Constantine studied her in growing concern. “What have you remembered?”
“Something David said about a diamond. I was going to ask you about it the minute I saw you.” She shuddered. “I hadn’t expected my escape to be quite so dramatic or frightening, or I would have thought of it sooner.” Her gaze shifted from the model to him. “Have you ever heard of a diamond named Brimstone?”
Figlio di puttana! He fought to keep his voice even. “You might say that. Are you telling me David knows about Brimstone?”
She nodded. “He seemed to think I should, too. In fact, he seemed certain that you either had it in your possession and used it to finance Romano Restoration…or you were marrying me in order to get your hands on it.” She tilted her head to one side, pinning him with her jade-green eyes.
“What is Brimstone, other than a fire diamond? And why is David d’Angelo trying so desperately to find it?”
“I suspect he’s desperate to find it because it’s worth somewhere in the neighborhood of ten million dollars.” Constantine shrugged. “Perhaps more. And to answer your other question, Brimstone is the reason your cousin, Lazz, and my sister, Ariana, married, sight unseen. To be honest, it’s a long story, and it occurs to me that we missed breakfast.” He gestured in the direction of the kitchen. “Why don’t we throw something together while I tell you about it.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m starving.” She followed him into the kitchen and took a moment to explore the generous area. Then she made herself at home, raiding the refrigerator. “Looks like you have ingredients for omelets. And maybe… Yup. Fruit salad?”
“Sounds disgustingly healthy.”
She held up a package of bacon and a small wheel of cheese. “Better?”
“Much.”
He pitched in to help cut and chop right alongside of her while bacon sizzled in the background. She gestured with her paring knife. “So, go on. You were going to explain about Brimstone. What is it? Where did it come from? David seemed to think it disappeared.”
“He’s right about that much. It did disappear.” Constantine sliced into a peach bursting with juice. “As for the rest of the story. Let’s see. Where should I start?”
She spared him a swift grin. “Where all good fairy tales start. Once upon a time…”
“Once upon a time,” he repeated obediently. “There was an adorable Italian princess named Ariana, who was the apple of her father’s eye. One day, when Princess Ariana was just six years old, a prince from a faraway land came to visit. His name was Lazzaro Dante.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Constantine confirmed. “Like all good fairy tales, the instant Ariana and Lazzaro touched, something odd happened between them.”
Gianna dropped her knife on the counter and spun to face him, openmouthed. “Are you kidding me? They felt The Inferno? At such a young age? I didn’t even realize that was possible.”
“According to my father it was an incipient form of The Inferno. But, yes. Something sparked between them. For some reason, Dominic went insane when he realized what was happening and demanded that he and my father create a marriage contract. He wanted to ensure that my sister and your cousin were strongly encouraged to marry once they were older.”
“No way.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “No one ever told you any of this?”
Her eyes narrowed in displeasure. “Uh, no. And trust me, someone will pay for that oversight. All I heard was that they felt The Inferno when they met in Italy and decided to marry.”
“Ah, but they never actually met in Italy. That was merely the story they put out to explain their whirlwind wedding so that your grandparents and my grandmother wouldn’t find out about the contract and the true reason for their marriage. They needed to wed quickly in order to fulfill the terms of the contract.”
Gianna picked up her knife again. “Okay, now you’ve lost me.”
“There was a stipulation in the contract that the two must marry by Ariana’s twenty-fifth birthday. When the contract came to light they negotiated the marriage by phone and email. They never even met until the actual wedding ceremony.”
“But, that’s…that’s barbaric,” she sputtered. “You’re telling me they had to get married because of some contract your father and Uncle Dominic signed? Why didn’t they just tear it up?”
He hesitated. “There may have been a small incentive that made it worthwhile for all parties involved.”
Comprehension dawned, turning her eyes a brilliant shade of green. “Brimstone.”