He held up his hands in mock surrender. “All I ask is that you see my side of the equation. As determined as you are to retain custody of your child, I am equally determined not to let go of mine.”
Something in his expression caused her to soften, some of her anger fleeing and leaving her oddly deflated. For a moment, she could swear he seemed afraid and a little vulnerable.
“I do see your point,” she said quietly. “But I won’t apologize for reacting as I did. It was a sneaky, underhanded thing to do.”
“I apologize then. It was not my intention to upset you so. I was simply seeking to keep my child where she belongs.”
“Maybe what we should be doing is working to prevent a divorce in the first place,” she said tightly. “If we manage to make this marriage a success as you have suggested, then we won’t have to worry about custody battles.”
He nodded and opened the car door for her. She settled in but he stood there for a long moment, his hand on the door. “You’re right. The solution is to make sure it never comes down to a divorce.”
He quietly closed her door and strode around to his side. He slid in beside her and started the engine.
“Now that the unpleasantness is out of the way, we should move on to the more enjoyable aspects of planning a wedding.”
Thus began an afternoon of shopping that made her head spin. Their first stop was at a jeweler. When they were shown a tray of stunning diamond engagement rings, she made the mistake of asking the price. Piers clearly wasn’t happy with her question, but the jeweler answered her with ease. It was all she could do to scrape her jaw off the floor.
She shook her head, putting her hands out as she backed away from the counter. Piers caught her around the waist and pulled her back with tender amusement.
“Don’t disappoint me. As a woman it’s supposed to be ingrained for you to want to pick the biggest, most expensive ring in the shop.”
“Indeed,” the shop owner said solemnly.
“It’s not good form to ask the price anyway,” Piers continued. “Just pick the one you want and pretend there are no price tags.”
“Your fiancé is a very wise man,” the man behind the counter said. Laughter shone in the merchant’s eyes, and Jewel relaxed at their teasing.
Trying not to think about the fact that what one ring cost could feed an entire third world nation, she went about studying each setting. After trying on no less than a dozen, she found the perfect ring.
It was a simple pear-shaped diamond, flawless as far as her untrained eye could tell. On either side was a small cluster of tiny diamonds.
“Your lady has exquisite taste.”
“Yes, she does. Is this the one you want, yineka mou?” Piers asked.
She nodded, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. “I don’t want to know how much it cost.”
Piers laughed. “If it will make you feel better, I’ll match the cost of the ring with a donation to the charity of your choice.”
“Now you’re making fun of me.”
“Not at all. It’s nice to know my new wife won’t break me inside of a year.”
He was trying hard to keep from laughing, and she leveled a glare at him. She marveled at the ease in which he flipped his credit card to the cashier, as if he were paying for a drink instead of a ring that costs thousands upon thousands of dollars.
He slid the ring on her finger and curled her hand until it made a fist. “Leave it on. It’s yours now.”
She glanced down, unable to keep from admiring it. It was a gorgeous ring.
“Now that the ring is out of the way, we should move onto other things like a dress and any other clothing you might need.”
“Wow, a man who likes to shop. However have you existed as a single man this long?” she teased.
His expression became shuttered, and she mentally sighed at having once again said the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Determined to salvage the rest of the day despite its rocky start, she tucked her hand into his arm as they left the jeweler.
“I’m starving. Can we eat before we attack the rest of the shopping?”
“Of course. What would you like to eat?”
“I’d love a big, nasty steak,” she said wistfully.
He laughed. “Then by all means, let’s go kill a cow or two.”
Chapter Nine
The fact that Jewel hid in her room didn’t make her a coward exactly. It just made her reserved and cautious. Downstairs, Piers greeted his family who had flown in for the wedding. She still couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t as if this was a festive occasion, the uniting of kindred souls and all that gunk that surrounded marriage ceremonies.
All she knew about the rest of the Anetakis clan was that Piers had two older brothers, and both were recently married, and at least one child had been added. Hers would be the second.
And from all Piers had told her, his brothers were disgustingly in love.
She closed her eyes in recognition that she was green with envy, and she dreaded having to meet these disgustingly happy people.
They’d know it wasn’t all hearts and roses between her and Piers. For that matter, she was sure Piers had told them the entire truth and that they were marrying because of a one-night stand and a faulty condom.
She stared back at her reflection in the mirror and tried to erase the glum look from her face. The dress she’d chosen for the occasion was a simple white sheath with spaghetti straps. The material gathered gently at her breasts, molding to her shape then falling over her belly where it strained and then hung loose down her legs.
She’d debated on whether to put her hair up or leave it down, but Piers had seemed to delight in her hair the night they met and so in a moment of sheer vanity, she brushed it until it shone and let it hang over her shoulders.
And now she procrastinated like the coward she was, knowing everyone was downstairs waiting for her.
Still bereft of the courage needed to walk down those stairs, she walked to her window to look down over the gardens. The sky was overcast and light fog had descended over the grounds. A perfect fit to her melancholy mood.
For how long she stood, she wasn’t sure. A warm hand slid over her bare shoulder, but she didn’t turn. She knew it was Piers.
Then something cool slithered around her neck, and she did turn her head.
“Be still a moment,” he said as he reached under her hair to fasten a necklace at her nape. “My wedding gift to you. There are earrings to match, but I honestly couldn’t remember if your ears were pierced
