Total pages in book: 189
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Damen’s nerves were stretched so taut he had a feeling he would collapse the moment Mairi turned her back on him. But he continued stubbornly because the alternative was far bleaker. “I won’t force you to see me or talk to me. Just let me...just give me time to prove to you I can be a great catch again.”
Mairi whispered past dry lips, “Why...aren’t you saying anything about me taking our baby away from you?”
Damen stilled.
“Why, Damen?”
Damen didn’t answer.
And that was when she knew.
If he had spoken, she might not have believed him. Words came so cheap, and the pain of his betrayal was so great that she had a feeling no words could ever make her believe him again.
If he had told her now he had not been cheating on her with Alina, she wouldn’t have believed him. Even if he had Alina say the same thing, even if he threatened to kill himself if she didn’t believe him, she would still think he was lying.
But this...
Damen, not telling her what they both knew because he didn’t want her to feel guilty.
Damen, not saying anything about his ability to fight for custody because he knew if he did manage to take their baby away from Mairi, it would kill her.
And so he had chosen to kill himself instead.
He had chosen to risk making his child think of him as the one thing he despised the most, and that was an uncaring parent like Esther Leventis.
For her.
Because he really loved Mairi.
“Just catch me one more time, and I won’t ever give you a reason to regret it. Just please make me yours—-”
Mairi threw herself at him.
Damen’s arms wrapped around her waist instinctively the same time Mairi’s arms curled around his neck.
So many questions flashed through her mind, but she pushed them away. There was time to have them answered later. Her faith in Damen Leventis was restored, the love she had tried so hard to quell bursting out of her heart like an unstoppable flow.
Closing her eyes, she hugged Damen tightly, whispering, “Caught.”
For a moment, Damen was frozen, unable to believe that Mairi was giving him another chance. But when she stayed in his arms, never making any move to go, relief exploded inside him, and his hand shook as he stroked her hair. His voice ragged, he asked, “How long?”
Mairi’s fingers curled against his nape tensely. She knew that when she said the words, she would be taking the biggest risk of her life – and of her child’s.
If she was smart, she would leave Damen Leventis and lead a quiet life alone.
But she didn’t want to be smart.
She wanted to take a risk like Damen did.
And so she whispered, “For as long as you love me—-”
The rest of her words was smothered in his kiss.
“Then consider me caught forever, Mrs. Leventis,” Damen muttered before ravaging his wife’s lips. “There’s nothing in this life that will make me stop loving you.”
Chapter 23
She said: To wed a Greek billionaire, one shall be ready for involvement with innovative experiments.
He said: You mean kinky.
She said: You said that, not me.
He said: No more innovative experiments for you if you do not say the K-word.
She said: K...I can’t say it. But I’m thinking it and it’s the thought that counts, right?
HOURS LATER, MANDY and Velvet crowded around her, each of them holding copies of Damen’s book. “Pleeeeaaaase sign our copies, Mrs. Leventis,” Velvet begged in an exaggeratedly loud voice as she fluttered her lashes.
“Shut up,” Mairi said laughingly.
Mandy forced her friend to take her copy. “Sign it.”
Velvet handed Mairi a pen. “And don’t forget to sign it with A Greek Billionaire’s Wife.”
She shook her head, trying to be strong. “No.”
Her friends looked at her. “You know you want to,” Velvet said slyly.
“No.” She was a respectable missus now.
They still just looked at her, their gazes ever knowing.
Oh, what the heck!
Velvet and Mandy burst into laughter as they watched Mairi sign their copies with her four most favorite words. When she returned the copies to her friends, she saw them looking at her with expectant expressions.
Mairi blinked. “What?”
Mandy grinned. “Go on, say it.”
Oh, how well they knew her.
And how terribly lucky she was that they had never abandoned her.
Tears stinging her eyes, Mairi said, “Yay me!” She threw her arms around them. “Group hug!”
“Ewww,” Velvet automatically protested, always the one uncomfortable with emotional displays.
“Oh, hush. You should be used to PDA by now after what you’ve been doing with your own Greek billionaire.”
Mandy said promptly, “I’m not married to a Greek billionaire, so you can let go of me anytime.” The ever practical sort, Mandy also saw no valid reason why affectionate displays should be made in public.
Grinning, Mairi hugged her friends more tightly. “Yay me!”
Mandy and Velvet groaned. “We’ve created a monster.”
This made Mairi laugh out loud, the sound drawing the attention of her husband who stood a few feet away, surrounded by his own circle of acquaintances. She sensed the very moment Damen looked at her, and when their gazes met, a devastatingly sexy smile curved on his lips.