The saleswoman covered her mouth as if she was aghast to find I wasn’t swimming in jewels. Luca didn’t seem any less disapproving.
“We’ll have to remedy that, Saoirse. You’re a Rossi now.” He picked up a ring with a large, emerald-cut aquamarine on a platinum band. “This one. Give me your hand.”
He took my hand without waiting and slipped the ring over my wedding band. It was the simplest of the bunch, even though the stone was enormous. Since I’d refused diamonds, I had a feeling Luca wasn’t going to let me get anything smaller.
He ran his thumb from the ring to the tip of my finger and back down again. “Looks good on you,” he gruffed. “What do you think?”
I stared at my hand in his. Being tall, I had long fingers, and it took a lot for my hands to feel dainty, but they did in comparison to Luca’s broad palm and thick, blunt-tipped fingers.
“It’s pretty.”
The saleswoman cleared her throat. “That is five-carats and natural AAAA quality. You couldn’t have chosen better.”
Luca nodded decisively. “We’ll take it. Now we want to see necklaces and earrings. No diamonds.”
“Luca—”
He squeezed my knee. “Humor me. Let me buy you a few pieces, so I know you’ll have something to wear when I need you to come places with me.”
“I have to look like a Rossi.”
He chuckled. “You should see my mother’s jewelry collection. She could fill this store and still have some left.”
“All gifts from your father?”
“Mmhmm. He celebrates every holiday by buying her jewels. He’ll make something up if he finds a piece he thinks she needs. One Flag Day, he gifted her a ruby cocktail ring.”
That made me laugh for the first time today. “Flag Day?”
“Gotta celebrate the flags, Saoirse.”
“I’ve been remiss by not celebrating them all this time. This year will be different.”
He leaned in closer, speaking conspiratorially. With his hand still on my thigh, he had my full attention, even as the salespeople buzzed around, selecting more jewels for me to look at.
“If you’re good, you might end up with your own ruby cocktail ring.”
I gave my head a little shake. “I don’t even know what that is.”
His brow arched. “Being good?”
My laugh was huffy. “Yes. That’s exactly what I meant.”
Moments later, an army of salespeople presented us with millions of dollars’ worth of jewels. I allowed Luca to take the lead since this was a lot more his thing than mine. Not that I didn’t appreciate it. My heart was beating a mile a minute just looking at all the beauty. My mind just hadn’t connected the shiny jewelry to me yet.
Luca had no such qualms. He plucked up a platinum lariat with a round ruby dangling from the end and draped it around my neck. The ruby dipped between my breasts. Luca fixed that by sliding his finger from my throat down my chest, venturing past the V-neck of my shirt. He hooked his finger around the gem, pulling it out to lay over top of my shirt.
“You’re getting this one.” Swiveling away from me, he pointed to several more pieces. So many my throat went dry. The lariat was the only thing he had me try on. The rest, he chose quickly and with confidence.
He tilted his face toward me again. “Do you see anything else you would like?”
In a daze, I shook my head. How had I gone from a simple, single life to married to a billionaire who seemed to have every intention of showering me with jewels?
It seemed like a very strange, unbelievable dream.
Luca took charge, picking out several necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. He draped each of them on me, studying the way they looked on my chest or around my wrist.
“Blue suits you.” He grazed my lobe with his fingertip. “Do you like earrings that dangle?”
“Sometimes, but I think you’ve picked out enough. I’m covered for at least several occasions.”
He dropped his hand to his lap. “Most women would kill to have a shopping spree here.”
“Don’t make me say I’m not like other girls, or I’ll never forgive you.”
That earned me a soft chuckle. “All right. I don’t want that. We should probably leave while you’re still speaking to me.”
“I think you’re right. It’s a razor’s edge right now.”
Like a perfect gentleman, Luca stood and helped me up, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.
“It’s time to go anyway.” Luca checked the time on his phone. “The movers will be at your place in an hour.”
“Oh, right. That’s happening.”
The corner of his mouth hitched. “Can’t sell a marriage if we’re living apart.”
“Let me be bummed, Luca. It’s a big change. I’m going from living with my best friend to living with a boy.”
That earned me a legitimate laugh. “I’m hardly a boy, Saoirse.” He pressed a hand to the small of my back. “Once we get all the hard parts over with, we can get back to some semblance of normalcy.”
“Normalcy dripping in jewels.”
He leaned in, his mouth brushing my hair. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s a thing.”
He chuckled again. “Let’s go, wife.”
When it was all said and done, I couldn’t bring myself to completely move out of my apartment. I left some clothes, bedding, and toiletries so I’d have a place to retreat to if I needed to be alone or a crash pad in case this all blew up in my face.
Besides, we had another six months on our lease. There was no rush to remove every trace of myself from my old life.
Luca wandered into my new bedroom, which was beside his. My things were scattered everywhere as I attempted to reorganize my new life.
“Do you need any help?”
I blew hair out of my face and glanced around. I’d taken things out of boxes, and now it was just a matter of finding where to put them.
“I think I have to do it myself, or I won’t know where anything is. You could recycle the boxes for me if you’re in the mood to be helpful.”
“Sure. I’m going out for a while. I’ll take them on my way.” He moved deeper into my room, where I’d piled the broken-down boxes beside my bed. With his hands on his hips, he studied my possessions spread across the king-size mattress.
I turned to hang dresses in my walk-in closet. “I’ll never be able to fill this closet. Who needs a closet this size?”
“I do. Mine is the same size and it’s full.”
I came out and flicked my eyes over him. Even casually dressed, he was stylish. “You’re much more fashionable than I am.”
“We’ll have to remedy that. I’ll take you shopping.”
“You took me shopping this morning.”
“For clothes. You have to have clothing that matches your jewelry.”
I scooped up another stack of my subpar clothing to hang up. “Fine. I wouldn’t want to make you look bad when I’m by your side.”
This time when I came back out of the closet, Luca was holding my vibrator. “You have quite a collection.” He nodded toward my pile of toys.