She opened her eyes and looked into the mirror. First at her eyes—a little bewildered, a lot afraid—then at her mussed hair, and finally to the red mottled stain that started on one side of her ribcage and crept up like a red wine stain on a white tablecloth, the edges crazily uneven, to devour most of her left breast.
She squeezed her eyes shut. The contrast with her untanned white skin only accentuated the scars. And if she found it ugly…
But it couldn’t be put off any longer. No more covering up with robes, with lace teddies and negligees. No more hiding from the light, no more deception. If she couldn’t trust Loukas now, after what they’d shared, then she was never going to be able to trust him.
She summoned all the strength she had as she replaced her clothes, smoothing her hair before heading for the exit.
Tonight was the night!
She was waiting for him outside the clinic, just as they’d arranged, and one sight of her was enough to quicken his pulse in anticipation of what the night would bring. She’d been such a good student, eager and quick to learn, turning from an innocent into a she-devil in less time than he would have imagined possible even under his skilful tutelage.
And yet he hadn’t managed to transform her completely. She was a strange mix—so sexy with her new knowledge one minute, and yet still so shy and innocent the next. She continued to plead to make love in the dark, as he hungered to see her body stripped of the shadows she preferred to adorn herself with.
But time had run out. He gritted his teeth as he remembered his father’s call. Olympia was back, and about to book herself into the clinic at any time. Which meant there was no more time for instruction of his protégée—no more time to break down her last remaining barriers.
And that annoyed him intensely.
How could time have slipped away so quickly? He wasn’t finished with her yet—not by a long way. He hadn’t had enough of her lush curves, her responsive body, the incredible feeling of her shattering in his arms as he pumped into her.
His teeth clenched as he pulled into the kerb alongside her, noticing the way the breeze sculpted the soft fabric of her skirt around the sensational legs beneath. Legs that climbed all the way up to a place where he’d found paradise for the last three nights. A place that would be available to him only in his memories once she discovered his real purpose.
He rammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel.
Damn his father!
Damn his sister and her useless husband!
And damn Della-Bosca and the industry that fed like parasites off the insecure, fuelling their endless pursuit for the perfect body!
He lifted his eyes from Jade’s legs long enough to notice her slight frown—too bad if she’d picked up on his mood, he was too angry to pretend everything was all right. And it didn’t matter if he wasn’t the perfect host tonight. He had a more important job to do.
She had to tell him whatever she knew. Whatever Della-Bosca had planned for his sister he would have to prevent. And then hopefully he would have enough evidence to put her away for life. It was time someone did.
‘You seem tense,’ she said, when finally, after a conversation-starved journey, they arrived at the house. ‘Is something the matter?’
She waited while he fixed them both a drink, almost afraid to breathe, already rethinking her plans to come clean. Could it be that he was tiring of her already? Was her lack of experience and finesse a turn-off for him?
The thought almost paralysed her with a kind of grief—the last few nights had been the best in her life, and Loukas was the reason. But if he didn’t want her any more…
He turned then, and what she saw almost made her recoil—because for the briefest second his face looked exactly as it had done the first time she’d seen him: harsh and unforgiving and etched with a hostility she couldn’t fathom. But then in a blink of his eyes it was gone, replaced by a smile she’d become more familiar with, a smile that seemed so warm and sincere she almost reeled in confusion, wondering whether she’d imagined the transformation.
But she had seen that momentary flash in his eyes, the chiselled set of his chin. Underneath the façade he was angry with her—but why?