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)
I love him.
She recited the words as she reached for the knob, which turned easily in her fingers, stunning Mairi. Damen was here already?
The apartment was brightly lit, making her heart jump in excitement. He really was here! He had learned that she was on her way to surprise him and so he decided to surprise her in return. How sweet was that? Didn’t that mean he loved her?
She climbed the stairs quietly, wondering if she would stumble across him first or if it would be the other way around. Tiptoeing to the first door on the second floor, Mairi opened the door slowly—-
“Damen?”
The voice so shocked her that she lost control of the door, and it swung open completely. Mairi stumbled inside.
Esther Leventis gazed at her in angry shock. The older woman was the first to recover and she snapped, “Why are you here? Who let you in?”
Her first instinct was to run away and let Damen deal with the fallout. But the instinct soon passed, thankfully, and Mairi managed to stand her ground. “Good evening, Mrs. Leventis.”
“If you don’t leave this very moment, I’m going to call security!”
“I’m afraid that won’t do any good,” she said apologetically even as she winced at the evil look that Damen’s mother threw her way. “Damen himself gave me a key.”
Something had changed about the woman, Esther realized, incensed at the way the younger girl was having such an easy time handling herself in her presence. The little upstart had grown a spine, but if she thought that was enough to put her on the same level as Esther, the slut was in for a nasty surprise.
“I’m giving you one last warning, you slut. I know who you are – I’ve done my research. If I catch one more whiff of you sniffing around my son, I’ll have you expelled from that school.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”
Chapter 10
To trust a Greek billionaire, one must remember they communicate best through sex.
She said: You seriously want to say that?
He said: You seriously must ask?
“MAIRI?” DAMEN ROARED the moment he got to his apartment. He had not caught sight of his mother’s car anywhere, but even so he was still worried. What he and Mairi had was still fragile and so easily broken. If Esther messed things up between them, there would be hell to pay.
When there wasn’t any sign of Mairi in the living room, he bounded up the stairs, taking it four steps at a time with his long-legged stride. “Mairi?”
He shouted her name over and over as he checked each room. His chest tightened with anxiety more and more with every empty room. By the time he had reached his bedroom, he had lost all hope.
It was dark. There was no sign of life.
Shit.
She was gone.
He leaned heavily against the doorway, hope completely gone. What was he going to do now? What the fuck was he going to do now?
The question had him gasping for breath. It reminded him of the time he had been forced to see the truth by Bella, the time when he had literally come across his father cheating on his mother, in their own bedroom.
What are you doing, Papa?
GO AWAY, DAMN YOU! BELLA, I’LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!
And just when he had thought at that time that it couldn’t get any worse, his mother arrived. The first thing she had heard as she came into their home’s vast foyer were his father’s screams, Bella shouting back, and it was incredibly easy for Esther Leventis to put one and one together.
“SURPRISE!” Mairi jumped out from her hiding place, crouched down on the floor behind the bed.
Damen jerked.
Mairi’s smile vanished as she took in Damen’s appearance. He was completely white, looking like someone had just died on him. “Damen?” she whispered.
In two angry strides, he had gotten across the room and started shaking her. “What the hell did you think you were doing?” he roared at her face.
She felt herself shrinking at the sight of his rage. “Surprising...you?”
Damen shook her harder. “I thought you were gone!” He glared and scowled at her even as his heart kept beating faster, his mind still unable to comprehend that it had been a false alarm.
Looking down at her confused face, Damen bit out, “I thought you had left me!”
Understanding dawned. “You knew she was here?”
He nodded curtly. “Did she do anything to you? Did she say anything that hurt you or made you worry?” He couldn’t get the questions out fast enough. He needed to make sure Esther had left no damage. He couldn’t have Mairi gone again from his life. Not now and not ever.
Blinking back sudden tears at the worry darkening his face, Mairi shook her head and smoothed the hair away from his forehead. “It’s alright, Damen. It’s alright. She tried to make me go away, but she didn’t succeed.”