Unveiled (Torn #6)(29)

When the airline crew announced that we were landing, I had a short moment of indecision, tormenting myself with the thought that I was heading into a disaster and that nothing could ever change the fact that Dimitris had been naked with his very naked ex-lover/fiancée. It was too late to have a change of heart, though. I had already made a decision while crying my heart out in Heathrow’s bathroom, and I must whole-heartedly stick to it.

Never in my life had I experienced such overwhelming anxiety. I was forgetful of which baggage claim terminal I was supposed to be at and had to check it four times. I was so distraught that my luggage passed me twice before I realized that the dark brown luggage that circled me two times was actually mine. Though my eyes weren’t as red as before I had boarded the plane, they were extremely dry and grainy.

The cool night was a little wet yet an agreeable temperature that didn’t chill my bones as I stepped out to wait for a taxi. I hadn’t taken into account how bothersome that would be at that early morning hour.

The moment I secured myself a cab, I gave Dimitris’s address, feeling as though I had to prepare myself for the most important acting role of my life—portraying the clueless, trusting girlfriend I once had been.

The Greek driver was too jovial in contrast to my fake smiles. His sunny personality made me realize that it was Christmas, after all, and I could spare a smile or two, not making someone else’s day just as miserable as mine. The situation was no one’s fault but myself. I had placed too much trust in one man’s hand, and I was paying for that gullible decision.

With a heavy heart, I looked out the window, haplessly studying the scene before me, hoping Dimitris was still at his Pappou’s home, still celebrating the night. From what I could recall from our prior conversation, he had meant to stay over for dinner and beyond since his family was rather large. It consisted of aunts, uncles, cousins, and distant relations that came to celebrate the holiday at Elias’s palatial home. As he had told me before, those things could go on forever, so I shouldn’t be expecting his call.

That is, if he truly is with his family and not spending his precious time with the French slut. God, if he really had cheated, I was going to raise hell like he had never seen. He had met the crazy Lindsey, but I doubted he could mind the psychotic side of me.

The sadness and betrayal I had immediately felt after seeing those photos had somehow evolved into a twisted sense of strength and empowerment. I had the power to control how this played out as long as I kept myself and my feelings in check. I could very well manipulate it to my favor if I played the sweet, clueless, loving victim to a fault.

Lost in the sea of scenarios that played through my mind, I had nearly forgotten I was a passenger in a taxi and on my way to his home until the driver parked then killed his engine. He climbed out of the vehicle and went around to the trunk for my luggage.

Dimitris’s household had security all around, with a few men shifting from night to day and so forth, but it always consisted of four buff men guarding his home. Ever since he had taken the reigns of their family company, he had said he was a favorite target of the media along with unknown and known enemies and loony trespassers; as a result, the drastic change in lifestyle was a necessity.

Thea, the woman who had taken care of him since infancy, was the person running his household. I wasn’t sure if she would be there, but I did hope the security personnel had been given authority by the boss to let me through. I vaguely recalled him mentioning it, but that had been months before. Things could have changed since.

Upon paying the driver with a hefty tip, I dragged my belongings to the double-gated entrance, putting myself in clear view for the security cameras. It didn’t even take a full minute until someone came out of the small, detached entry gate, greeting me in Greek.

“Hi. Sorry—” I started to say, but immediately stopped myself when I realized I meant to apologize for bothering them at this time of the night. If I was to stick to my old wretched persona, apologizing in situations that need not be should be scrapped from the get-go. “Lindsey Mason,” I stated in a succinct tone before handing him my passport. “I’m your boss’s ex-wife and current mistress, and I’ve taken two long flights to get here, so if you’re done walkie-talking to your buddy there, I’d appreciate it if you let me through so I can finally rest before jet-lag settles in. I’m going to be a dreaded walking zombie that will bite the head off anyone who greets me ‘hello’ otherwise.”

He considered me a moment before he spoke into his walkie-talkie in rapid Greek. I only caught the word wife before he politely apologized and took hold of my belongings just as the gate opened to let me through. Through our short journey from the gate to the house sitting atop the hill, he informed me most of the household staff wouldn’t be back for two days, and the boss was at his grandfather’s house. Therefore, if I needed something, I would have to call the security post, which was a small office adjacent to the main house, and someone would immediately take care of it for me.

I gave the young Greek man named Leo a grateful smile before thanking him once we reached the front entrance of the home. He seemed friendly, with enough Greek charm to make anyone swoon a little. However, I was too out of it to even spring back the fiery flirty side of me. I doubted that side would ever resurface, since the only man I wanted more than anything was f*uking around with my Godforsaken mind.

The moment I entered Dimitris’s home and the kind Leo left me all to my lonesome, I stood still in his brightly lit foyer, gazing over his gorgeous home, remembering the first time I came here. He had asked me what I thought of it and how fitting it would be for his new life and what he ought to personally achieve since he’d planned to move on from me. His old home, which had been an entire building fitted to his liking, was actually the place where he had blessed me with so much love and devotion. That place consisted of so many amazing memories of the beginning of us that this home palled in comparison. Sure, we had fought and made up in this beautiful place, but it held another significance—this house had been bought because he had meant to house Claudine in it along with his future children.