Chapter 5 Trying to Force My Hand?

Elena turned around.

In the half second it took her to turn, Julian let go of Bianca's hand.

Bianca's eyes went cold for an instant. Then the smile was back on her face.

Elena wasn't surprised to see them together. She'd stopped being surprised two nights ago.

"Trying on a ring," she said.

Julian came up to the counter. His eyes dropped to her hand, and his whole face changed.

He'd thought she was sensible. He'd thought she understood. And here she was, reaching for something that was never going to be hers. A Don's wife needed a family behind her, and Elena had none. Coming here alone to try on engagement rings was nothing but a way to push him.

Bianca was looking at the ring too.

Five carats, easily. Blue. A halo of pink diamonds, then white. Bianca had spent enough hours in places like this to know what she was looking at. A blue diamond that size didn't go for under ten million. It wasn't even the kind of ring you could buy off a tray. You had to order it, and you had to wait.

And this resident was standing here with it on her finger. Didn't she have any shame?

Bianca turned to the saleswoman with a bright smile. "Is this one for sale? I'd love to know the price."

"I'm sorry," the saleswoman said. "This piece is a private commission."

"A private commission." Bianca glanced back at Elena's hand. "So it's someone else's ring. And you're just trying it on."

Elena didn't bother to correct her.

"Mm," she said, and went back to looking at her hand.

"Well. It's a gorgeous ring," Bianca said.

"I think so too."

Julian's jaw went tight. "Take it off."

"Why?" Elena tilted her head at him.

"What are you trying on a ring for?" His voice was rising. "What is this, you're trying to force my hand? I told you, I'm not ready to..."

"Then what are you two doing here?"

That stopped him.

So the call he'd stepped into the hall to take had been Bianca. And the thing he'd had to run out for was this. The two of them, at a jewelry counter, in the middle of a Thursday.

Bianca's lips curved, just slightly.

"Ms. Rossi, I think you've got the wrong idea," she said sweetly. "Marisa asked me to come look at rings today. Julian's only here because his mother made him. If you found out where we'd be and came here to make a point, you really didn't have to. Trying on a ring to pressure him into proposing is a little much, don't you think?"

Marisa. Not Mrs. Costa. Bianca said Julian's mother's first name the way family did.

The message under the words was clear enough. His mother picked me. Don't get your hopes up.

Elena looked at the two of them and had to work not to laugh.

She was trying on the engagement ring her fiancé had ordered for her, and these two had decided it was about them. One of them was so full of himself he thought she was cornering him into marriage. The other was showing off his mother's approval to anyone who'd listen.

The Costas were a small family in a small corner of Miami. Her father wouldn't have looked twice at them.

"Got it," Elena said.

Her voice didn't move at all.

Julian blinked. Bianca studied her face, looking for jealousy, hurt, anything she could use. There was nothing to find.

That made Julian angrier.

"Did you know we'd be here today?" He stepped closer. "Did you come here and wait for me? I told you, this isn't the time to get married. Look at yourself. Standing in a jewelry store by yourself, trying on rings. Do you know how that looks?"

"It looks like I'm trying on a ring." Elena looked from him to Bianca. "How does it look when you walk in here holding her hand?"

Julian's face went dark red.

"I wasn't holding her hand."

"Sure."

"Don't twist this around. We're talking about you." He pointed at the ring. "Take it off."

"No," Elena said.

"Elena."

"I'm not taking it off."

Julian stared at her.

In three years, she had never told him no. Not about a dinner, not about a weekend, not about anything. She moved her shifts around for him. She waited up. She drove across the city at midnight because he'd had too much to drink.

Now she looked at him with no expression at all.

Bianca touched his arm. "Julian, don't. Maybe she just wanted to see what it feels like." She gave Elena a sympathetic little smile. "It's okay, Ms. Rossi. Everybody dreams. Maybe Julian can get you something a little more in your range for your birthday."

Elena looked at Bianca's hand on Julian's sleeve.

"That's sweet of you," she said. "But I'm not the one in this room waiting for him to buy me things."

Bianca's smile froze.

"Fine!" Julian threw his hand up. "You like it so much, keep it on. But I told you I'm not getting married right now, and I'm not. This doesn't change anything. You're wasting your time."

He turned and walked out. The door swung shut behind him.

Bianca hesitated for a second, gave Elena one last long look, and hurried after him. "Julian, wait for me!"

Through the window, Elena could see them on the sidewalk. Julian was walking fast toward his car. Bianca caught up and took his arm.

The saleswoman stood very carefully at the far end of the counter, rearranging a tray that didn't need it.

"I'm so sorry," she said after a moment. "Do you know them?"

"Not really," Elena said.

Three years with Julian, and that was the honest answer.

"Would you like to take the ring with you today, Ms. Rossi? Or we can have it delivered."

"I'll take it."

She held her hand up, took a picture of the ring under the boutique lights, and sent it to Dante.

"This one is perfect," she wrote.

She looked at that for a while.

For three years, Julian had never once thought about marrying her.

What he didn't know was that he'd never been in the running. She had never once wanted to marry him either.