I looked down at my hand, seeing a diamond that belonged in a museum, seeing a history so rich and deep. My thumb brushed over the diamond, a rock that could easily cut me if I weren’t careful. I lifted my gaze and looked at him again, realizing he’d never asked me to marry him.

He just told me that I would.

There was a short moment of euphoria, because everything about this proposal was perfect. The scene. The ring. The man. It was a Cinderella story, but instead of a prince, I got a count. I got a palace.

But it wasn’t enough.

I slipped the ring back off my finger.

There was a subtle change to his expression, but that slight difference conveyed so much.

“How can you expect me to say yes?” With the ring in my fingertips, I stared at him.

He was quiet, moving his hands back to the pockets of his slacks. His eyes were trained and steady, focused on me, like the barrel of a gun pointed at a target.

“I—I can’t.” I held the ring back out to him.

He didn’t take it.

I continued to hold the ring in front of me.

He didn’t move.

“I’ll say yes—if you free the girls.”

His answer was immediate. “No.”

He’d put his heart on the table, and I leveraged that against him as best as I could.

“You have no say in how I run my business. Nor will you ever.” His voice remained low, but it was so hard and callous.

I looked at the ring again, seeing a future I still wanted, inexplicably. “Then release my sister.” My fingers moved the ring back over my knuckle, the weight back in place.

His eyes glanced at the ring on my finger before he looked at me again.

“You said I’m loyal. So, you can’t expect me to marry you while my sister is in that godforsaken place. Let her go—and I’ll marry you.”

His stare was endless. Hostile. Annoyed. Furious. A breath escaped his lungs and made his nostrils flare. But slowly, he let all of that go. He came back to me. He drifted back to the moment we shared. “Alright.”

Rose petals were on the bed. White candles glowed on every surface, filling the room just the way they did at the Louvre. The door had been fixed, and a line of red petals led to the bed.

I moved forward, constantly aware of the weight of commitment on my left hand.

Clothes dropped behind me.

My heart raced. It was the same room, same kind of evening, but tonight was different.

My life was forever different.