Unveiled (Torn #6)(27)
Begging him to stop pining for Emma was a lost cause. Goodness, when would it stop? “Carter, please—”
He raised his hand to tell me to stop interrupting. “You’re lucky to have had a second, third, fourth, and however many chances that man gave you. But I didn’t get that with Emma. All I can ever wish is for her to be happy now, and she is, though she won’t openly say it. I know she is. Had she stayed with me, she’d still be miserable because, let’s be honest here, Linds, you and I are both a f*uked up bunch. And some people won’t ever understand the kind of struggle we face every day. It’s embedded in us, and fighting that kind of battle is exhausting. As much as I wanted to keep her, she’s better off because, sooner or later, I’d find a way to hurt her again. We grew up that way—thinking what Mom did to Dad was right, that it was normal.”
What he said rang with truth. As much as I wanted to deny it, in the back of my head, I was also scared I would do something drastic that would eventually hurt Dimitris in such a way he wouldn’t ever find it in him to forgive me. Exactly like Carter had said, we were a f*uked up bunch—a byproduct of our parents’ emotional and mental instability.
*
After my talk with Carter, there wasn’t any decision to make except to take the red eye flight to London then get a connecting flight from Heathrow to Athens.
With my blankie in hand, I went into the hired car en route to LAX. This was a new beginning. Hopefully, I wouldn’t let my past dictate my actions. I was my own woman, not my mother. She and I weren’t the same, though she had given birth to me. I merely had to keep telling myself that until I fully believed it.
Getting off the plane in Heathrow after the non-stop, eleven-hour flight from LAX, I was ready to freshen up and have a light meal somewhere before I started boarding for my four hour flight to Athens in an hour’s time.
Since this was a surprise, Dimitris wouldn’t be meeting me at the airport. I had it all planned out in my head, and I couldn’t wait to see his happy face the moment he realized I would be spending Christmas with him, after all. Though there would only be a couple of hours left before Christmas was over by the time I got there, at least it was better than nothing at all.
Fast pacing towards the nearest women’s bathroom, I did all my womanly bits before finally resurfacing about fifteen minutes later. I had to do some major make-up retouching since I didn’t plan on waiting to get to Dimitris’s place once I landed on Greek soil.
I was lost in my own dreamy world when my stomach decided it was high time for me to take notice. Scampering towards the nearest bistro, my eyes immediately darted towards the menu, just as the hostess appeared into view, welcomingly greeting me.
“For one please,” I murmured before she told me to follow her through, and just like that, something caught my eye.
It was a newspaper and the headline that came with it.
ex-movie star turned greek tycoon rekindling romance with ex-lover
What the f*uk? My mind froze, as did the rest of my body. I could hear the hostess calling me, but I was too caught up in my own fright, solely focused on the newspaper that was neatly tucked in its stand. I was staring at it with animosity until my legs realized they needed to function, unsteadily walking tiny steps until I reached it.
Pale and shaky, my hand reached out to the damning paper before pulling it out of its neat pile. Then I saw the photos, shattering everything inside me.
Chapter 14
Lindsey
“It’s two quid, Madam.” The person behind the counter informed me while I blankly blinked back at her, as if not fully hearing her.
“Sorry, I need to—” I stammered, not finishing what I was about to say, I abruptly left, needing seclusion to breathe, to cry, to f*uking hurl myself somewhere and slowly die without a care in the world.
Dimitris had broken everything. He had the audacity to accuse me of cheating when it was he who was carrying on an affair with that French whore? How could he? I thought angrily as I tore through the crowd, needing some solace.
It was only a week ago when Trista brought me something of similar nature, though it was French media that time. What made me think that type of gossip news wouldn’t reach England? Of course it would. I mean, Dimitris was popular in Europe because he was into acting, but he was more famous due to his last name and his family’s net worth.
In automation, I retraced my steps back towards the bathroom, but that time, I locked myself in one of the cubicles before I started silently weeping.
Though I had only glanced at them for a fraction of a second, the photos were ingrained in my mind, vividly embedded there on repeat, just so I could relive my pain over and over again. As I sat my pitiful ass down, my body went cold as my tears freely flowed. I wondered when those photos had been taken. It sure as heck couldn’t have been right after I spoke to him, now could it? Who knew anymore, but those God awful pictures were far worse than before. This time, it went straight to heart while it gouged it repeatedly, bleeding it raw.
Those vile, disgustingly despicable pictures of Dimitris naked in bed with Claudine’s leg barely covering his genitals while she, too, was naked. Both seemed to have been asleep with her resting her head on his chest. Whatever the article had stated about them had been lost on me because I couldn’t see past those photos.
Dimitris and his endless babble of speeches about not wanting to marry me had all been lies. He clearly didn’t want to end the lifestyle he had. Maybe, through it all, he somehow felt comforted having her around. After all, she had apparently “nursed” him while wounded from the pain I caused during our breakup. I was paying for my sins. Big time.