Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 
Elliot

Thank fuck.
That was all I could think over and over again as I pulled Juliette back through the gallery and towards the front door.
My future came into crystal clear view in those few minutes since she had agreed, I was going to become CEO of Truman & Sons. All I had to do was marry this woman, that didn't seem too hard.
Her answer had shocked me though, and that didn't happen often.
After her outburst in the office, I'd figured she'd need more convincing. She was so furious with me when I last saw her. 
I couldn't help but question her motives, was it the money that convinced her to accept? Or maybe the bragging rights? I didn't really know anything about her at all.
She didn't seem like the type to be led by greed. But I'd been fooled before, and in the end, money always talks.
Finally, I settled on the resolution that Juliette was money hungry like the rest of us, why else would she have agreed to my proposal?
The thought saddened me slightly.
Something deep down had convinced me she was going to say no, because she seemed like a decent human being that was above those sort of things - like vanity and unworldly wealth. People like that were hard to come by.
But she'd said yes. Which I was happy about, wasn't I?
I'd won. I always did in the end.
"Elliot, I can't keep up!"
I'd almost forgot she was behind me when she spoke, snapping me from my inner argument. I was nearly pulling her arm out of its socket.
Juliette didn't look like herself that night, I'd barely even recognised her as she was eyeing up Millie's paintings. Her hair was perfectly styled and pulled out of her face, exposing her jaw and the top of her neck. And those large, gold framed glasses I'd never seen on her before, covered most of her face and made her look like she knew the answer to every question in the universe.
It was only when she'd turned to me that I was certain it was her, those deep brown eyes confirming it.
I stopped abruptly, so she could catch up, but instead she kept going and collided with my side - her face hitting the top of my arm.
She brushed the collision off quickly, like she bumped into people often, rubbing the spot where the bridge of her glasses had connected with the bridge of her nose.
God she was clumsy.
"We're not leaving, are we?" Juliette looked wistfully in the direction of the bar, searching for the others as she adjusted her glasses on her face. I still hadn't gotten used to the sight of her in them. "I haven't even seen the rest of Millie's paintings, plus Teddy-"
I cut her off as I flagged for a waiter. "We need to discuss the terms of our agreement, sooner rather than later."
One of the blonde women who was greeting people at the door slinked up to us, a false smile plastered on her overly made-up face. "Mr Truman?"
"We're leaving, I'd like my jacket." I insisted, then turned to Juliette expectantly. "Did you come in a coat?"
Juliette frowned and crossed her arms over her chest like a petulant child, right on the brink of a tantrum. She peered at me over the edge of her glasses, remaining silently stuck to the spot.
Was she going to defy me at every turn? I questioned my choice in her as we shared a heated look.
Stubborn and clumsy, what a dangerously irritating cocktail.
The waitress hovered awkwardly, unsure if she should stay or leave.
"Coat?" I repeated, standing my ground.
Eventually, Juliette shot me daggers before turning to the waitress with a more pleasant look on her face. "I came in a black wrap coat, with gold buttons on the sleeves."
"I'll go get your coats right away." She hummed, then she was gone.
Juliette spun her head back to me, her pale skin reddening under the sprinkle of freckles that lived across her nose and cheeks.
When I gave her my best attempt at a plea filled look, she softened around the eyes and dropped her hands down to her side in defeat. "I have to tell Teddy we're leaving, at the very least."
I took that as another win.
"You can text him and tell him. If we go over there, we'll never leave."
Juliette gave the bar another yearning stare.
Promptly, the waitress returned with our coats. She held my leather jacket up first, but I took Juliette's coat from her other hand and held it open for her. She muttered her thanks and quickly slipped it over her shoulders, nestling her chin into the fur lining of its collar as she buttoned the coat up.
When she was sorted, I took my own jacket and threw it on, eager to leave before Millie and Juliette's friend spotted us.
The blonde waitress hovered, but soon turned on her heels to leave when I gave her a quizzical look and dismissed her.
"Thank you." Juliette called after her, her mouth set in a grim line as she looked everywhere except at me.
I'd had enough of our footing around and made for the exit, Juliette sulking behind me as we dipped out of the door and onto the street. "You're so rude. Do you know that?"
"You'll get over it."
I found my car pretty quickly; it was the most expensive one parked on the street. Fumbling around in my pocket, I found my keys and clicked the button to open the doors. When I checked to make sure Juliette hadn't gone back inside, she was stood on the pavement behind me – gawking at the car.
"This is yours?"
"Yep."
Opening the passenger seat door, I ushered for her to take a seat inside. She hesitated, stealing one last look at the gallery, before ducking her head and sliding into my car.


"Make yourself at home." I gestured for Juliette to take a seat on my cream sofa as I headed towards the kitchen in my apartment. Everything was open plan, so I could still just about see her throw her coat on the back of one of the armchairs and find a spot when I reached my fridge.
"Would you like a glass of wine?" I called out to her.
She peaked her head over the back of the sofa, searching for me in the vast apartment. When her eyes finally locked on me, she gave me a small smile and nodded.
I pulled a bottle of Château from my wine cupboard, the corkscrew from the top draw, and two large Burgundy glasses from my overhead cabinet.
We had a lot to discuss, so I took the whole bottle over.
When I padded back to the living room area, Juliette had made herself comfortable, her glasses were pushed up high on her head, her bare feet tucked under her as she squinted whilst trying to type a message into her phone.
Probably a text to the lumberjack guy.
She looked up from her screen and eyed the bottle of red wine in my hand.
"Red okay?" I asked, placing the glasses down on the glass coffee table so I could pull the cork on the bottle. I wouldn't have changed it even if she had said no, but it felt like the right thing to ask in the moment.
"Yeah, red wine is the only wine I drink." She nodded. Putting her phone securely back in her bag and giving me her full attention.
The cork released from the bottle neck with a satisfying pop. Bending over, I poured out two hefty sized glasses of the imported wine, before setting the bottle down and handing a glass to Juliette.
She took it graciously. Grabbing my own glass, I sat across from her on the sofa, positioned sideways so I could have her in my full and uninterrupted view.
"I can't stand white wine." I stated matter-of-factly.
It felt strange having her there, in my personal space like a foreign object sprawled out on my sofa. Last time was different, she'd only been in the bedroom, somewhere a lot of other women had visited for one night only. But out in the open of my apartment, with her feet kicked up like she lived there already, it was a new experience for me.
Juliette took a sip from her glass, her face lightening after the first taste of the rich and expensive wine. It turned her already rosy lips a deeper shade of red.
"Me neither." She agreed.
"Something we can agree on. Finally." I mused, holding my glass up to her triumphantly before taking a drink of it myself.
She snorted. "Hardly strong enough to base a marriage off of."
I glowered at her, and her face dropped a fraction. She then proceeded to roll her eyes at me and take another sip.
"You have a great place by the way, I can't remember if I told you last time..." Her voice trailed off.
"Thanks."
Our conversation was dying. And I hadn't brought here there to shoot the breeze, we'd come there to talk business.
Setting my glass down on the table, I pulled a folded piece of paper from my jeans pocket and handed it to her. The 'guidelines' my legal team had drafted up for me.
She eyed the paper suspiciously, but didn't unfold it, even though I could tell she was dying to.
"My team drafted some expectations of our arrangement up after you left the office the other day. Before you read them, I need to know, who have you told about my proposal?"
She gulped audibly before replying. I expected half the city to know already.
"Nobody."
I found that hard to believe.
"No one? Not even Ashley or your friends at the store? Or your family?" I implored.
"Not. A. Soul." She confirmed.
Wow. I was shocked, I didn't even hide it. Juliette could hold her own water, maybe she wasn't such an outlandish choice after all.
Juliette shuffled uncomfortably on the throw cushion she was leant on and put her glass down next to mine so she could concentrate on what was unfolding between us.
"Don't you need me to like, sign an NDA or something?" She queried.
"Soon, I just need you to read that." I pointed to the folded paper still in her hand. "And once I know you're serious about this, I already have the NDA sat in my desk draw in my study - waiting for you to sign."
She hesitated as her fingers found the edge of the slightly crumpled paper; it had been a last-minute decision to take it to the gallery just in case she was there.
When I gave her the nod to go ahead and open it, she denied herself no longer, her fingers making quick work of opening it up as she pulled her glasses back down to her face and her eyes darted to the first line printed on the page.