Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Juliette

Wow. My head was reeling.
Elliot watched me closely from his spot on the sofa as I read the last lines of his legal document.
When I was done, I folded the paper back in half, placed it slowly down on the cushion between us, and took a few huge gulps of my wine. It didn't even touch the sides. God it was delicious, you could tell it was expensive. All part of the package in Elliot's lavish life.
What had I got myself into?
"Say something." Elliot commanded after a few beats of silence pulsed between us.
I took a deep breath, trying to still the millions of questions whirling around my brain at lightning speed. Where would I even begin?
Elliot's eyes implored mine, two crystal clear pools burning through me, waiting expectantly.
"I have some concerns." I breathed.
He sagged with what seemed like relief, a gush of air leaving his mouth. "I'd be upset if you didn't." Then he gave me a look, his eyes steady and changing before me like the old Elliot had left the room and the new businessman Elliot had walked in. The very same Elliot that was in the boardroom only a few days before. That felt like a lifetime ago.
"What are your concerns Miss St. James?" He pushed, setting his glass down and folding his long fingers together before placing them on his knee. He was so graceful when he moved, a man completely and utterly in tune with his own body.
I cleared my throat and reached for the folded paper again, opening it up quickly and starting from the top.
"Terms, point 1..."
I looked up nervously, Elliot didn't move a muscle.
"One whole year? That seems like a long time." I continued.
"Yes, but necessary." He stated matter-of-factly. "This needs to be convincing Juliette, if we get married and I move into my post as CEO, then we get divorced straight away...my father is an intelligent man, he will know something is amiss."
If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought this wasn't Elliot's first false marriage negotiation, the way he executed himself was flawless.
"Understood." I scanned my eyes down the next few points.
Not effecting my position at Goulding Jewellers, that was good to read, I was glad I had it in writing.
Next point, number 8. I scoffed loudly as I read it again.
Like I had to be told the terms of our 'relationship' was nothing more than business. Like I wanted to be more.
His mood swings and general lack of manners were enough to put me off ever wanting more, at the very least. Not to mention his obvious distain for me. 
'You need to stop throwing yourself at me.'
His words from the party echoed around my head, a furious burning appeared in my cheeks. I'd shamefully wanted him to kiss me that night, I pushed the unsteady rising feeling back down quickly. 
Elliot peered over the paper until his eyes landed where my finger was hovering on the Agreement, his jaw tensed, and his blue eyes flashed with some fresh and unreadable expression.
My throat thickened slightly as I forced myself to say something to mask the mocking that was begging to come out of me. "You don't have to have point 8 in this, I have no expectations of you outside of the agreement." I held up the paper between us.
You've made it clear you think little of me, no need to rub it in.
"That may be the case, but I'd like to keep it in there all the same." He deadpanned. 
Trust me Elliot Truman, I won't fall in love with you.
My eyes flashed when I reread the capital contribution, my heart skipped a beat as the words inked into the page shone like a beacon.
One hundred thousand pounds.
That was lifechanging. That was Milo's life, whittled down to a few small characters typed up and printed on a page.
But there was one bump in the road, the document said I would only get the money at the end of our agreement, and that would complicate things. A year was a long time, and I needed the money right there and then, Milo's treatment couldn't wait a year.
The thought hung heavy in my chest.
"I'd like an advance on the payment." I tried to sound as calm and collected as possible, but my voice betrayed me as the last word tumbled out of my mouth.
Elliot's lips set in a firm line. "The term stands, 100k at the end of the agreement."
Shit.
"You'll receive everything you need in the meantime, I'll cover any expense that may arise-"
"But, I need the money now." I cut him off.
He assessed me coolly, rising from his seat so he could refill our glasses with more wine. When he drained the last of the bottle into his glass, he skillfully disposed of it somewhere underneath his coffee table and took a swig of his drink. His muscular shoulders bunched and rippled under his shirt as he moved, maneuvering himself back onto the sofa.
He really was God like. It was disarming.
He ran his free hand through his dark curly locks, so it pushed the hair out of his face and exposed the tanned skin of his forehead above his brows, before turning back to me with a vacant stare. "Why?"
Panic flashed through me, I should have expected that question. Without an explanation, I was nothing more than a money hungry gold digger in it for the cash. But I wasn't ready to share the truth, not with Elliot anyway.
"There's just-I just need it now. Okay?"
I pulled at the piercings in my ear nervously as Elliot mulled over my words.
He cocked his eyebrow up at me, before frowning. "20 thousand pounds up front, the rest at the end of the agreement. First and final offer."
I did a few quick calculations in my head. Between the money I had saved for my impending trip back to Ireland, my mum's savings and the wage increase Ashley had negotiated for me. 20 thousand pounds would be more than enough to cover the remaining that Milo needed to start the trial treatment in America for his Cancer, after the price of accommodation and travel to the States were taken into account as well.
"Okay, that's fine."
"I'll get my assistant to wire you the money first thing tomorrow. Anything else?" Elliot sounded exasperated, like this wasn't his idea in the first place.
I grazed my eyes over the duties section of the document, annoyance spiking threw me anew.
"Some of these 'duties' are ridiculous." I grumbled.
Elliot's expression lightened a fraction. "Please, expand."
"To be presented in public in a way that the First Member deems appropriate." I read the line in my best attempt at a formal accent. "I'm not a Barbie, Elliot. You can't dress me up and parade me around like an object."
He seemed confused, like he didn't see the problem.
I continued. "And a gym membership? I know I'm not the fittest, but surly you can't force me to exercise. I know I'm not conventionally beautiful, and I know your opinion on my weight - considering our less than amicable introduction outside On The Rox..."
Elliot appeared to grimace at the memory.
It wasn't my favourite memory either.
'You were lucky someone strong enough to catch you was around'.
His words rang in my ears like they had just freshly tumbled from his lips.
I pushed past the rising anger in my throat and continued. "I'm not a supermodel Elliot, nor will I ever be one, and you can't make me into one...no matter how much you may want to."
He seemed lost for words, resigning himself to silence as the tension crackled between us.
Eventually, he opened his mouth to speak. "I have a reputation of bedding a certain type of woman..." He rubbed the back of his neck as he continued to speak. "You are an unorthodox choice, people will wonder-"
"They will wonder why you chose me to marry." I finished his sentence.
He simply nodded; his jaw clenched in a stone-cold expression I'd become so accustomed to seeing on his beautiful face.
That was the butt end of it.
Why would someone who looked like him, be with someone that looked like me?
"Why did you choose me?" The question was past my lips before I could even give it a second thought. I'd asked him this before, in the meeting room at Truman & Sons HQ, but I hadn't really gotten my answer then. If I was going to sign, I had to know the reason why. 
My words hung in the air awkwardly for a while.
Finally, Elliot cast his eyes along the length of me before putting me out of my misery.
"I explored a few options before our unexpected meeting regarding the merger, all of them amounted to nothing. I didn't expect to see you again, but when I saw you in the conference room, and after everything Millie told me...I figured you were my best bet at seeing this through."
I don't know what I expected him to say, but his words made me deflate like a week-old birthday balloon.
I was his last resort.
Disappointment blossomed in me involuntarily. I gave myself a shake, not noticing Elliot had reached for the paper until he had it laid out flat on his thigh. Producing a concealed pen from his pocket, he scribbled a few lines through the paper and handed it back to me.

When I checked the page again, I saw his handy work:

- To be presented in public in a way that the First Member deems appropriate, this will include a provided wardrobe of the First Member's choosing, regular beauty therapy and access to a local gym of the Second Member's choice.

He'd run a line through the last part, striking it out.
"I will provide you with your wardrobe Juliette, because the type of events we will attend will require you to be dressed for the occasion. But-" His voice faltered slightly as his baby blue eyes studied mine."No gym, not if you don't want to go."
I was breathing so heavily; I was sure he could hear it from where he was sat. "Okay."
That was it then, I'd asked all my questions. There was nothing left to do but...
I reached for the pen, which he had placed on the cushion between us, and pushed the top of it down until the nib appeared with a satisfying click. Bringing the pen to the dotted line next to my name, I peered up through my lashes at Elliot.
He was watching me rigidly, his eyes wide and his mouth parted slightly in anticipation.
"Go get the NDA." I prompted.
Then, in a sweeping motion, I scrawled my signature on the page and dated it.
I'd signed my fate, I was going to be Elliot's wife. For better or worse.
Something told me it would be the latter.
This is for Milo.
I repeated that like a mantra as I handed back the crumpled piece of paper.

After I'd signed every document Elliot put in front of me, my head a little heavy from my lack of food and the amount of alcohol I had consumed, I checked my phone for the time.
"Shit, its 10pm already."
Elliot placed the documents back in a tidy looking folder he had brought from his home office, his nimble fingers making light work of neatening up the pages and sealing the folder back up. When he looked at me again, he flashed me a smirk. "Past your bedtime?"
I rolled my eyes at him as I spotted a few texts that had come through since I'd been sat in his living room. Mostly from Teddy, but one was from my mum.
I was a grown ass adult, I didn't have a curfew perse, but Milo still wasn't well, and I didn't want to wake him or my mother by coming in at an ungodly hour. I still had to get back across the city, it would be late even if I left right that second.
Elliot read the worry on my face, his smirk fading slightly.
"You can stay here, if you want?"
"Here?" I couldn't keep the disbelief out of my voice.
"Something wrong with my place?"
I ran my eyes around the perimeter of the grand apartment, until they landed on the beautiful twinkling lights that shone through the floor to ceiling windows that enveloped us. His place was perfect, no doubt about that.
"I couldn't impose on you like that. I should head home." I reached for my bag and rose to leave, but his hand quickly circled my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.
"Juliette." My name always sounded strange on his lips, so personal. Like he was speaking to every part of me, inside and out. "I hope that you decide to live here with me while we proceed with our venture. It will make everything so much easier if you do."
Live here?
I didn't know if I could bring myself to be so far away from Milo, and it would take a lot of explaining to my mother about why I had decided to move in with a man I had only just met. Let alone the reaction I would get from her when I eventually told her I was going to marry him.
Bile rose in my throat at the thought.
What have you got yourself into St. James?
Elliot continued. "If you stay, we can get an early breakfast in the morning to discuss our plan of action. I'll drop you off at work after."
I dragged my gaze to where his fingers still caressed the soft skin of my wrist, he followed with his own eyes to the very same spot. A flame of heat burned on my cheeks as he brushed the tips of his fingers over my pulse, before remembering himself and removing his hand completely. My skin instantly cooled in the absence of his touch.
Had he done that on purpose? To disarm me and get his way?
I'd already stayed in the apartment for a night, why would it matter if I stayed with him one more.
A thought came rushing to the front of my head. "Where will I sleep?"
The corners of Elliot's mouth turned up, clearly hearing the slight panic in my voice.
"My apartment has four bedrooms, Juliette. Including my own. You can sleep in whichever one you want to." His eyes darkened a fraction, his voice laced with hidden meaning.
I knew then that he definitely was teasing me.
Bastard.
After the blush eventually left my face, I resigned myself. "Okay, let me call my mum and tell her I'm staying out. She'll worry if I don't."
Elliot watched as I punched the number into my phone screen and let the shrill ringing of the dial tone wash over me in a blur, a hint of achievement shining in the deep pools of his eyes.