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)
“She’s still your mother, Damen.”
“She is. And I am still her son, but it didn’t stop her from hurting you or me, did it?”
“Could you at least wait for me to join you before you do anything?” she asked finally. “You know I only have two days of work a week so tomorrow I’ll be free to join you. And I’ll bring Nala with me, too.”
“If that’s what you wish to do,” Damen said. “But I can do this on my own—-”
“No,” she said firmly. “We’re a family, Damen. Remember? I want to be there to protect you too, in case she says something hurtful.”
The words were unexpected, and his chest tightened as emotions still unfamiliar crowded his heart. Before Mairi had come into the picture, Damen had never known what love was. But now...
“Then I look forward to you two joining me.”
She sighed in relief.
“I’ll miss you tonight.”
“Me, too.” She inhaled and exhaled, willing herself to muster the courage to confess. She owed him the truth. “And Damen?”
“Mm?”
“The problem I have?” Another deep breath and she confessed in a rush, “You know those books I love to read?”
He deadpanned, “The ones about Greek billionaires falling for their secretaries or their children’s nannies or their—-”
She glared at her phone before answering, “Yes, that.”
“Obviously, I know about them.”
“Well, in those books, when the hero learns about the woman they love being, umm, kissed by another man, they react first and think later. They go into a rage and sometimes they even break up—-”
“Are you trying to tell me another man kissed my wife,” Damen asked in a dangerously soft voice.
She gulped. “Kinda?”
He swore.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” Mairi cried out. “One moment he was just holding my hand—-”
“He fucking held your hand?”
“And he even whispered to my ear—-” She froze. She didn’t have to say that, did she?
“He whispered to your fucking ear?” Damen roared.
She winced. She definitely shouldn’t have said it. Mairi started to blab. “It just happened, I never wanted it to happen, and I promise I’ll never let it happen again so please don’t divorce me, please, because I love you so much so it will be the death of me if you don’t understand that I didn’t mean it to happen. Please?”
Mairi ended the call before Damen could answer.
Damen was left staring at his phone, torn between amusement and anger. The amusement was purely because of Mairi; it was just like his wife to confess everything in one five-minute-long sentence. The anger, however, was entirely directed at someone else.
Fucking punk.
He sent Mairi a text message.
Mairi nearly dropped her phone when it vibrated in her hold.
Damen: I still love you, I still trust you, and if you do not want that student to die, I will give you only until today to “handle” the problem.
Mairi: I will, I promise.
Damen: In your bodyguards’ presence. And they won’t be undercover.
Mairi: Damen!
Damen: Today, my love. That’s all the time you have.
Chapter 9
“When you said we’d have company, Professor, I have to admit I never thought you’d be this kinky.” Leon’s voice was dry as he gestured to the handcuffs dangled in front of him by a stoic-looking man.
The gun tucked on the man’s side made his job obvious, together with the eleven others surrounding Leon. All twelve had escorted him from the moment he came knocking on the front door. Leon had a feeling they had also been asked to escort him home, just to make sure he wouldn’t sneak back to be with Mairi in private.
Mairi smiled weakly. “I’m really, really sorry, but it was the only way I could get my husband to agree to me meeting you at our home.”
“I suppose I should be thankful he wasn’t thinking of holding me at gunpoint—-” Leon’s eyes widened at the way the professor turned red. He asked incredulously, “Doesn’t he know that’s overkill?”
“He knows. I know. They know.” A sheepish smile when the bodyguards nodded in unison. “But...it’s only because he loves me that much,” she said simply. “And when I think about it that way...” She shrugged helplessly. “I can’t quite make myself mad over it.”
She might not be mad, but he was. He didn’t like seeing her this way, didn’t like seeing the way her lovely eyes softened when she talked about her Greek billionaire. It made pursuing her feel futile, and he didn’t want that.
Leon extended his wrists. Catching sight of the CCTV camera mounted in one corner, he looked straight at it and said mockingly, “If your husband is this insecure over me, well...” His lips formed a taunting smile. “However, who’s to say you won’t be the one to kiss me first, Professor?”
Mairi gasped.
The cuffs clicked in place, and Leon flinched at the sound. It reminded him of an extremely bad memory, and his jaw tightened. Mairi might think this was all a joke, but he knew it was more than that. The fucking billionaire really did know everything about him, after all.