by Tee, Marian
She started screaming and cursing him.
“Do you think that stupid girl will still have you? You took another woman’s ring in national TV! You slept with her—” Esther tossed him a contemptuous look. “If you are to be believed, you took her innocence even when you had already promised your name to another woman! And you dare speak to me like you are unlike me?”
Her cackle was pure poison. “Oh, my dear boy, you are exactly like me – the way you callously use other people and discard them when they are unneeded. The only difference is that I’ve accepted it and you have not.”
Damen was lost in the darkness after Esther’s words.
Unbidden, a memory flitted through his mind, of him when he was still a little boy, learning the truth about his parents’ marriage from a former nanny – and a bitter ex-lover.
He had dropped his toys at the sight of his nanny holding her suitcase. His nannies were always nice, but they also always left, no matter how hard he tried to be a good little boy for them.
“You’re going?” Damen was doing his best not to cry and beg for Bella to stay with him. It was getting lonelier in the house, with Diana hidden away in the nursery by her own nanny, a strict hook-nosed woman who seemed to dislike Damen at first sight.
Bella nodded. “Yes, unfortunately. I’ve fulfilled my duties apparently. But before I go, Little Damen, I want you to know a secret that no one will ever tell you until it’s too late and people will start laughing at you.”
His nanny used to be a pretty and fun-loving woman. Or at least he had thought she was, but the twisted look on her face had Damen terrified of her instead, feeling like he was talking to someone who only looked like a person he used to know.
“Your parents don’t love each other, so stop acting all happy and thinking you have the perfect little family. Open your eyes, you little piece of privileged shit. All your parents care about are themselves – not you or Diana. Do you really think they’re sorry for missing all those award ceremonies in your school or your recitals?”
Instinct had Damen covering his ears, but the older woman only laughed as she forcibly pulled his hands down. “You need to hear this, Damen. It’s for your own good. Remember when I told you that your parents were just too busy working for you and that’s why they didn’t come to give you a hug at night? Your mother’s too busy working, yeah, but she doesn’t give a damn about you. The first time I came to this house, her first words were, ‘Make him believe I love him, but keep him away from me. Do that and you’ll be set for life.’ And your father? Oh, your father barely remembers you exist. During the daytime he fucks me and all the other women in this household, sometimes more than once.”
Bella saw his lips wobbling, and somehow that seemed to enrage her even more. She sneered, “Your parents don’t love each other! Get that through your thick head! She was in love with her driver but her parents caught them fucking and forced her to marry your father. Oh, and he was forced, too. I bet nobody told you that your father’s gambling debts were the reason that made him propose marriage—”
“STOP IT!” he had shouted, knowing he was close to throwing up if Bella kept talking and saying bad things about his parents.
“You don’t believe me? Go to your father’s room. The code to his room is 1213. Go on, open it and you’ll see it for yourself.”
“Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to make you hate me?”
The words had made Bella whiten, as if she was only realizing the magnitude of what she had done. “Damen—”
But it was too late.
He had gone.
He had seen.
And he no longer believed in anything except himself.
When he came back to the present, he realized he was at the helipad, the engine of his copter already running and the pilot waiting for instructions.
“To Diana’s school.”
As the copter took off, he called Diana on her mobile and when she answered in a wary voice, he said in the same tone, “I need you to find a way to have Mairi meet me privately.”
“No! I don’t know what you’ve done to her, but she hasn’t been herself—”
His voice was unstable but determined as he interrupted Diana, saying, “I fucked up.”
Everything else Diana had to say became useless at those words.
“She told me…” The words felt like a lie. The past made the words seem like a lie, but Damen refused to listen to the sly voice inside his head. This time he chose to believe.
“Diana, she told me she…loved me…and I want to believe she does.”
Tears struck her eyes when the full impact of her brother’s words sank in. Why had she ever thought she would be the only one messed up by their parents’ dysfunctional marriage?
How could she have never realized that their parents had made Damen stop believing in love and happy endings? That he only believed in happy endings he had to pay for, either with his fame, fortune, or even sex?
“Damen…”
Desperation, pure and simple, made Damen speak again, insistently, without any pride left. If Diana refused, if Ioniko Vlahos made his move before Damen did – he did not know what he would do.
“I need to see her, Diana, so please help me.”
****
I don’t know who else to turn to, Ms. Yay. I don’t want to be expelled. My mother will never forgive me.
“How could she be so stupid?” Mairi muttered to herself even as she hurriedly tied her robe together, slid her feet into her bedroom slippers, and made her way out of the school. It was completely dark outside, which in this case was a good thing since even teachers had to abide by the curfew.
Mairi was careful to avoid being seen in the light, walking in the shadows as she quickly made her way to the back gates of the school. The walls at the back were about eight feet tall – fairly easy to climb over but understandably scary to climb down from. It was the latter Diana Leventis needed help with, having snuck outside school to meet her secret boyfriend.
She shook her head at the thought. Who could that secret boyfriend be? The younger girl must love him so much to risk the wrath of her terrifying mother – or even him.
When she reached her designated meeting place with Diana, she sent Diana a text message. I’m here.
A few seconds later, crackling sounds broke the silence in the air and she whirled around, wondering if Diana had been able to jump down on her own after all.
But it wasn’t Diana.
She started to run, but this time Damen was prepared and in seconds he had pushed her down, trapping Mairi between his hard body and the ground. When he saw her preparing to scream, he immediately covered her mouth with his palm.
“Scream and you’ll get kicked out of this school.”
Realizing that he had a point, she bit him instead.
Damen hissed in pain above her, but he still didn’t let go, didn’t even move an inch to give her a fighting chance of escaping.
It felt surreal to be this close to him again, surreal and painfully nostalgic to have his hard body touch hers in this kind of position. She was tempted to cry, but she strove not to. She would rather poke her eyes out than waste her tears on a lying, cheating bastard like Damen Leventis again.
The softness of Mairi’s ripe figure made him remember X-rated versions of the past, and he gritted his teeth in an effort to clamp down on his arousal. It was not the right time to feel like this – yet.
Meeting her dark brown eyes, he said, “I just need you to listen to me – one last time. And if after this, you still want me to go, then…” It went against everything he believed in to say the next words but he forced them out.
“If you still want me to go, then I will.”
She stilled, gazing at him unblinkingly, but she did not say a thing.
He decided to take that as a yes and took a deep breath. Making a speech in front of millions of people, in front of royalty and world leaders – all of it was a piece of cake compar
ed to this.
Those talks had not promised anything he wanted more than life itself. But this conversation – no, this revelation of his – if it did not work, Damen felt like what he’d lose was worth more than his life.
Gazing at Mairi’s sweet beautiful face, seeing the way her dark brown eyes were filled with misery she was doing her best to conceal and the way her lips were trembling in an effort to control the tears—
After so many years of only believing in himself, of thinking that he could only trust himself, Damen decided to take a leap of faith. He decided to believe that, against all odds Mairi Tanner - a girl whose company he enjoyed for only several days – was indeed in love with him.
And because she was, he owed it to her to do this much.
“Mairi.”
His voice was unsteady, so unlike the Greek billionaire she once knew and fell in love with.
“You told me where you were coming from and…I hurt you by not believing you were in love with me.” Damen waited her to correct him – to tell him with her naïve but adorable honesty that she was still in love with Damen.
But she did not.
His heart hammered with fear that he was too late, that Ioniko Vlahos had indeed made his move already and there was no one for him to go back to.
Forcing himself to go on even as hopelessness and despair threatened to make Damen falter, he said, “This time, I want to tell you where I’m coming from…and if you understand why I did what I did then I want you…”
She had told herself she would not let herself believe in anything he said. She had told herself she would not let herself weaken, but the moment she saw that haunted look on Damen’s face, she knew it was no use denying the truth – she still loved him.
“What, Damen?” she whispered shakily. “What do you want me to do?”
Damen closed his eyes. “I want…I’m begging you to teach me to believe that you love me.”
Chapter Six
To trust a Greek billionaire, you must remember that doing so is a risk in itself.
“So I’m writing a book,” Mairi lied one week later over the phone to her aunts.
“Oooooooh,” Aunt Norah exclaimed, her tone impressed.
“What’s it about?” Aunt Vilma asked.
“Well, a romance, sort of like my own Harlequin,” Mairi said vaguely, crossing her fingers as she did. “And I’m stuck with my plot. Coz you see, there’s this girl, and her, err, Greek billionaire doesn’t believe in love. He’s got issues—”
“You’re on the right track,” Aunt Vilma said approvingly.
“They always do,” Aunt Norah added knowingly.
“—and well, bottom line, he doesn’t believe in love. So when she said she was in love with him, he didn’t believe her at first. But in the end, he’s willing to try.”
“It’s getting exciting,” Aunt Norah remarked.
“I’m glad you think so. Because here’s where I’m stuck – Da — the guy, I mean, he wants to take things slowly between them. He wants to give love a try, but he wants to keep himself protected and he doesn’t want her hurt either.”
Aunt Vilma exclaimed crossly, “Oh, for the love of God, just tell us what the catch is!”
“He thinks they should continue dating other people while they explore their feelings for each other.”
Silence.
Mairi asked nervously, “Bad idea?”
They spoke at the same time.
“It’s a great idea,” Aunt Vilma raved. “What a unique but beautiful twist, darling! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Greek billionaire that stupid—”
Mairi winced at the word.
“—in all the Harlequin novels we’ve read.”
Aunt Norah added musingly, “I think she should say ‘yes’. It would make an interesting story.”
“I’m glad you think it’s interesting, but do you think this kind of, umm, twist will lead to a happily ever after?”
“Oh, but of course darling. As long as they love each other, there will always be a happy ending. Silly you for asking something that simple.”
When she put the phone down ten minutes later, Mairi squared her shoulders as she switched her car’s engine off and got out of the car. The tribe has spoken, she told herself as she made her way to the restaurant and provided her name to the maître d’. She was going to—
“Mairi Tanner?”
Blinking at the sound of her name, she backtracked slowly, blushing as she realized she had totally walked past the man she was supposed to be watching out for.
Dark red shirt, dark jeans, and matching red loafers. A perfect match of the description provided by the guy she had been exchanging text messages with earlier – the guy she was supposed to have a blind date with.
He was of medium height, with dark blond hair and twinkling gray eyes. Totally harmless-looking and cute in a boy-next-door kind of way.
He was also looking at her like he knew she had not recognized him at all.
She began awkwardly, “I am so sorry—”
He waved the apology away with a friendly grin. “It’s cool. You looked like you were seriously thinking about something. I’m JB, by the way.”
Mairi took the hand he offered and shook it shyly. “Mairi.” She did her best not to blush as he let go of her hand a second later than he should and at the way he took his time looking at her, not hiding how appreciative he was of her looks.
Then again, she had done her best for today’s date. She had dressed her hair up, applied some nice makeup, and even bought a new cotton dress that showed off her slim arms and hugged her every curve.
As they took their seats and gave their orders, Mairi tried to keep her mind focused on JB and not the Greek billionaire who was also on a date…with his fiancée.
The thought caused a pang but she shook it away. Happy ending, she reminded herself. As long as they loved each other, they would have their happy ending.
****
Two fucking hours, Damen thought, his nerves frayed, his temper at a boiling point as he observed from the private confines of his car the couple inside the restaurant.
Mairi looked like she was having a grand time. On the other hand, her date – whoever the fuck that man was – looked like he was having even more fun, the way his gaze constantly alternated between Mairi’s beautiful smiling lips and her cleavage, of which an ample amount was displayed by her sexy-as-hell dress.
Damen knew exactly what the man was thinking simply because in that kind of dress, he, too, couldn’t help thinking the same thing. That man was imagining how it would be like to have those strawberry-pink lips wrapped around his cock and how her lovely abundant breasts would taste in return.
He checked his phone.
Still no text message.
They had agreed that they would not question each other while they spent time with others. It had sounded logical and reasonable in his mind when he had made his suggestion about taking it slowly and not making any commitment to each other.
But right now, it was beginning to feel like the stupidest idea he’d had in years.
Inside the restaurant, the guy suddenly leaned forward and touched the corner of Mairi’s mouth, making her blush. Damen’s fist slammed against the door of his car.
Fucking jerk had probably made some lame excuse about having seen something on her face.
“Take me to the back exit,” he ordered his chauffeur. Enough was enough. He didn’t care if he was being unfair, didn’t care that if it was the other way around, he would think Mairi unreasonable for stopping his fiancée from touching his face.
If he saw that guy touch her one more time, Damen was sure he’d be committing murder. It was no exaggeration.
As the driver brought the limousine around, Damen sent a curt message to Mairi, knowing exactly what to say to get her moving.
****
Don’t panic. I need to talk to you as soon as possible.
Those words had Mairi panicking of course.
Oh my God, what could make someone like Damen Leventis type those words? Don’t panic? Did that mean there was something she should be panicking about? Was that something causing him to be secretly panicky about but just didn’t want to look less than manly in her eyes?
She almost jumped out of her chair in her haste, surprising JB. “I’m sorry, but I, umm, need to make an emergency call. Is that okay?”
JB’s gaze was concerned as he nodded. “Sure, don’t worry about me. Anything I can do?”
“I’ll let you know.” She was already backing away as she answered him. “Thank you so much for understanding. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She spun around and hurried to the ladies’ room, not bothering to wait for his answer.
The ladies’ room was completely dark when she opened the door. It was strange, but she did not have time to think about it. She switched the light on even as she fumbled to get her phone out of her purse.
“Got you!” she exclaimed when her fingers came into contact with the familiar shape of her iPhone. She looked up and screamed.
Or at least she tried to.
Damen was there in front of her, and the moment she had opened her mouth, he kissed her. In the next second, he had swept her up in his arms, causing her phone and purse to clatter to the floor.
When he let her up for air, she demanded breathlessly, “What are you doing here?”
It was a question he was not ready or able to answer for now, and so Damen did the next best thing and that was to kiss her again, to both their satisfaction.
The door started to open and he moved fast, locking them inside one of the small cubicles and kicking her stuff – Mairi winced at this – inside with them by the time someone entered the room.
As they were in one of most expensive restaurants in town, everything was pristine and luxurious, the dark rose marbled walls shiny and scrubbed clean, with the cubicle’s thick and heavy door made of varnished wood.
When Damen pushed her against the door, Mairi’s legs still wrapped around his waist, the impact barely made a sound.
Motioning her to keep quiet with a finger to his lips, he inched her dress up to her waist. When his hand went to the edge of her panties, Mairi recovered from her shock and shook her head wildly.
