Page 20 of Penniless Cinderella for the Greek
Dimitris frowned. ‘Did you ever discuss your relationship with your father with your mother?’
‘Mum was a dreamer, and wrapped up in her art. She made excuses for my father and said he worked hard to provide a good life for us. I had the best of everything, but I felt that I should be grateful to him. I was envious of my friends who had a close relationship with their fathers.’
Dimitris cleared his throat and seemed to be about to say something, but he gave a slight shake of his head and lapsed into a brooding silence for the rest of the journey.
His villa was a vast white-walled property standing in sprawling grounds on a clifftop with incredible views across the bay. Bougainvillea vines smothered with vivid pink flowers grew against the walls, and rosemary and jasmine planted in pots by the front door filled the air with their fragrance. He carried her suitcase and ushered her into the cool and airy entrance hall.
‘Welcome to my home, Savannah.’
Home. A lump formed in Savannah’s throat at the thought that she was currently homeless. She hadn’t had time to look for a flat before she’d come to Rhodes, but she knew that rental properties around Windsor where she could be close to her mum were expensive. Staying with Dimitris for six weeks would give her a chance to look online for somewhere to live when she returned to England.
She did not understand why she’d told him about her difficult relationship with her father that she’d never spoken about to anyone else. From now on she would stick to the boundaries of their working relationship, she decided. She turned and found him standing beside her. The citrus and spice scent of his aftershave evoked an ache deep in her pelvis. Her gaze collided with his and her heart missed a beat when she saw desire glitter in his eyes. With a gasp she stepped away from him as a man walked across the hall towards them.
‘This is my assistant, Stefanos,’ Dimitris said coolly. His chiselled features were unreadable, and Savannah wondered if she had imagined those few seconds of sizzling sexual awareness between them. ‘Stefanos will give you a tour of the villa and bring your luggage up to your room. Meet me downstairs when you are ready.’
The villa’s décor was crisply stylish and everywhere was white with touches of grey. The few elegant sculptures and abstract artwork on the walls had probably been chosen by an interior designer. There was nothing to give a clue to the personality of the villa’s owner.
The guest bedroom was charming, although Savannah thought that some colourful cushions would break up all the white. She gave a cry of delight when she stepped onto the balcony overlooking the garden and saw an infinity pool that appeared to flow over the cliff edge and into the sea. It had been raining when she’d left London, but in Rhodes in late September the temperature was still as hot as a midsummer’s day in England. She thanked Stefanos for carrying her luggage to her room, and when he’d gone she unpacked and swapped her jeans and sweatshirt for a sleeveless linen dress.
Glancing out of the window, she saw Dimitris in the garden with a woman. His arm was draped around her shoulders, and their body language seemed to suggest they shared a close bond. Savannah could not see the woman’s face, but she had long, curly dark hair and an enviably curvaceous figure.
Was the exotic brunette Dimitris’s mistress? Jealousy burned like acid in her stomach. How could she bear to work with Dimitris every day, knowing that he spent his nights with his mistress? But she had no option. He had handed her a lifeline when he’d offered her the photo assignment and she was determined to ignore her attraction to him.
‘Ah, Savannah, there you are,’ he said when she walked across the garden a few minutes later. Her brittle smile turned to shock and delight when she recognised his attractive companion.
‘Eleni?’
‘Savannah, it’s so good to see you. Dimitris told me that you are the photographer for his new book.’ Eleni’s vivacious face was even prettier than when she had been a teenager. She walked a little stiffly over to Savannah and flung her arms around her. ‘You haven’t changed a bit.’
‘But you don’t use a wheelchair.’ Savannah hugged her school friend. ‘I didn’t recognise you.’
‘I’m able to walk thanks to my brilliant surgeon in America.’ Eleni sighed. ‘It’s bad timing that I’m flying to the Far East tomorrow to attend a series of jewellery fairs. But we have this evening to catch up on ten years of news.’
‘I’ll leave you girls to chat,’ Dimitris said. ‘We’ll eat outside on the terrace in half an hour.’
Savannah waited until he’d strolled back to the villa and took a deep breath. ‘Eleni, there is something I need to tell you. I went on a couple of dates with Matt Collier after he told me he was single. I had no idea he was engaged to you until Dimitris found us at a hotel. Please believe that nothing happened between me and Matt.’
‘Dimitris explained the situation when he told me that you would be working with him on his book,’ Eleni said ruefully. ‘I still feel hurt and angry with Matt for lying to me. He lied to you too. I know you wouldn’t have dated him if you had known he was engaged. We were best friends at school, Savannah, and I’ve never forgotten your kindness when I was bullied by some of the other girls.’
‘Dimitris was furious.’
‘My brother has always been very protective of me. Sometimes a bit too protective.’ Eleni sighed. ‘Dimitris seems to blame himself for the car accident when our parents were killed and I was badly injured.’
‘How could it have been his fault?’
‘I don’t know. I think I told you before that I have no memory of what happened. I wish I could persuade Dimitris to talk about the crash. It must have been traumatic for him and I’m sure it’s not good for him to bottle things up. He has been amazing in the way he has taken care of me, and he paid for the surgery that enabled me to walk again.’
Eleni led Savannah over to a terrace where a dining table stood beneath a pergola covered with vine leaves and bunches of plump red grapes. ‘Tell me about yourself. You were engaged, weren’t you? I remember that Dimitris was in a bad mood for days when he heard the news.’ Eleni did not hide her curiosity. ‘I knew that the two of you were dating when we lived in London. Dimitris won a lot of money with a lottery ticket and days later he took me and our grandparents to Rhodes, where he’d bought a house for us. The move was so sudden, and I wondered if something had happened between you and him to cause you to break up.’
Dimitris was not likely to have told his sister that he’d been able to afford to buy a house in Rhodes with money he’d accepted as a bribe from her father, Savannah thought grimly. A winning lottery ticket had been a perfect excuse. Her anger ignited when she remembered how miserable she’d been after he had abruptly ended their relationship. At eighteen she had been starved of affection from her father, and she’d wanted to believe that Dimitris loved her. She wondered now if he had shown an interest in her because her family had been wealthy.
She had been fixated with Dimitris, and she was dismayed that he could still affect her. When they had arrived at his villa and she’d sensed the chemistry between them, she’d acknowledged that sleeping with him hadn’t got him out of her system as she’d hoped. But she knew that Dimitris would never love her the way she yearned to be loved—totally and unconditionally. She’d spent her childhood trying to win her father’s love, and she was not going to waste any more of her emotions on Dimitris.
Perhaps she would sign up to a dating app that some of her friends used, and when she returned to London after the photoshoot she intended to socialise more. She couldn’t let her bad experience with Matt Collier put her off. But, deep down, Savannah wondered if she was unlovable, and it was the reason her father and Dimitris had rejected her.
A sound from behind her alerted her to Dimitris’s presence, and her treacherous body reacted instantly as each of her nerve-endings zinged and her nipples hardened so that her lacy bra scraped against the sensitive peaks. She fought the urge to cross her arms over her chest as her gaze was drawn to his face and she recognised the flare of desire in his dark blue eyes before he looked away from her.
It was a relief when Eleni’s cheerful voice broke the tense silence. ‘What are we having to eat? Mmm,pastitsio,’ she said when Dimitris placed the serving platter he was holding on the table and removed the lid. ‘It’s the Greek version of lasagne,’ she told Savannah.
