‘I’m surprised I didn’t already know about it.’ She swallowed before giving a small, apologetic smile. ‘I did a lot of research on you.’
His low laugh showed his lack of surprise at her confession. ‘The press coverage was minimal and all in Greek. My name wouldn’t have been in any of the reports—it all happened before I became well known.’
‘How are your parents now?’
‘In a good place, thank God, but it took them a long time to recover. The whole thing did not just affect their finances but everything else too. Their reputations and health were ruined. Friends, neighbours, people who knew them well, all shunned them. By the time it went to court what mattered most to them was having their reputations restored. It was a bitter thing for them to accept, that people believed them capable of knowingly employing child abusers. My mother has since fought two different forms of cancer and my father has had a quadruple heart bypass. Losing Tanya almost finished them off.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Her heart twisted for this couple she had never met who had been through so much pain and heartache.
And Andreas had lost his sister.
Carrie knew what the pain of loss felt like. Her mother had been dead for seven years now but there were still times when grief caught her; a song playing on the radio, seeing her shampoo on a supermarket shelf, little things that could poleaxe her.
She felt her heart wrench to imagine all the little things that could poleaxe Andreas with grief too.
When he reached for her hand and brought it to his lips she didn’t snatch it away.
‘It does not take a lot to destroy a reputation and a business,’ he said sombrely as he brushed his lips over her fingertips. ‘I will not take the risk of assuming the damage can be prevented with some carefully chosen words. Even a whisper of embezzlement could cause irreparable harm to my name and then who can say what the repercussions would be? Marrying you, the woman who started the whispers, is the best way to kill it.’
Her hand tingled, her fingers itching to open up and explore his face and touch all the hard, masculine features her eyes could not help but drink in…
‘We are here.’
Blood roared so hard in her ears his softly delivered words sounded distant. ‘What?’
‘Your home. We have arrived. Are you going to invite me in?’
Coming to her senses with a jolt, Carrie snatched her hand from his and jerked back, then fumbled with the door handle, her sudden desperation for air that wasn’t filled with his scent making her all fingers and thumbs. Before she could break the handle off, the driver appeared and opened it for her.
She practically threw herself out of the car. The cold drizzle was a welcome relief on her flushed skin.
‘Carrie?’
She dragged the fresh air into her lungs before looking back at him. ‘Yes?’
His eyes were alive with amusement, as if he knew exactly what had got her so flustered.
He probably did know. He seemed to be able to read her like a book.
‘Tomorrow, we book our wedding.’
She shrugged, pretending a nonchalance she absolutely did not feel.
‘And you need to book leave from your work.’
‘I can hardly marry you if I’m in the office.’
He grinned. ‘I meant for my cousin’s wedding. It’s being held in Agon, an island near Crete. We’ll fly over at the weekend.’
‘But the wedding’s not for a fortnight.’
‘We can spend the week before it there. I’m already bored of the English rain.’
‘I can’t just take a week off at this short notice.’ She’d thought they would spend the weeks leading up to their marriage in London, in her home territory, where she was safe…
She hadn’t been safe in the back of his car.
The cold English drizzle had proved no barrier to her ever-growing awareness of him.
‘Tell them I’ve agreed to an exclusive interview with you.’ His lively eyes carried steel in them, clearly saying, You will do exactly as you are told or our deal is off.
He had her exactly where he wanted her and he knew it.
‘Fine. But you’ll have to actually give me an exclusive interview in exchange.’
Now his eyes gleamed with more than mere amusement. ‘There are many exclusive things I can give you, matia mou. An interview is just one of them.’
The gleam deepened, his suggestive words hanging in the air between them for what felt like a whole epoch before she got her vocal cords to work, her cheeks flaming like a bonfire. ‘I’ll book the time off.’
A knowing smile played on his lips. ‘I will pick you up in two hours.’
‘What for?’
‘I am taking you out to dinner, matia mou.’ The smile turned into the wickedest of grins. ‘Unless you wish to invite me into your home and cook for me?’