“That’s not necessary. I have my wedding band,” she stammered, glancing toward the bedrooms. “It’s in my bag. I was going to trade it for groceries at one point, but—”
“You should have.” His jaw hardened. “Why didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t sure of the protocol,” she said with a humorless chuckle. “Like, I know you’re supposed to return the engagement ring if you’re the one who calls it off, but are you supposed to give back the wedding band if you ask for a divorce?”
“I don’t know, but they’re both gifts. Do what you like with them.” He spoke firmly. “Sell this one tomorrow if you want to.” He opened the box and her knees grew weak.
This was not the simple gold wedding band she had worn for a few months, then yanked off in a fit of pique. This was a platinum band with five emerald-cut diamonds set in a glittering row. It had to be worth five figures, maybe six.
“Leon,” she said in a muted beg for understanding. “I can’t.”
“Can’t what? Wear it or not. It’s yours.” He was speaking so abruptly, each word hit like little pebbles against her skin. “Or exchange it for something you like better.”
“Of course, I like it. It’s stunning. But...” She frowned with consternation, trying to make him see that wearing his ring meant something. Didn’t it? “Is wearing it like wearing this?” She fluffed the fall of her skirt, and even that small action felt like blowing air against a scraped knee. “Part of the costume?”
His head jerked back.
“Because—” She was struggling to find words that wouldn’t reveal how much she was tripping over her own insecurity and involuntary expectations. “I mean, I’ll wear it if you want me to, so people don’t ask awkward questions, but it’s important to me that you know I don’t expect any of this. I’m not here for dresses and jewelry.” And all those other things he insisted he wanted to give her because she was his wife.
Was he compensating because he wasn’t capable of offering himself? That struck her as heartbreakingly sad for both of them.
“I know why you’re here.” His voice held an edge. “If I could make Illi yours as easily as I can provide a dress or a ring, I would. For now, this is how we make that happen.”
By playing the happy couple.
That’s all this ring was. Window dressing. A means to an end.
With an ache behind her sternum, she put it on.
The ring looked a bit loose, but Tanja needed to gain a few pounds. It would fit perfectly in a few weeks. Would she still be here then?
Leon refused to think about that.
It bothered him that she’d been so reluctant to accept it even though he’d been perfectly honest in saying he didn’t care what she did with it. Okay, that was a small lie. He damned well expected her to sell it for food or anything else she might need if she was ever in dire straits again—not that he intended to let that happen.
He’d given the ring to her for her future security and because his mother would expect his wife to wear a ring of a certain quality. He told himself he wasn’t attached to either ring or wife beyond recognizing they each held their own type of value and deserved his protection.
But he was inexplicably pleased to see the diamonds flash on her hand as they entered the elevator. He looked into the mirrored wall that reflected infinite versions of his pale gray suit and her silver-blue dress. Her fiery hair and cinnamon freckles stood out like sparking flames. A swell of pride filled him.
“You look stunning.”
She relaxed into a natural smile for the first time since this morning and might have turned into his arms if the elevator hadn’t stopped with a muted ping.
For half a moment, he’d forgotten where they were going. Now a clammy blanket descended on him. His mother. If he could have kept Tanja away from this, he would have. It was his greatest shame that he didn’t come from a family like hers. If there was a silver lining to bringing her here now, it was that she would never have to meet his father—this would be excruciating enough. His mother would be...
Well, she would hurt Tanja without even trying. Because that’s what she did.
Tanja’s expression fell into the stoic one that had overtaken his own face. He clasped her hand and guided her down the hall to double doors that let into his mother’s foyer.
His mother’s living space was laid out much as his own, but there were two units on this floor, so hers was smaller with only two bedrooms and didn’t have a pool. His mother had a more feminine decor and classic art pieces of fruit bowls and landscapes rather than the modern abstracts he preferred.
Truthfully, Leon gravitated to whatever was the opposite of what he’d grown up with.
“Leon.” His mother guarded her appearance scrupulously. She was trim and should have developed more frown and worry lines, given how intimidated and angry she’d been for many of her sixty-two years. She wore a silk coat dress with a popped collar and broke from a small group of equally well-dressed guests to approach them.
Leon grimly surveyed the number of people she’d invited. He had thought they’d been invited for dinner, not a dinner party.
Tanja’s hand tightened in his. Maybe she was reacting to his own firming grip. As his mother approached, his hackles rose out of instinctive protectiveness.
Tanja smiled with her natural appealing openness even as her gaze flickered to the crowd that was staring. Her smile barely faltered, though.
“Mother, my wife Tanja. Tanja, my mother, Ophelia.”
“It’s lovely to meet you.” Tanja dropped his hand and automatically extended her arms for an embrace. Of course, she did. That’s how she was with family, and his mother was now a member.
His stomach cramped as Ophelia neatly caught her hands and pressed them down into the space between them. She kept her arms straight and firm, holding Tanja off from closing the distance. Her smile tightened.
Tanja took it as the rebuff it was. Leon knew she did because he saw the flinch that she quickly stifled, reinvigorating her smile to hide it.
He mentally willed an invisible, bulletproof box to lower itself over her to keep her from the death by a thousand cuts that had shredded him his whole life.
“It’s lovely to meet you, too, after all this time,” his mother was saying, almost sounding sincere despite the way she had scorned Tanja’s warmth. “Welcome to the family. Ah, Cornelius.” She let go of Tanja and twined her hands around the arm of a heavyset older man Leon had met a few times. They exchanged nods. “Cornelius, this is my daughter-in-law, Tanja. Come. Let us introduce you to everyone.”