
He braced his skeleton with steel, a sharp rush of wariness making his body tense all over. ‘Yes?’
She sighed. ‘I think we need to talk.’