Chapter 32
Demetri placed the little girl on the floor and spoke to the woman she was with before walking towards me.
As I took in the girl’s features – her strong nose, her shaggy, dark brown hair, and those eyes – there was no mistaking whatsoever that this little girl was related to him.
There was no way he could deny it. So much was running through my mind.
How had the fact he was a father not come up in conversation?
We’d even had discussions about children, but not once had he told me the truth.
If he’d lied about something as huge as this, what else had he been lying about?
My heart was starting to race and my breath was becoming short. What the hell had I done flying over here to this liar and cheat? I’d known it all along. I’d known he was going to let me down, yet everyone kept telling me how wonderful he was and how I needed to let my guard down and let him in.
And look what had happened when I did. He failed me. Not just once by leaving Sandpiper Shore, but twice because he’d clearly been lying to me. I knew that I should have trusted my initial instinct.
I could feel myself get hotter and hotter and I felt like my clothes were suffocating me.
As he reached where I stood, I turned on my heel and went to walk away.
My luggage got stuck in one of the cobbles.
It wasn’t ever going to be the most glamorous flounce away I’d done in my life because I stumbled, but I didn’t care.
He took the opportunity to grab me by the hand and tried to pull me back, but I wrenched myself away from him, flinching at his touch.
He called out my name.
‘Michelle. This is not what you are thinking.’
Fuming, I turned to face him, spitting the words out of my mouth. ‘Well, I’d like to see you get out of this one, Demetri.’
My eyes stung with tears.
There was a grim silence and we both stared each other out, before he spoke again. ‘Please, Michelle. Just give me a moment. Let me explain.’
The ringing of a phone came just before I spoke and the woman who had also now appeared at his side touched him on the arm.
‘Demetri…’
‘Not now, Katrina.’ His voice was razor sharp but his eyes never left mine.
Ah. So this was the mysterious Katrina. I’d have been far happier if she’d been fat and ugly, with a wart on the end of her nose, but it was not to be.
She was the total opposite to me. Tall, leggy, curvy, beautiful.
God, how on earth could I have ever competed with someone like this?
He must have known I would never have come out here with him.
I was such a fool. I blinked away the tears, determined that he would not see me crumble.
I reached down to my case and put my cardigan on, just looking for something to do with myself, and pulled it tight around me despite the heat of the day.
This time the little girl tugged on his arm.
‘Papa! We have to go to Nana.’
He looked down at her as if coming out of a trance and looked back up at Katrina again.
Katrina’s voice was sterner as she addressed him again. ‘It’s time, Demi. Your mother is asking for you.’
‘I’m sorry, Michelle. But I have to go. It’s my mother…’
‘Yeah, you don’t have to lie to me any more. I’ve met your brother, don’t forget. I know the truth about your mother.’
He looked at me, his furrowed brow showing that he was confused.
‘He told me that she wasn’t that ill. You’ve been lying to me all along, Demetri. You don’t have to pretend any more.’
Demetri frowned, as if he was trying to make sense of what he was hearing, but I couldn’t quite work out if he was just pretending to look confused or if it was real.
‘I don’t understand. You’ve met Makis? How? When?’
‘You know I have. Stop lying to me. Just stop.’
He grabbed my hand again and his eyes pleaded with me.
‘This is not what you think, Michelle. I promise. I can’t talk right now but I will explain everything. I know this is a massive ask, but you’re here. You’ve come all this way. Please wait for me. For an hour or two. I’ll be back. I promise. I’ll tell you the truth.’
‘I’m not sure you’d know the truth if it jumped up and bit you on the arse, Demetri. How could you keep this from me?’ My words were filled with bitterness.
He held up both of his hands in surrender.
‘Is she yours?’ I asked, looking into his eyes.
‘I… Well…’ He pulled a pained face.
‘Can you honestly say that you are not related to that little girl, Demetri?’
‘I cannot,’ he replied. My heart sank. So she was his. What the hell?
Katrina coughed and spoke again.
‘Demetri…’
‘I’m coming,’ he snapped at her before turning to me once more. ‘Please, Michelle. I beg you. Give me one more chance. Wait here and I’ll be back. I promise.’
As the little girl put her hand in his and tugged him away, he gave her a half smile.
‘I’m coming, Athena.’
And once again he walked away from me.