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As soon as we stepped into the store, glasses of champagne entered our hands, and we were waited on by soft-spoken, unobtrusive staff. They had to have been briefed because none of the rings they showed me had a diamond center stone.
And each one was larger than the next.
Luca sat beside me on a sleek little padded bench, using his phone while I tried on ring after ring. I stopped showing them to him after the fourth or fifth one he’d barely looked at.
I supposed he wasn’t playing the role of doting husband today. It was strange, but as soon as we entered into this arrangement, he’d become entirely different than who I’d first thought him to be. The charm, flirtation, and ease had disappeared. He was stiff and distant, really only interacting with me when he had to.
It had only been a day, though. I might have been overanalyzing him.
After the fiftieth ring, I sighed, and Luca looked up. “Did you choose one?”
“No, I haven’t.” The saleswoman’s flattened mouth was subtle, but a sure tell she was getting just as tired of this process as I was.
He scanned the rings displayed on black velvet. “There isn’t anything you like?”
“They’re all beautiful but—” I was being silly. Luca didn’t need to be involved with choosing my ring since none of this was real. The ring was nothing but a piece of jewelry.
He set his phone face down on the glass counter and turned to me. “What are your favorite pieces you own now? We can have something custom-made in that style.”
“I think you’re going to be very disappointed to hear I don’t own any fine jewelry. My most precious pieces are things I’ve bought during my travels.” I held up a finger. “Before you start thinking I’m some Mary Sue who thinks she couldn’t possibly deserve anything fancy, that’s not what I'm saying. It’s just... I’ve never wanted to invest in that kind of thing.”
The saleswoman covered her mouth as if she was aghast to find I wasn’t swimming in jewels. Luca didn’t seem any less disapproving.
“We’ll have to remedy that, Saoirse. You’re a Rossi now.” He picked up a ring with a large, emerald-cut aquamarine on a platinum band. “This one. Give me your hand.”
He took my hand without waiting and slipped the ring over my wedding band. It was the simplest of the bunch, even though the stone was enormous. Since I’d refused diamonds, I had a feeling Luca wasn’t going to let me get anything smaller.
He ran his thumb from the ring to the tip of my finger and back down again. “Looks good on you,” he gruffed. “What do you think?”
I stared at my hand in his. Being tall, I had long fingers, and it took a lot for my hands to feel dainty, but they did in comparison to Luca’s broad palm and thick, blunt-tipped fingers.
“It’s pretty.”
The saleswoman cleared her throat. “That is five-carats and natural AAAA quality. You couldn’t have chosen better.”
Luca nodded decisively. “We’ll take it. Now we want to see necklaces and earrings. No diamonds.”
“Luca—”
He squeezed my knee. “Humor me. Let me buy you a few pieces, so I know you’ll have something to wear when I need you to come places with me.”
“I have to look like a Rossi.”
He chuckled. “You should see my mother’s jewelry collection. She could fill this store and still have some left.”
“All gifts from your father?”
“Mmhmm. He celebrates every holiday by buying her jewels. He’ll make something up if he finds a piece he thinks she needs. One Flag Day, he gifted her a ruby cocktail ring.”
That made me laugh for the first time today. “Flag Day?”
“Gotta celebrate the flags, Saoirse.”
“I’ve been remiss by not celebrating them all this time. This year will be different.”
He leaned in closer, speaking conspiratorially. With his hand still on my thigh, he had my full attention, even as the salespeople buzzed around, selecting more jewels for me to look at.
“If you’re good, you might end up with your own ruby cocktail ring.”
