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Did his sister know how lucky she was?
‘H…How is Pia now? Do you know?’
He stopped, and dragged in some air, his fist slowly melting back into a hand as he battled to get his breathing under control. ‘She’s at home. Stella is looking after her—and Kurt, though I don’t know how much good he’ll be. I’m just hoping it will be a long while before she attempts any cosmetic surgery again.’
She smiled wanly. ‘I’m glad she’s okay. She seems a nice kid.’
His eyes hardened to stone. ‘Exactly,’ he hissed, moving closer to her. ‘A kid. And yet you were prepared to let that monster cut into her.’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘No? It sure looked like it to me.’
‘I even tried to talk Pia—Olympia—out of it. But she wouldn’t listen to me. She was determined to go ahead with the surgery.’
He snorted his disbelief. ‘Don’t give me that!’
‘It’s the truth!’
‘You can’t make things any better for yourself, you know, so don’t even bother trying.’
She swallowed back the lump in her throat, fighting the prick of tears that surged up at the injustice. Why had she even bothered to apologise to this brute? He wasn’t prepared to accept anything from her, let alone the truth. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘You’ve never believed anything I’ve said. Why should what I say today be any different?’
‘You’re not the victim in all this, so don’t make out like you are.’
‘I want to leave,’ she said, immediately gritting her teeth together in an effort to keep a hold over the burgeoning bubble of unshed tears that was swelling by the second. ‘I’m going.’
‘You’re not going anywhere!’
‘You can’t keep me here!’
‘Just watch me.’
‘There’s no need. You don’t need to protect me any more.’
‘You think I’m protecting you?’
‘What do you mean? Isn’t that why you brought me here? To protect me from the reporters?’
His only response was to blink.
‘I don’t care about the reporters,’ she said. ‘I can handle them myself.’
‘That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘How much do you think they’ll give you for your story? I think they’d pay a fortune to get the goods from you—probably enough to tide you over while you search for some other laboratory to perform your sick experiments.’
‘I don’t believe you! You really think I’d sell my version of events to the highest bidder?’
His eyes dropped away. ‘I can’t afford to take any chances. So far the Demakis name has escaped being tainted by this scandal. But if someone were to give the press something adverse or embarrassing…’
‘And you think I would? That’s why you’re holding me prisoner here—because I might lift some dirt on your precious family? So how long do you think you can keep me here—how long do you plan on keeping me silent? A week? A month? For ever?’
He slammed his fist against the wall. ‘I don’t want Olympia hurt any more than she has been!’
‘And you don’t believe me when I say I’d do nothing to hurt Pia? But why should that come as a surprise? Ever since we’ve met you’ve been only too happy to misjudge me. All the way along you’ve been happy to assume the worst.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying you’ve never chosen to believe me over your own warped preconceived notions. Even when they’re proved wrong, you still won’t accept it. You assumed I was in with Grace from the start. You decided I was just as guilty. Were you disappointed when the police didn’t lock me away? Would it have been easier for you if they’d kept me behind bars and thrown away the key—saved you the trouble?’
‘Stop it!’
‘Why should I? Why should I do anything you say? It’s not as if you’re the bastion of what’s right and true in the world. Look at the way you treated me. You used me—lied to me—tricked me into sleeping with you so that I might spill what I knew about Grace. Well, the joke is on you, Loukas, because it was all for nothing. I didn’t know anything. You went to all the trouble of bedding me for nothing! All that effort—totally wasted!’
