Chapter 21
Costa paced nervously in his hotel room as he waited for Tallia. He felt sick with relief that she was here. Mostly though, he just felt sick. He knew it was only two days since she left Seleni, but he had not been able to wait. The anxious sense of dread that had been gnawing at his insides since Tallia left had yet to abate. He couldn't stop thinking that Tallia hated him and never wanted to see him again.
All of his dreams since they met were of Tallia. Since she left Seleni each one invariably turned into a nightmare in which she stormed out on him, telling him she never wanted to see him again. He could not shake the sense that everything he held dear was slipping through his fingers like sand. The sense of powerlessness was both unfamiliar and horrid. He was so out-of-sorts that he didn’t even dare call her when he landed. He had been dithering in his hotel for hours just trying to work up the nerve to pick up the phone.
Now, suddenly, she was here, in his hotel, on her way up to his room, and his mind was blanking. For the past two days he tortured himself with thoughts of what he would say when he saw her again, trying to anticipate any reaction she had, any scenario. Now that the moment of truth was at hand, he wasn't sure he could even remember his own name.
It was the unnerving suspicion that he was in for a rough ride that made Costa such a pathetic shell of the suave, debonair, ladies’ man he once was. She had just turned up after he arrived in London, before they made any plans to see each other, and that filled him with unease. He wished she had called him before coming to his hotel, so he would have some clue of what he was in for.
Having never indulged in discussions about relationships, much less having a relationship, he had no idea what to expect. If it were any other woman coming to see him to have a 'talk', he would have told security to get rid of her and gotten on with his day. But it was Tallia. He was so desperate to see her that he almost told reception he would be down to meet her, and to have her wait for him in the lobby.
Rubbing his damp palms on his slacks, Costa tried to get a grip on his emotions. He saw himself in a mirror by the door and could hardly recognize the disheveled, wild-eyed idiot he saw reflected back at him. That stranger looked as if he hadn't slept in days, and that stranger was him. Why, he wondered viciously, hadn't Tallia just picked up the phone and called him? He hated surprises, drama, being in the wrong, and suspected he was in for all three.
Two days of waiting and wondering had frayed his temper and his nerves. He was a wreck. He was sweating like a bull in the slaughter chute. At least not knowing was better than having her tell me to go to Hell. I should never have let her leave Seleni, he told himself stupidly. At the very least I should have come to England with her!
A brief knock on the door announced her. He whipped a hand hastily through his hair, smoothing it as he smoothed his expression. Before he could tell her to enter, the door swung open. Costa stiffened in outrage, instantly furious, because he had gotten worked up for nothing. It was Emily who came through the door, the wrong Miss Maitland in every way. He saw the flash of fire in her eyes, and all his defenses snapped into place.
"Get out," he barked.
"I don't think so," Emily snarled, planting a hand on her hip and striking a pose that dared him to throw her out. They eyed each other silently for a moment like gunslingers, neither of them making any attempt to hide the contempt they felt towards the other.
Emily was dressed like something out of a spy movie, all skintight black leather and stiletto heels. Her lips were colored a blazing red and her face and hair done up with all the spray, gel, mousse, and war paint a woman could hope to slather on. Clinically, Costa thought she probably looked drop-dead gorgeous. But all he could think about was how much he would love to see her drop dead, period.
"You are one sorry, low down bastard, Costa Eustakhios. Your brother may be a boring nitwit, with only partying on his mind. But at least he's got a conscience and doesn't go around lying and seducing innocent women," she tossed at him coldly.
"Ah, yes," Costa purred, "One could hardly call you innocent, now could they? I've never had the privilege of seeing your first movie, but I hear you are quite the star of the small screen. The camera does love you," he taunted, suddenly very happy to have such an easy target on whom to unleash his pent up frustration.
"Oh, you are such a hypocrite- a sad cliché really. I may have slept around in the past, but I bow before the master. Do you even know how many women you've screwed?"
"Do you even remember half the men you did?" he retorted.
Emily, her cheeks burning with color at his snide words, shrieked, "Tallia is not one of your disposable Barbie dolls!"
"My relationship with Tallia has nothing to do with you, and I will not discuss it with you," he informed her curtly.
"She's my sister! It has everything to do with me," Emily insisted fervently. "When you messed with her, you messed with me!"
"I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole," he remarked casually, eyeing Emily up and down with a dismissive look. "Now get out, before I throw you out."
"You, or any of your goons lay a finger on me, and I’ll put my six inch stiletto so far up your arse they'll need a deep space probe to extract it," she warned hotly.
"Was there a point to your visit, or did you come to dazzle me with your charm and witty repartee? I can't even begin to imagine what my brother saw in you. I'm sure you're quite something in the sack, you certainly have enough experience, but aside from that I cannot think what you have to offer a man."
Emily trembled in outrage, and Costa almost smirked with satisfaction. It was obvious from her flustered expression that she was not immune to his scathing derision, and it delighted him to know how easily he could get under her skin.
"You bastard!" she gritted out.
"I believe you are repeating yourself. You should really go now, before you embarrass yourself any further," he drawled.
"Don't think I don't know you did this to make me suffer, just for having the gall to try and marry your stupid brother!"
Costa burst out laughing, "My, but you are deluded and have a very high opinion of yourself! You have never, nor shall you ever, have that kind of importance to me."
"I know all about you, Costa Eustakhios, and your dirty tricks. I know how you can't stand it when you don't get your way and how you have no scruples in getting what you want. I know a dozen girls you've thrown over and treated like trash. You think you're so special because you have money, as if that gives you the right to treat other people like shit, but you're wrong! You're just a gutless, soulless, arsehole!"
On the verge of giving Emily another icy set down, Costa's own words about Emily's importance finally cracked the protective shield of his temper. Suddenly, he realized whom he was antagonizing and that this was not an opportunity for him to score points off a hapless child like Emily Maitland.
Shame washed over Costa, because he was doing it again, treating a woman like garbage and not just any woman, Tallia's sister. He almost groaned aloud, he was so shocked at his stupidity in letting his temper get the best of him. He would gain nothing by alienating Tallia's only family member- quite the contrary. And he still had no idea why Emily was here, other than to spit vitriol at him.
"Listen Emily, I'm not interested in trading insults with you like two kids on a playground. You have the wrong idea about your sister and me, that is, my intentions toward your sister," he began in a curt, no-nonsense manner, hoping to salvage something through cool logic.
"The only wrong idea I ever had was to think you would be decent enough not to seduce a woman who you thought, at the time, was going to be your future sister-in-law. For God sake, couldn't you see how innocent Ally is? She was a virgin, in case you didn't notice!
“Don't you have a shred of decency in you?" Emily demanded in outrage, thought there was real hurt in her eyes as she glared at him. "She didn't deserve this. She deserves a real man, someone who can love her and treat her right, not a oversexed
tomcat who has to nail every woman he meets just to make him feel like a man!"
"You don't know the first thing about me," Costa snarled, infuriated by the guilt Emily's words caused him. "I know she is innocent."
"I can't believe you!" Emily snapped at that reluctant admission, "couldn't you just stick to your actresses and socialites? Why did you have to go after her?
“She's a school teacher. She volunteers at homeless and pet shelters, goes to rallies for Greenpeace, clean air, and… and endangered tigers. Tallia doesn't know anything about your world. She wants to get married and have kids and save the universe. She's a Buddhist for heaven's sake!"
Emily's already fragile facade wavered dangerously and tears started to pool in her huge eyes. "She's never done anything to hurt a soul, and she's had nothing but grief for her troubles. If you were any sort of human being, you would have left her alone. She… she has to start her whole life over thanks to me. She doesn't need someone like you taking advantage of her and exposing her to all sorts of filth and empty pleasures."
Costa stepped forward, overcoming his aversion of crying, hysterical women, as he let himself give in to his sympathy for Emily. The little blond bristled and pulled herself up straighter, staring daggers at him. She was clearly furious that she let her distress show in front of someone she viewed as an enemy. Seeing Emily so upset, Costa realized that part of her anger was due to her own guilty conscience. But it was her genuine love for her sister that really moved him.
Emily wanted the best for Tallia and was fighting for her sister. Costa wanted to tell her that he had every intention of safeguarding Tallia's happiness, and he intended to make Tallia's future his number one priority. Emily’s impassioned words however, gave him pause, as did the things she revealed about Tallia.
While Costa had always known Tallia was an angel, hearing about all of her interests made him realize just how great the disparity between them truly was. They were like people from two different planets. He could not recall ever volunteering for anything, much less giving a thought to the homeless other than to consider them an unsightly bother. He never spared a thought for the environment, unless it was the waters around Seleni or something that cut into the bottom line of one of his many business deals. The closest he got to philanthropy was writing checks to charities as tax write-offs, or to impress women he intended to bed.
While on Seleni, Tallia had shared a great deal of herself with him, but obviously there was so much more to her than he knew. All of it was disparate to the man he was and the way he lived his life. He knew he really was a selfish bastard. But having Emily hold a mirror up for him made him consider for the first time that maybe he was not the man for Tallia. He always knew he didn't deserve her, but would it be best for Tallia to marry another man, someone who genuinely shared her interests?
The thought of Tallia with another man made every fiber of his being revolt in protest, but he knew that was just his egotistic pride prodding him. He hated to lose, and he never gave up anything he wanted without a fight, even if it meant fighting dirty. And he wanted Tallia more than he cared to think. If he loved Tallia, however, and he really loved her, Costa realized, wouldn't he want what was best for her, even if that meant losing her to some tree-hugging hippy?
"Is that what Tallia wants," he asked unevenly, his voice breaking as pain knifed through him just to contemplate letting her go, "does she want me to leave her alone?"
Emily marched across the room and held a small black velvet ring box out to him. Costa had never seen it before. There had been no need for a box on Seleni. Tallia had worn his ring from the moment he put it on her finger, and she had never taken it off while she was with him. He stared at the box dumbly until Emily shoved it at him. All he could do then was shake his head, feeling utterly eviscerated.
It was over.
Tallia didn't want him. Once she left Seleni, she had come to her senses and seen him for the empty, self-centered profligate he was in truth.
"No, it's hers," he said, refusing to take the ring, much less look at it again.
"Costa…" Emily snapped impatiently.
"Tell her to donate it," he gritted out, before she could blast him with more of her venom. "While she's at it, she may as well donate this," he said, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a long, midnight blue velvet box. His hand gripped the gift meant for Tallia convulsively, for a moment, and then he forced himself to hold it out to Emily.
"Ugh, you are so predictable," Emily groaned, her eyes narrowing to slits, as she looked him over as if he were a slug. She stared at the box in his hand for a moment and then slowly reached out and snatched it from him, as if she were afraid to touch him, as if he were a leper.
"Emily," he called out sharply, when she swung around and stalked out the open door. She stopped in her headlong rush and turned to look at him reluctantly over her shoulder. "I never meant to hurt her… I… care for her. Please tell her that, and if ever…" he stopped himself, knowing he was being a fool. There was no way in hell Tallia would come back to him. She was strong and confident, in her own quiet way. She knew her mind. If she no longer wanted him, it was a decision she had come to rationally, not through wild, temperamental posturing.
Without saying a word, Emily lowered her long lashes to hide her eyes. She hesitated for only the barest of heartbeats before she walked away.
For Your Love Only Page 23