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Sitting at his side, where he casually leaned back on the suede couch wearing cream-colored slacks and a black linen shirt undone to the bottom of his sternum with the sleeves rolled up on his arms, looking downright devilish and delicious all wrapped into one, I was glad I was dressed how he wanted.
“Roberto,” Nico said, standing and embracing the man before sliding his hand over my shoulder and looking down at me, “Meet my beautiful wife, Arianna.”
“Ah,” Roberto embraced my hand in both of his, “What a beautiful woman you are indeed, my dear.” He smiled brightly before walking back around the table in front of us and signaling to the woman to lay the cases down. “So,” he clapped his hands excitedly, “I’ve brought you only the best of the best and my jewelers are all waiting anxiously to create the masterpiece you build today so you can have it ready before you depart Ibiza in two days.”
“Perfect,” Nico replied, sitting back down next to me and sliding his large palm between my crossed legs above the knee, and smiling at me. “I don’t want any more time to pass with you looking available.”
I smirked at him and leaned into him, keeping my snarky retort inside because of the audience we had.
The women worked silently, opening the cases and taking out tray after tray of beautiful sparkling diamonds and endless bands and example rings to look at. I finally ignored the way the women looked Nico up and down appreciatively thanks to the distracting diamonds laid before me.
Which was probably good for the women because the urge to tell them to get their eyes back into their heads was growing with each fluttered eyelash. They would smile and flirt with Nico, and then glare at me in the very next second, in a way that only a true conniving woman could master. And all three had mastered it if the way my shoulders shrunk with each minute spent in their presence, indicated anything.
The green monster on my shoulder was growing larger along with the moodiness I had felt earlier.
“Do we have any requirements or restrictions?” Roberto asked Nicolas.
“Five carats or bigger. Platinum only. And something that will pair well with matching jewels to be purchased in the future. Cut and shape are up to Ari.”
Roberto excitedly pushed away trays that held smaller stones as he placed the three trays with the biggest diamonds directly in front of me. Behind them he placed the example rings and bands that would hold such large stones, explaining things about weight and sturdiness that meant nothing to me.
I looked away from the beauty of them and glanced up at my husband who watched me closely as uncertainty rolled through me.
I’d never picked out a piece of jewelry before in my life, but I didn’t want to admit that in front of women who were already looking down at me like I wasn’t worthy of the seat at Nico’s side.
“Send your women away Roberto, this room is far too crowded,” Nico said firmly, like he could read my very thoughts.
“Of course,” Roberto waved his hands at his assistants, “Shoo, shoo.”
“Take a deep breath,” Nico said against my temple as I looked back down at the trays. “Just tell me what ones jump out at you and what you like about them.”
“They’re all so,large.”
Nico smirked and ran his hand over my back, “To match me.”
I rolled my eyes but let his uncharacteristic playfulness relax me. He was trying to make this easy on me, I could tell. So I didn’t want to make this hard on him either.
I took a deep breath and leaned over the table to look at them closer, letting my eyes tell me which style at least I liked the most.
“Round,” I said, looking up at Nico, “I like the round ones.”
Roberto moved a bunch around until only the round ones remained on the trays.
“What kind of setting is attractive to you?” He pointed to the different options, naming them off until he got to the one I couldn’t look away from.
“That one,” I smiled at him, “It’s perfect.”
“Very timeless,” The flashy man said with a wink. He picked up a platinum band with prongs set for a solitaire diamond and then looked to Nico. “Which stone?”
Nico looked at me, but I simply shrugged, “They all look positively identical to me. You pick.”
“A Royal Asscher with the largest table,” Nico replied effortlessly. He could have been speaking Greek and I wouldn’t have known the difference, which was why I wanted him to pick. He clearly knew more about this than I did. “That one,” He pointed out when Roberto thinned out the selection once again.
“Wow.” The diamond left before me, after its opponents were eliminated like in a game of Guess Who was breathtaking.
“Perfect selection,” Roberto said, picking up the diamond and the band we had selected and holding them together with his tools to show what it would like once completed. “This diamond is one of the rarest we carry, it’s almost seven and three-quarters carat, with ideal cut and clarity. I can assure you that you will never run into someone else with this exact ring.”
“Perfect,” Nico mused, kissing my temple once more. “What do you think?”
