Page 29 of Penniless Cinderella for the Greek
He frowned. ‘Did you speak to Savannah?’
‘Not about the accident. But when I mentioned to her that I wished I knew the details, she suggested that there might be a police file or some documents about the accident. I don’t know why I’d never thought of it. I did some research and found an old newspaper report. All I knew was that our car had been in a collision with a lorry. The report said that the lorry had a tyre blowout that caused the driver to swerve across the road and into the path of a car.’ She blinked away a tear. ‘Our parents were in the front seats and didn’t stand a chance.’
‘That’s not how it was.’ Dimitris jumped up and stared at his sister. He had never followed up about the accident or looked for reports because he hated to be reminded of the worst day of his life. Besides, he knew what had happened and the part he’d played. ‘I was responsible for the crash. I distracted Mum, who was driving, and she took her eyes off the road. I was a vile teenager and I made you cry. It was my fault that our parents were killed, and you were injured.’
Eleni stood and walked stiffly towards him. ‘The newspaper said there was an inquest, and the cause of the crash was recorded as an accident due to a tyre blowout. The lorry had been properly maintained before the crash, and no one was to blame. It was a tragic accident.’ She put her hand on his arm. ‘Maybe you did do something in the car and Mum was distracted. But you were not responsible for the crash.’
Dimitris shook his head. ‘I was to blame.’ His mind reran the seconds before the crash, when he’d seen the lorry heading towards the car. He’d believed that his mother had swerved across the road, but the truth was it had happened so quickly, and he couldn’t be sure. If the lorry’s tyre had burst and the driver had lost control of the vehicle perhaps it had contributed to the chain of events. It did not change things though. ‘If I hadn’t behaved like a brat, Mum would have been able to focus on driving,’ he told his sister. ‘You spent years in a wheelchair because of me.’
‘I can walk again because of the pioneering surgery you paid for.’ Eleni put her arms around him. ‘Dimitris, it’s time to let go of the past. You don’t need to feel guilty, and I certainly don’t blame you. The truth is I barely remember our parents, but you have taken care of me and protected me since they died.’
Savannah rolled her shoulders that were aching after she’d spent too long sitting in front of her laptop. Editing photos was just as important as actually taking the shots and allowed her to make fine adjustments to lighting, tint balance and contrast to achieve perfect images.
Dimitris walked into the studio, and she felt a familiar flutter of excitement in her stomach when he stood behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. He looked over her shoulder at the screen. ‘These pictures are excellent. It was a good idea of yours to serve thesouvlakion a bed of orzo salad. The chicken on skewers looked boring frankly, alone on the plate, but the red tomatoes, black olives mixed with the white orzo in the salad bring the whole dish to life.’
‘I’m going to adjust the brightness a fraction more and then I’ll be happy with the pictures.’ Savannah couldn’t hide the little tremor that ran through her when Dimitris nuzzled her neck before sliding his mouth up to the sensitive spot behind her ear.
‘You are a perfectionist, and I admire your dedication to your work,mátia mou.’ To her disappointment he moved away and raked his hand through his hair. ‘I spoke to my sister.’
Savannah’s eyes widened but she did not say anything as she waited for Dimitris to continue.
‘Eleni took your advice and researched information about the accident. Even though it happened eighteen years ago, she found a newspaper report which stated that the cause of the crash was a tyre blowout on the lorry.’ He exhaled heavily. ‘I still believe that I was partly to blame for distracting my mother. But Eleni doesn’t blame me.’
‘She loves you very much,’ Savannah said softly.
And so do I.
The words slipped into her head, and she felt as though her heart was being crushed in a vice. She was in love with Dimitris. In spite of her determination not to fall for him, he had dismantled her barricades one by one. But the way she felt was different to when she had been eighteen.
This overwhelming feeling wasn’t a teenage crush, this was the real thing. She hadn’t put Dimitris on a pedestal. She knew he wasn’t perfect, but she loved the imperfect bits—his grouchiness first thing in the morning before he’d drunk two cups of strong coffee, his obsession with flashy sports cars and his habit of telling her what happened in a film if he’d seen it before, so that she wasn’t disappointed with the ending, he said.
She was madly in love with his sexy grin and his way of looking at her when she was talking as if he was utterly fascinated by her. She loved his enthusiasm when he took her sightseeing around Rhodes and other islands nearby. Most of all she loved how he brought her body to life with his clever hands and mouth. When he made love to her and gave her more pleasure than she’d imagined it was possible to experience, she had to remind herself that it was just amazing sex. For Dimitris at least.
It was all he wanted, and he had never pretended otherwise or promised more. There was just over a week left of the photoshoot and then he was due to fly to Australia, and she would return to England and try to get on with her life. Her heart contracted at the prospect of their affair finishing. It was too late to try to protect herself from being hurt, but it was her fault, not his.
She decided to enjoy the short time she had left with him, and every night of the following week she told Dimitris with her body what she dared not reveal to him with words. Her insecurity from growing up believing that her father did not love her meant that she was wary of revealing her emotions in case she was rejected.
For his part Dimitris made love to her with a new urgency and wild abandon, as if he was aware of the days slipping past increasingly fast. The cookery book was ahead of schedule and when it was finished he’d suggested a trip on his boat to the island of Kos at the weekend.
The last chapter was Greek desserts. Savannah had spent all morning trying to achieve the perfect shot of a chocolate mascarpone baklava with coffee syrup, but the layers of filo pastry stacked on top of each other between layers of chocolate mascarpone had kept slipping and the dish looked a mess.
Dimitris had said it was because the coffee syrup was too thin, and he decided to make re-make the dessert from scratch. The atmosphere in the studio was unusually fraught, and Savannah had a new worry that made her tense and on edge. Her period was four days late. It had never happened before, and she was always as regular as clockwork.
It was probably a blip, she reassured herself, but when Dimitris had driven her to Rhodes Town earlier in the day, so she could buy souvenirs for her mum, she’d nipped into a chemist and bought a pregnancy test. She planned to do the test in the morning, but meanwhile she felt slightly sick after eating a large portion of the abandoned baklava and hoped the nauseous feeling was a sign that her period was about to start.
A sudden loud clatter followed by a curse drew Savannah’s attention across the studio. Dimitris had dropped a baking tray onto the counter, and the dozen pastry baskets that he’d painstakingly assembled were in pieces. Her handbag that she’d left on the counter had been knocked onto the floor.
‘That’s why you should always wear an oven glove to take a metal tray out of a hot oven,’ he growled. His annoyance quickly faded, and he gave her a rueful grin.
‘Did you get burned?’
‘It’s not too bad. I’ll run my hand under the cold tap after I’ve rescued your bag.’ He crouched down to pick up the contents of her bag that were strewn over the floor.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Savannah said quickly. But she was too late. Dimitris straightened up slowly and held out the pregnancy test kit.
‘What the hell?’ His smile had disappeared, and his eyes were as cold as black ice.
‘I’m a few days late.’ She bit her lip when he stared at her as if she’d grown a second head. ‘It’s probably nothing to worry about.’
