Scorned (2 page)

This frozen state started to waver when everyone found out that I was sleeping with one of Carter’s friends, Cooper, last year. Brody sought me the night he found out, breathing fire as he yelled at me for sleeping with his friend. I didn’t know what had happened, but after all the yelling, he ended with kissing me. And, my God, that kiss—
his kiss
—it was even better than what I had dreamed of all my life. My love for him resurfaced, hate and loathing were nowhere to be found. He basically consumed me on the spot, matching his fire with mine.

I ended up sleeping with him that night, a year ago, leaving his bed the second he knocked out.

Brody has been chasing me ever since.

“Why do you do this to yourself?” I murmured, wondering why he hadn’t given up.

“You know why,” Brody murmured, pulling me against him as he wrapped his arms around my hips.

I did know
, but it wasn’t enough anymore. So much had happened. My love for him was tainted. He betrayed that love years ago, knowing quite well what it would do to me.

“Let me hold you. Dance with me?”

Sighing, I finally conceded. I hated and loved when he turned that soft and husky voice on. I always had a hard time resisting him when he used it. “Fine. One dance.”

“Thank you.” Brody spun me around and gave me a quick kiss before leading me to the swimming pool that was glassed over to use as a dance floor.

Wrapped in Brody’s embrace, I was about to say something when a voice interrupted us.

“I finally get to see you again,
i̱ gynaíka mou
.”

I stilled, knowing quite well what that meant. FUCK. Gaining every bitchy fiber in me, I spun around and faced my estranged husband. “Dimitris, do you need something?”

Bright blue eyes pinned me on the spot, awash with anger, amongst other things. “You know damn well that I do. Unless you want to discuss it out here.” The Greek raised his ebony brows at me with words that held threat. Those pull-you-in eyes drew me in, feeling beyond nostalgic as memories ran riot in my head.

This man had some sort of power that always made me feel…
off
, like a switch. When he’s around, it high-jacked my existence, but when he wasn’t, I was normal again. As I emphasized earlier, I felt that
off
button ready to shift me into a hapless woman.

The thought of being in that vexing state made me spin around to face Brody, who was still holding my hip quite possessively, before giving him a reassured smile. “I have a quick business chat to attend to. I’ll be back.”

Brody gave me a chaste kiss before he whispered, “Be safe. I’ll be out here if you need me.”

“Thanks.” I gave him a quick hug before I strutted past Dimitris, straight indoors and inside the room that my friend allotted for me to use tonight. I didn’t need to check if the Greek was following me because I just knew he was. I could feel those amazing eyes on me, watching my hips sway, admiring my backside.

Secured in one of the guest rooms, I strode towards the windows, staring out it absentmindedly, not wanting to face him. It took us a good five minutes until someone finally decided to break the silence.

It sure wasn’t me.

“I have the divorce papers with me. Tell me your address and I will drop them off tomorrow,” Dimitris delivered with ease, not pausing to give me a moment to breathe.

We were all staying here tonight, but with the divorce papers, I couldn’t risk anyone seeing them. As far as I was concerned, no one knew about this secret marriage and I wanted to keep it that way. “I’m staying at The Chateau Marmont. You can drop them off there in the morning. How long does it take until we’re divorced?”

I could hear him move a little closer to me. “It’s Greece, so it can vary, but with my influence, I can probably have it done in six to eight weeks. My lawyers are working overtime to make things possible.”

I’m sure they were. A demand from a Kosta was not taken lightly back in his homeland.

My feelings for Brody I could easily control, but when it came to Dimitris, my body took over like it was under a spell and I had a hard time remembering things.
Lust
, hard-exorbitant-potent lust was what I had with this man. From the first moment I met him, I spent the first night in his bed and never left it until he made me his wife. He was demanding, caring, took care of everything, but most of all, he declared his love for me—which was a refreshing novelty, especially knowing he was a playboy. It was an odd mix, but one I enjoyed very much.

After that first night with him, I was taken aback when I received his hundred percent attention so the next day, I Googled his love life and looked at his dating records. Fair enough, the guy didn’t last long in relationships. Since I wasn’t ready for any kind of “relationship”, I thought Dimitris was a safe bet to have some good fun with while on vacation. After a week, instead of slowing down as I expected it to, he became more attentive, always wanting to be with me.

Shit hit the fan when he proposed to me on the club dance floor while we were both drunk, laughing and making out all night. Since I was deliriously happy, intoxicated and never having felt freer in my life, I accepted, like a moron, without thinking. I have no clue how he pulled it off, but in less than forty-eight hours, I was his wife.

The horror of what I’d truly done didn’t settle until a few days before I was bound to go back home. He was talking about me moving to Greece, telling my family, talking to my brother and having a family of our own. Right, like moving to another country was plausible, not. I decided to lay it out for him then, saying that it was over and that I didn’t want to be married. I couldn’t be sure what I’d told him since things progressed very quickly then, but I knew I aimed to hurt and I thought I had, until he showed up a week later and saw Brody.

My thoughts halted when he moved to my side, studying my face, almost caressing it before his features hardened, cold as ice. “That was the guy in your bed before me?” he questioned, showing no emotions.

Of course he’d remember. Nodding, I answered him, “Yes. That’s him.”

He arched that ebony brow of his again, eyes radiating with contempt. “You’ve stayed with him this long, yet you couldn’t wait to get away from me a month later? Tell me, were you involved with him when you married me in Greece?”

When a person gets into sticky situations such as these, it usually gives you a second to respond to sound sincere instead of a big fat liar. The urge to lie was on the tip of my tongue, almost spilling out before I took a stance and decided to tell him the truth. “I grew up with Brody. We had a sexual relationship, but I ended it before I left for Greece.”

Dimitris snickered, looking like… a good wet dream. “How convenient. Did you also merely happen to slide back into this relationship the second you get off the plane, married to another man and all?”

He was so strikingly beautiful; it was somehow hard to look at him without having a mini heart attack. “We ended things before I left, Dimitris.” I tried to stay calm, but it was impossible to achieve that kind of façade. I scolded myself, telling my brain that he was in a relationship with Claudine, but my body seemed to have missed the message.

Something erupted from him. “Damn you! You know well enough that it was far from over, Lindsey! I fucking loved you!
I married you for crying out loud!
” He inched into my face, roaring his words out.

For the entire time I spent with him, even when I broke things off, I had never seen him this angry. It hurt, I wasn’t going to lie; however this was the best for the both of us. “I told you I didn’t do love, but you didn’t care and went ahead with it.”

“You did,
I remember
… but when you’re with me…” he paused, looking away, “you looked like you did, though. When you kissed me, it felt like you did. I cannot believe I was wrong all along. I wanted only to see what I needed to see.”

This confrontation was killing me inside, but I knew we needed one before we signed those papers. A closure before we put this hellish predicament behind us.

His eyes were on me, possibly waiting for me to deny or declare something, yet I wasn’t going to give him anything. I had nothing to give, to him or any man.

“
Are you in love with him?
” Dimitris spat out with an accusing tone.

You had no idea, did you? My mind mocked. “All my life,” I whispered, knowing that this was something I’d accepted.

Dimitris gave a nod, as if understanding it all. “I was just a distraction, sadly.” His strong voice from a few minutes ago was gone. He sounded thoughtful, sad. “Thank you for clearing that up. At least, now, I can move forward without doubts holding me back, thinking things like what had I done wrong with you or if there was something I could’ve done to make you come back. I didn’t realize that I had already lost before I had even began.”

Not glancing his way, I stared out the window again, hardening my cold, bitchy heart. “I sent you emails and messages about sending me the divorce papers, but you never responded. Why did it take you all this time?”

“I was
busy
.” He made a great emphasis on the word “busy”, as if not wanting me to miss that innuendo.

I knew, of course I did. He had been busy with women.

We had both moved on. The divorce was both our best interests. It’s been a year almost. It really was time.

“Do you know what room number you’re in or do you want to meet somewhere else if your boyfriend is staying with you?” the emotionless man asked.

“No. I will be alone, but I haven’t checked in yet.” Out of nowhere, an idea came through. “Why don’t you just drop it off tonight so I can fax it to my lawyers tomorrow? I guess, we both want to be free from this as soon as possible.”

He studied me for a second before he spoke, “Very well. Expect me at midnight.” He gave me a curt nod and then retreated towards the door, leaving me in the room, not knowing what to do.

I exhaled a long breath, feeling ill. I should’ve been relieved that this was actually happening, though I wasn’t feeling anything close to celebratory. In fact, I was feeling very hollow.

Absentmindedly, I took hold of my phone and dialed the hotel’s number to book myself a room for the night. It was only ten-thirty so I still had an hour and a half until I met him.

Coming out of the room, I immediately sought Brody to say goodbye, but when he saw me, he became concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive? You don’t look okay to me.”

“I have a headache. I’ll see you soon, ‘kay?”

Being around Brody usually made me feel good—though I never said it out loud—but tonight, that effect was nowhere to be found. He pulled me against his hard chest and I found comfort in it. I closed my eyes and basked in his scent.
Brody
. He and the scent I had loved all my life.

Maybe it was high time to think about Brody and me after all. The second I hear that my divorce is final; I was going to think it through and consider it. As scary as that sounded, I had to be brave and give this a try. “Two months, Brody. If you can wait; it’s two months.”

“Then, I’ll be waiting for two months. It’s about time we give this love a shot,” he assured me, smiling down on me.

Giving him a tight smile, I looked into his face. “I know,” I murmured, understanding before I untangled myself from him. “I’ll see you soon. I’m going to call it a night. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He kissed my forehead before lifting my chin to see straight into his heart. “Make sure you do, pookie. You know how worried I get when you don’t.”

“Night, Brody.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” He never failed to let me know, not after that night he made love to me. Not once did he fail.

Chapter 2

At exactly midnight, I heard a knock on my door. I was making my way towards the entrance when I halted my steps, a little shaky. Closing my eyes, I commanded myself to breathe and calm it down a notch before I had a full-blown panic attack. I hadn’t had one in over a decade and I’d be damned if I started to have one now. “Focus!” I hissed out loud before I strolled towards the door, opening it.

I caught myself before a loud gasp came out of my mouth when I found Dimitris standing there. He stood, one arm against the doorframe, the other in his pocket while he just stared at me for a few seconds.
Few
, yes, but it felt like time suspended between us while we drunk each other in.
If he wasn’t so irresistible…
I thought recklessly.

“May I come in?” Dimitris spoke, breaking my thoughts.

Without a word, I motioned for him to come in. He walked past me, striding towards the middle of the living room, taking in the blast from the past surroundings. The design was a retro-chic theme. Funky, fun, upbeat and just what I needed it to be like right-the-hell-now.

“Do you want a glass of wine? Water?” I offered, my eyes straying away from his enticing backside.

He shook his head before spinning around to face me, nonchalant. “No. I don’t plan to stay long.”