The answer to that, Eva knew, lay firmly at her own door. Because she had too easily accepted Donna’s telephone calls and her conversation as a link with her otherwise uncaring family rather than remembering her cousin as how she really was: a shallow social climber who had always had to have everything bigger and better than Eva.
She had been a fool, Eva accepted dully, a blind, stupid fool. There was absolutely no excuse for her initial scathing behaviour towards Markos. No foundation in it either—as she now knew.
Neither did it do any good now to tell herself that she should have looked beyond Donna’s claims of Markos’s mistreatment, should have seen Markos for the man he truly was—if not from the beginning then at least following his warmth and kindness towards her last night.
And now it was too late.
Yes, Markos was a man who was extremely attractive to women, and it was an attraction he had no doubt taken every advantage of over the years. But, as Eva now knew, he was also a man of principle. A man who had been both protective and caring when she had fallen apart at Jonathan’s home the evening before following her introduction to the pregnant Yvette Cabot Grey. The same man who had allowed Eva to cry on his shoulder even though he had mistakenly believed those tears to have been because she still had feelings for her ex-husband. The same man who had brought her back to his apartment, put her in his own bed, undressing her and tucking her beneath the bedcovers.
The womanising Markos Lyonedes that Donna had led Eva to believe in wouldn’t have bothered himself doing any of those things, let alone left her to sleep alone in his bed because he had no intention of taking advantage of her in her emotional state.
Eva hadn’t just been a fool where Markos was concerned, she had been both blind and stupid too!
A realisation, an admission, which made absolutely no difference to the fact that she was now about to leave Markos’s apartment and would in all probability never see him again.
But there was something she needed to say to him before she left…
* * *
‘I’m sorry.’
Markos was standing in front of one of the huge picture windows in the sitting room, staring sightlessly out at the New York skyline, but he turned now to face Eva, his expression unreadable as he took in the fact that she was still very pale, and her eyes were that deep and troubled amber. As well they might be.
‘What are you apologising for?’ he returned impatiently.
She shrugged as she came further into the room, her gaze not quite meeting his as instead she stared at the centre of his chest. ‘I— It’s no excuse, but I—I was obviously misled about your involvement with Donna—or rather your lack of it,’ she amended hastily as Markos’s expression darkened.
‘Yes?’
Her smile was rueful. ‘You aren’t about to make this easy for me, are you.’
He raised dark brows. ‘Can you think of any reason why I should?’
‘No,’ she accepted heavily, before raising her chin and at last allowing her gaze to meet his. ‘I do sincerely apologise for my earlier behaviour towards you. My lack of professionalism. I really should have known better than to believe Donna’s lies.’ She sighed. ‘Or at the very least given you the benefit of the doubt—as you several times requested I might do,’ she added.
‘Yes, you should,’ Markos bit out grimly.
She shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. ‘I— And thank you for being so understanding yesterday evening. You really were very kind.’
‘Maybe you believe there was an ulterior motive to my kindness and understanding?’ Markos came back challengingly. ‘After all, I did succeed in getting you into my bed—eventually!’ He gave a derisive grimace. ‘Which should fit in very nicely with what your cousin, the gossips and the newspapers have told you about me.’ His mouth twisted scornfully.
Eva knew she deserved every ounce of that scorn, and that there was no way for her to salvage the situation without revealing how much her feelings towards him had changed. She might now know that Markos wasn’t the cold and callous bastard in regard to women and relationships that Donna had told her he was, but neither was he a man interested in an emotional relationship.
She nodded abruptly. ‘I’ll leave you
now to enjoy the rest of your day. If you would like to do so, you can keep the designs and the swatches of material. Although another designer would probably prefer to—’
‘There is not going to be another designer, Eva,’ he cut in firmly.
Her eyes widened in surprise. ‘You’ve decided not to bother after all…?’
‘On the contrary,’ Markos drawled dryly, ‘I have decided to keep the interior designer I already have.’
She blinked, long dark lashes briefly brushing against the pallor of her cheeks. ‘I’m not sure I understand…?’
‘It’s quite simple, Eva.’ Markos strode into the middle of the room. ‘I have already wasted a considerable amount of my time procuring the services of the elusive but celebrated designer Evangeline Grey.’ He eyed her mockingly. ‘And, having done so, I have no intention of starting the process all over again.’
Eva eyed him warily even as she chewed distractedly on her bottom lip. ‘You still want to engage me to redesign your apartment?’