She stiffened in outrage. What the hell did he know about honor? She almost asked the question, keeping her mouth shut at the last instant. Being a chiacchierona as her family affectionately called her—a chatterbox—wouldn’t help in her current situation. Restraint and discretion would.
“I seem to remember hearing that Luc and Téa found themselves in a similar predicament—caught in the act—and Primo insisted they marry immediately,” David continued with a pensive air. “I’m sure he’ll be even more insistent with his only granddaughter, if only to uphold the family honor.”
“And if I tell my grandfather you drugged me?” She fought to keep the sharpness from her voice and ask the question in a vague, confused manner.
He chuckled. “You won’t remember that, any more than you’ll remember this conversation.”
He pulled into a gas station, the only spot of brightness along the remote stretch of road. Darkness poured from the interior of the cement block storefront. No help there. Nor from the closed and padlocked service bay doors. But the pumps were lit and available for credit card purchases. Maybe someone else would stop for gas. Someone who could help her.
He turned in the leather seat to face her. “Before you fall back asleep, I have one final question for you.”
“Can’t. Too tired.”
“Ah, ah, ah,” he scolded, giving her a little shake. “You can sleep after you answer my question.”
She made a feeble gesture for him to continue before allowing her hand to flop back onto her lap. “What?” She deliberately slurred the word.
“Where’s Brimstone?”
She blinked, staring at him blankly, unable to make sense of the words. And not because of the drugs. “What?”
“The Dante fire diamond, Brimstone. Where is it?” he asked urgently. “My sources tell me it disappeared. What happened to it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He swore in Italian. “Don’t give me that. It’s practically a Dante legend. My father told me all about it and he got it straight from Vittorio Romano.”
Vittorio. Constantine’s father. “I… I don’t know anything about it.”
“It was supposed to go to the Romanos after your cousin and Ariana married. But it never did.” He paused, speaking more to himself than to her. “Unless that bastard, Constantine, financed Romano Restoration with it. I can’t imagine any other way he could have done it in so short a time. Not with my father blocking his every attempt to get a loan.”
She forced out a yawn. “I’m so tired… I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
He took a moment to think it through. “If Romano has the diamond, he wouldn’t be here, sniffing after you. And despite what my sources say, you don’t just lose a fire diamond as valuable as Brimstone. Which means…” His focus returned to her. “Does your family still have the diamond? Is that why Romano’s here? That’s it, isn’t it? He’s hoping to romance it out from under you by marrying into the family.”
“Never heard of Brimstone,” she mumbled.
And she hadn’t. But she sure as hell intended to ask about it the minute she got herself out of her current predicament. She shuddered. Assuming she could. Please, God, let someone come.
His gaze pinned her in place, sharp and ruthless. “Fine. Pretend you don’t know. It won’t change a thing. Once I’ve married into the family, it won’t matter, anyway.”
“‘Kay.” She closed her eyes and slumped in her seat.
“Gia?”
She didn’t so much as twitch.
“Gianna!”
She kept her breathing slow and deep. She never realized how much effort it took to feign sleep when her heart galloped like a racehorse and panic threatened to consume her. She must have convinced David, though. She heard him push a button near the steering wheel which she gathered released the gas tank cover, then he opened the car door and exited. Peeking from beneath her lashes, she held her breath while he circled to stand at the rear of the car with his back to her and removed his wallet from his pocket, extracting a credit card.