‘Are you saying you still don’t believe me?’ he asked with incredulity.
‘I don’t know what I believe.’ Suddenly, she laughed, the sound startling, cutting through the heavy sadness that had brewed between them. But it contained no humour. ‘You’ve led me on an un-merry dance for two days. I would have to be mad to trust you, of all people, and quite frankly I don’t trust anyone, especially not rich, powerful men who are used to bending people to their will and stamping on anyone who gets in their way and think the laws of the land are for lesser mortals to obey. And you’re one of the richest and most powerful of the lot.’
She turned her back on him and stepped over to the lawn, walking to the stone wall that separated his immaculate garden from the rocks and sand that led to his beach, and put her hands on it, tilting her face to look up at the stars. The moonlight cast her silhouette in an ethereal glow. Seeing her like that sent a strange ache through him.
He wanted to touch that effervescent skin. He wanted to grab those shoulders and shake the truth into her.
Her reached her in four long strides.
‘You know damn well I speak the truth,’ he said, standing behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. ‘I saw it in your eyes. Your sister lied to you about me. You know it and I know it.’
She went rigid under his touch. When she spoke, there was a breathless quality to her words. ‘I’m a journalist. I deal with proof.’
‘You lied to infiltrate my life,’ he reminded her. ‘Where was your proof then?’
‘I infiltrated you in the hope of finding it but it doesn’t matter any more, does it? You’re safe. You rumbled me. Any dirt or skeletons in your closet will stay hidden. You’ll get on with your life and I’ll return to London and try to forget this whole mess ever happened. At least I can take comfort that I managed to get James put down for his crimes. Now take your hand off me.’
Although Carrie stood with her back to him, she was painfully aware of his stare burning into her just as his touch was doing.
He removed his hand as she asked but before she could exhale he leaned into her, his warm breath breezing through her hair as he spoke into her ear.
She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath.
‘Ah, matia mou, you think this is the end of it and I’m going to let you leave? Just like that?’
Closing her eyes was no barrier, she realised with silent desperation. The heat emanating from him seeped into her, the warmth of his breath playing through the strands of her hair and tickling her earlobes, sending tiny shivers dancing over her skin and into her bloodstream.
How could she still react like this to him? Whether or not he spoke the truth about his acquaintance with James and his role in Violet’s expulsion—and if she believed that then she would have to believe Violet had lied to her—he’d played her like his own personal puppet.
She clenched her hands into fists and turned to look him in the eye. ‘You said I couldn’t leave here until I’d told you the truth. Well, you’ve had the truth and now I can go.’
He gave a sound that was like the antithesis of a laugh and stepped back but not far enough for her to dare move. He was still too close. She could still breathe in his scent and feel his warmth.
His eyes bore into hers, mesmerising her with the depth of their strength.
‘I said you couldn’t leave until I’d had the truth, that is correct,’ he mused thoughtfully, his voice as hypnotising as his stare. ‘But I never said you would be leaving without me. I foiled your attempt to infiltrate my life and my business but now I have the staff of your paper, some of the most respected journalists in the world, thinking about me and wondering what kind of man I really am. There are already whispers in the media circulating about me. You have set something in motion, matia mou. Suspicions have been roused.’
Carrie’s heart was beating so hard she had to fight to speak through its heavy echo in her throat. ‘I will tell them I made a mistake.’
‘Enough of the lies,’ he whispered. ‘You still think I am corrupt. Even if I believed you would say you had made a mistake and was able to say it convincingly, it wouldn’t be enough. The doubts will linger. Every time a journalist sees my name the kernels of doubt will start again. My business will come under much closer scrutiny.’
‘If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about.’
‘If only it were that simple.’ He grimaced and finally stepped away from her and walked back to the table.
Carrie rubbed her arms, the sudden removal of his warmth producing chills on her skin.