He moved closer, dropping the papers on the glass coffee table in front of her.
“Those are the reports from the hotel and for the bank account I opened for you,” David drawled icily.
“So?” She hadn’t spent anything, so why was he so angry?
He picked up the bank account printout and pointed to the balance at the bottom. “Why haven’t you spent the money, Diana?”
Seriously?! That’s what he was angry about? That she hadn’t spent his fucking money?
“I don’t want it.” Her answer was flat.
He grunted then bent to point at the balance on the hotel account.
“I only see charges for the nightly room rate,” he pointed out unnecessarily.
“What, David?” she huffed. “Is there a problem?” What was his goddamn problem?
“What have you been doing all day if you haven’t been spending my money?”
Sneering, Diana slowly rose to her feet, her gaze never leaving David’s face.
“That’s none of your goddamn business. I haven’t been spending your money because I. Don’t. Want. It!” she spat. “I’ve never wanted it, you blind jackass!”
He scoffed. “And how will you afford your living expenses? Your fun money? Your food—and what the hell have you been eating if you haven’t been ordering room service?”
She shrugged. “I make my own meals.”
Stunned, David gaped at her before turning to look at the kitchen. “You mean to say you actually cook your own food?”
She rolled her eyes. “I have been since I was nine.”
“And who delivers the groceries? How do you pay them?” His smirk made Diana want to rip his lips off.
“I walk to the market myself. I use my debit card to pull money from my savings account.”
He gaped again, his black brows curved upward in almost humorous disbelief. Almost.
“You can’t be serious,” he began. “You have hundreds of thousands of dollars at your disposal—”
“I don’t want it,” she cut him off, pinning him with a glare.
“What the hell are you talking about? Of course, you want my money, that’s all you women ever want. What’s not yours to have.”
As if he’d sucked the air from the room, the fight left Diana. She slumped onto the couch, her shoulders limp and curling into herself.
Her voice barely a whisper she couldn’t even hear herself speaking. “Is that what you really think about me? That I am just another Rinna, out to get your money by scamming you with babies?” She couldn’t stop the tears from torching the backs of her eyes, but she blinked them away before they could fall, determined to hold them at bay until David was gone. “But…you’re right. I do want something that isn’t mine to have.”
She met David’s gaze, anguish overriding her sense of preservation.
“I want your heart. Your love. I want from you what you’ve already taken from me.”
Silence met her declaration as a steel curtain descended over David’s expression.
Realizing she’d shown her greatest vulnerability to man who only saw the world through dollar signs, she rose to her aching feet and offered David a sad smile.
“You can see yourself out, right?” She didn’t bother waiting for him to answer. She spun on her heel and hurried to her room where she closed the door, locking David and her heart on the other side.
Chapter 21
What the hell have I done? Those words choked him, his mind stuck on the memory of Diana’s face when he’d all but accused her of being Rinna. A woman he hated. A woman who was as cold and heartless as the money she craved.
But that wasn’t Diana. Diana took care of her family, she worked hard, diligently. From what he’d learned of her from Alexei’s reports and from Rick’s glowing praises about her, she was truly a treasure. That was just it, though. He hadn’t learned much about her on his own. Whenever they were together, he’d had one of two things on his mind: fucking or fighting. He was either trying to get into her pants or trying to push her away.
He knew, in the deepest parts of him, that there was more to Diana than what he’d uncovered through cold, hard reports. And the truth was…he wanted to know her. To know what was beneath the sexy body and the thought-obliterating smiles. Would it be so difficult to get to know the mother of his children? No, she hadn’t asked to be impregnated by an arrogant asshole, but now that she was, there was no going back. He could either spend the rest of his life putting a wall up between them, believing the worst about her, or he could let his walls down, let her in, and spend the rest of his life…what? Happy? Could Diana make him happy?
Just admit it, you are blinded to the truth because you’re scared of what you might feel for her.
What did he feel for her? He knew he couldn’t go a moment without thinking about her, without craving her. He knew he wanted to see her smile, though he was usually the reason for her frowns. He knew he wanted her in his bed, and not just so he could pleasure her, but also because he just wanted to hold her, to comfort her, to lend her his strength as the pregnancy progressed. She was carrying his babies. Babies! He was going to be a father, and Diana, the goddess, had given him that.
She didn’t deserve his mistrust, his anger, his bitterness. She deserved all the best of him.
But what did he have to offer her that hadn’t already been tainted? He was a man broken by the deeds of others, unable to trust even the purest of souls.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do—Diana had spilled her heart to him, and there was nothing he could say in response that would come close to what she’d confessed.
I want from you what you’ve already taken from me… Did that mean what he thought it meant? What he wanted it to mean? She loved him?
His body vibrating, he took a step toward
