‘I mean the lights,’ he explained. ‘I take it you’re responsible?’
‘Yes, I switched them on. Please don’t be angry with your staff, Ethan.’ She touched his arm. ‘It was all my fault. I did it for them, for you.’
‘For me? For them? What is this nonsense?’
Tears were threatening. She had been so looking forward to sharing this moment with him, Savannah realised, and now it had all gone wrong. Far from wanting light, Ethan craved the darkness to hide his scars. She should have known and not been so insensitive. In trying to help him she had arrogantly assumed she was right, only seeing the world from her own perspective. And now he couldn’t wait to turn those lights off, or for her to leave. ‘I’m so sorry—’
‘You’ll have to leave,’ he said, perfectly echoing her thoughts. ‘I can’t have this sort of interference. Please pack your bags.’
‘Ethan—’
‘There’s nothing more to say, Savannah.’
‘But it’s nighttime. Where will I go?’
‘A hotel, the airport, somewhere—I don’t care.’
‘You’re throwing me out?’
‘Save your melodrama for the stage.’
‘Says you, living in the dark!’ She couldn’t believe she’d said that. But it was true. She was fighting for Ethan, and where that was concerned nothing she said was going too far. But as Ethan’s stony stare raked her face, Savannah realised he didn’t see it that way.
‘Will you pack?’ he said coldly, confirming her worst fears. ‘Or must I call the housekeeper to do that for you?’
‘Ethan, please.’ It was no use. He’d closed off to her.
As he shook Savannah’s hand from his arm, he saw her tears and his heart ignored the dictates of his head.
‘Please don’t be angry with your housekeeper,’ she entreated, adding to the conflict boiling inside him. ‘You must know this is all my fault.’
Every bit of it was Savannah’s fault…or her blessing. He turned his back so he wouldn’t have to look into her face, but still he felt her goodness washing over him. She wouldn’t stop until all the bitterness was cleaned away. She touched his arm, begging him. ‘You’ve gone too far,’ he growled, wanting even now to protect her from that black evil inside him.
She didn’t argue, and instead she did something far worse: she confessed.
‘You’re right,’ she said frankly. ‘I interfered where I shouldn’t have. This is your home, Ethan, not mine. I asked your staff to turn on some lights so it was safer for them, and for you. I can see I went too far with that plan when one or two lights would have been sufficient, and if you want me to leave I will. All I ask is your promise that you won’t blame your staff for my thoughtless actions.’
He didn’t need to see any more tears to know that Savannah was at her most vulnerable. Yet she fought on in the defence of others. He couldn’t ignore that. Her appeal had touched him deeply in a way he hadn’t felt, maybe, ever. He was still wondering how best to deal with this unusual situation when the housekeeper Savannah was at such pains to defend came unwittingly to their rescue.
‘Something to eat, signore, signorina?’ she said blithely when Savannah opened the door to her knock.
What perfect timing, Savannah thought, exhaling with relief as she smiled at her new friend. As her shoulders relaxed she quickly adapted her manner so as not to concern the older woman. ‘Let me take that tray from you.’
‘No, please, let me.’ Ethan’s innate good manners meant he had to step forward in front of Savannah to take the tray himself.
‘Thank you, signore,’ the housekeeper said politely, handing Ethan the tray without any sign that she had overheard their heated exchange. ‘I’ve made enough for two.’
Hmm, Savannah thought, realising Ethan had no other option other than to carry the tray into her room. ‘Let me clear a space for you,’ she said, hurrying ahead of him.
To give her a moment to regroup, she rushed about, hunting for her slippers. Ethan placed the tray down on the low table between the two sofas and remained standing.
This was one consequence she could not avoid.
By the time she had found her slippers and slipped them on, she could hardly breathe, let alone speak as she came to a halt in front of Ethan.
When exactly had he become so hard and unfeeling? She had only turned the lights on, after all, which in the bright world Savannah inhabited was a very small transgression. As she ran her fingers through her still-damp hair, her face naked after her shower, he knew she was also naked under her robe. She looked nervous, apprehensive; fearful. She was certainly braced for a stinging rebuke. ‘We shouldn’t let the supper go to waste. That’s if you don’t mind…’
She looked surprised at his suggestion, as he had expected, but she quickly rallied, saying, ‘Of course I don’t mind. Please, sit down. You must be hungry too?’