Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
“You look perfect.” Damen’s words startled her into turning her head towards him, and that was then she realized he had come to stand right behind her. A gasp escaped Mairi when he bent down to place a soft, warm kiss on her nape, which was exposed by her hair’s upswept do. Her skin tingled at the touch of his lips, and Mairi couldn’t help but sigh and arch her neck when Damen’s lips started to move.
Closing her eyes, Mairi allowed herself the fantasy that they were really just newlyweds in love with each other.
“I love you.”
The fantasy shattered, Damen’s words something she could never really believe in.
Damen watched Mairi’s eyes flutter open, and the bleakness in them made him curse silently. He had known it would be too soon to speak the words, but he didn’t give a damn. He meant to break every damn wall around her heart, and he meant to say the words every day in hopes that there would be a time she could make herself say them back.
One day, Damen thought determinedly as he watched Mairi carefully move away from him with hooded eyes.
“W-we might be late.” Mairi couldn’t meet his eyes as she spoke. “Should we go now?”
He didn’t give her a chance to walk away, instead clasping her by the waist to spin her around. Her gasp was caught in his kiss, and Damen used the kiss to tell her again what she didn’t want to hear.
He loved her.
He would not give her up.
Ever.
Mairi was quiet when he finally released her, and she didn’t make any protest when Damen took her hand, keeping her close to him as they made their way downstairs.
Damen stilled when he saw Drake Morrison in the living room, dressed in a sleek gray suit. “Who says you’re going with us?”
Drake inclined his head towards Mairi. “I’m her bodyguard, aren’t I? So where she goes, I go.”
Damen’s jaw clenched. “It’s just a party.”
Conscious of Damen’s gaze on her, Mairi said unevenly, “I’d really prefer that D-Drake’s nearby at all times.” Especially after what happened in the bedroom. The thought had the faintest hint of hysteria stirring inside her, but Mairi only mentally tightened her grip on her emotions.
She would be – could be strong.
She had to be.
It was the only way she could have what she want, and that was to stay forever by Damen’s side without breaking.
THE PARTY WAS OBVIOUSLY in full swing by the time Drake, Damen, and Mairi arrived at the venue, an upscale nightclub that had been temporarily closed to the public for the 60th birthday of one of Greece’s most popular politicians, Nelson Athanas. They also appeared to be the only guests who had not arrived in a fancy limo or expensive sports car, judging by the way the waiting attendants and valets standing next to the front doors were gawking at them.
But the next second, the reporters loitering around the area caught on to their presence and everyone immediately surged towards them.
“How are you adjusting to life in the poorhouse now that you only have $4,305 in your bank account?”
“When are you going to leave him for Stavros Manolis or Ioniko Vlahos, Mrs. Leventis?”
“Are you here to beg on your knees for help from Nelson Athanas?”
Damen didn’t answer any of the questions, his face only mirroring icy contempt that would have made Mairi feel small if it had been directed at her. She should be used to the obnoxious questions of the media by now, but she wasn’t. She still found herself furiously hurt by it, and she hated them even more for trying to paint Damen in a weak and pathetic light with all their innuendos.
Only Damen squeezing her hand in warning kept her lips clamped shut, and Mairi did her best to keep her face just as expressionless, gazing resolutely ahead as they made their way to the front doors. Damen furnished his invitation to the receptionist. She had a tense look on her face, and she barely glanced at the invitation before saying in a pained tone, “I’m sorry, Mr. Leventis, but I believe you’re not on the list.”
Loud exclamations of surprise and murmurs rose from the crowd behind them, followed by another bout of flashing camera bulbs.
Since Damen had an invitation, it only meant that Damen had been taken off the list recently. The sheer indignity of it appalled Mairi, and she tightened her hold on Damen, fearing how such a proud man would take this kind of embarrassment. Unable to help it, she stole a look at her husband but was stunned to see an amused smile curving on his lips as his beautiful face took on a contemplative look.
Discovering that Esther would resort to such childish lengths to thwart him did not perturb Damen at all. In the first few weeks that Mairi had been gone and his whole world had crashed around him, Damen had come to realize that nothing really mattered to him except having the woman he loved. Everyone could do their worst to him, and it wouldn’t matter.