Unveiled (Torn #6)(10)

He didn’t move from his spot. “I was merely there, hearing her cries, trying to argue with her that she was better off without me, that waiting for me to leave you so she and I could marry wasn’t ever going to happen.”

The French and the Greek media were all over them, speculating when they would get engaged. It didn’t help that Dimitris had introduced her to his family, a rather bright green sign that he had been getting serious with her. It was Claudine everyone favored. So much so that they accused me of stealing him away from her. They believed he deserved someone like her—classy, elegant, and perfect to be his companion and the mother of his children—while I, on the other hand, was the epitome of trash.

The press once addressed me as an áchri?stos gynaíka, a trashy woman. It didn’t bother me, though when I thought hard about it, wondering if Dimi or any of his family thought it, too, then it somehow didn’t sit well with me. But what was I to do? I couldn’t change who I was. I was loud-mouthed, aggressive, party till sundown woman who wouldn’t put up with crap from anyone. Dimitris knew this about me and had told me he loved all of me, yet I couldn’t help wondering if it bothered him.

“It hurts to think you’d probably be married to her had I not flown in to see you and win you over …” The very idea still gave me nightmares. “Yet what Brody and I had was nothing as serious as marriage. You and Claudine did …” Goose bumps covered my arms; I couldn’t help trying to soothe it away with my cold, damp hands as I watched his facial expression, trying to read what was going on behind those beautiful eyes. “You would’ve been married to her instead of being here. You’d probably be trying to have babies right this moment with your French wife.”

“But I’m not, am I, Lindsey?” he ground out, eyes flashing fire. “I’m here, right here with you.”

“Do you ever regret it, even for a second? Did it ever occur to you that, had you chosen her, your life would’ve been perfect?”

He looked away, sending chills all over me.

He did think of it.

I let out a soft cry, feeling shattered, as though I wasn’t good enough for him.

“It’s hard not to think of it when people always bring it up.” He was still looking away when he said the words, glancing anywhere other than at me. “She had months to prime herself as my wife. That’s why it’s very difficult for her to accept that I’d give her up, knowing how much time she and I invested in each other.” He then zeroed in on me, blue eyes pulling me, grappling into the very essence of my soul.

“She would’ve been perfect as my wife, but it’s you that completes me. It’s you that makes my blood simmer and thrum in the span of seconds. It’s you that drives me into utter, damning madness then into blissful ecstasy in a heartbeat. It’s you, Lindsey Mason. Not Claudine. But you,” he rasped out.

“I’ve given up so much to be with you, angered a few people, because it’s you I chose and no other woman. It might sound like lunacy to the rest of them, but you make me feel sane. You drive me into complete disarray, and yet, you alone have the power to calm me down. So whatever doubts you have in that beautiful, crazy head of yours, whatever questions you have about my relationship with Claudine, you must understand that I am yours. The moment you struck me with those gorgeous eyes of yours… You owned me then, and you own me now.

“So, please, give me time to sort out this mess I made of Claudine. It’s the least I can do to compensate her after stringing her along for so long. She deserves a little respect after I abandoned her in such a humiliating fashion.”

I knew he meant everything he had just said, but it wasn’t him I didn’t trust. Claudine was something else. She wanted him as much as I did. We were alike in our desperation for him; however, I was lucky enough that he was in love with me.

Dimitris was nothing but a man, and a man had his temptations. That French woman had given him everything a man could want sexually. She had submitted to him like he was the Dominus and his word was law, and with a ravenous sexual appetite, what man wouldn’t fancy having a woman like that around? One who wouldn’t utter a damn word to refrain him from ravishing her yet would simply spread her legs wide open to accommodate all of his lustful desires.

He had spent five long hours in her house. Yeah, that was going to drive me in-f*uking-sane.





Chapter 6


Dimitris


My eyes watched every gutting emotion that was being played out on her pretty face. Even after giving her that solidifying speech that no woman should question where my heart and loyalty rested, her demons were not subdued.

“What happens if one night, say you’re drunk and she comes on to you? What if in that very moment you somehow find her irresistible? You’re a hot-blooded man who has a voracious appetite for sex, and even though you love me with all your heart, you could—in that one wretched, weakening moment—let your guard down because the need to have a warm body is just so enticing. What happens then, Dimi? I’m all the way over here, and I can’t fly out to see you every time you feel horny. So, what happens if that moment comes about?”

She seemed as if she was merely asking herself if she would forgive me if such outrageousness did ever occur.

“Do you trust me at all, Lindsey?” I was starting to doubt where her head was at the moment. She was being unreasonable, as if my explanation wasn’t enough. It was almost like she believed every piece of gossip printed out there about me yet never believed anything I told her.