The Billionaire's Bidding by Barbara Dunlop

gem.
    The Tudor diamond.
    â€œTry it on,” said Alex.
    She shook her head. Fake brides didn’t touch a piece like that. At the very least, it had to be bad luck.
    He moved the box toward her. “Mrs. Nash is right. The family jewels work in our favor.”
    Emma shook again, shifting from one foot to the other, her heart rate increasing. No way. No how. The ring he’d given her at casino night was perfectly fine.
    â€œIt is insured,” he said.
    â€œAgainst bad luck?”
    He glanced at the ring in confusion. “What bad luck? It’s nothing but metal and stone.”
    â€œIt’s a precious family heirloom.”
    â€œAnd it’s my family heirloom. And I want you to wear it.”
    â€œThat’s not your choice to make.”
    Alex frowned. “It is my choice. I own the ring. I own the collection, the safe, the house. And I can give them to any damn person I please.”
    She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t do it. “I’m talking morality, not legality.”
    The frustration in his voice was obvious. “How is it immoral for you to wear my ring?”
    â€œBecause I’d be disrespecting all the brides who came before me.”
    Alex blinked. Then he squinted, and a funny little smile flexed his face. “Emma. Do you honestly think you’re the first Garrison bride to marry for money?”
    Emma wasn’t marrying for money. At least not the way he was insinuating she was marrying for money. She had her own money. He was simply…Well, he was helping her out, for a handsome return, that was all.
    It was mutually beneficial, and she resented him making her feel otherwise.
    â€œThis has been going on since the early eighteen-hundreds,” said Alex. “Even my father—” Then he clamped his jaw. “Hold out your hand, Emma.”
    She started to retreat, but he reached out and snagged her left wrist, coaxing it toward him.
    â€œI don’t—”
    He slipped the band over her first knuckle.
    She shut her mouth and stared at the endless circle of platinum, at Alex’s dark hand against her own pale skin, at the antique rubies and diamond winking in the light.
    â€œBelieve me when I tell you,” said Alex, pushing it a little farther. “You’re carrying on a proud tradition.”
    The ring thudded reluctantly over her second knuckle, but then it settled at the base of her finger.
    A perfect fit.
    â€œThere,” Alex breathed, stroking his thumb over the surface of the diamond. “Now we’re really engaged.”
    Â 
    Where Alex had ended up with Hamilton’s fortune and Hamilton’s looks, his third cousin, Nathaniel, had ended up with Hamilton’s life. The second son of the current earl of Kessex, Nathaniel had been forced to seek his own fortune, just as Hamilton had done so many decades before.
    With little more than seed money from the family estate, Nathaniel had founded Kessex Cruise Lines. Then he’d added Kessex Shipping and quickly grew his fortune to the hundreds of millions.
    He now had his finger on the pulse of the transportation industry from Paris to Auckland. And the transportation industry was the lynchpin of global commerce. Alex might know how to run a successful hotel chain. But Nathaniel could manipulate the world.
    He’d provided Alex with a thick dossier on DreamLodge, then he’d hung around an extra couple of days. He should have been on his way back to London today. His continued presence made Alex nervous. Nathaniel didn’t stick around unless something was interesting. And things that Nathaniel found interesting usually made Alex sweat.
    The two men, along with Ryan, waited until Simone exited and closed the door to Alex’s office.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Alex asked his cousin without preamble.
    Across the round meeting table, Nathaniel inched slightly forward in his chair. “You ever met David Cranston?”
    That