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)
Something that felt like distaste soured his tongue, but Damen ignored it, telling himself that there was nothing wrong about Mairi living the life of an idle billionaire’s wife. For that was what she could be as the woman he loved.
Mairi asked awkwardly, “What about you? Don’t you have work to do today?” There were so many questions she wanted to ask. What did his board have to say about the impact of his broken engagement on the planned merger between the two shipping empires? What measures had he taken to address the sliding prices of his company’s stocks? Had he met with his publicist already and strategized about reputation management?
She wanted to ask so many more, but Mairi managed to hold her tongue. Damen Leventis was a proud man and she did not want him to think she was doubting his ability to solve his problems.
Was that all she was going to ask? Did she really care about him? And why were all these doubts surfacing now, when he had already made his bed and the whole world expected him to lie on it with his American schoolteacher?
Damen forced a smile. “You’re marrying a billionaire, matakia mou. Have you forgotten that fact?”
Was it just her imagination or did his words seem...loaded? She shook the thought away. “My bad,” she answered lightly. “I did forget that the great and mighty Damen Leventis is indeed one of the world’s richest men.”
Her exaggerated tone made him laugh.
Rolling her eyes at him, she asked, “But really, where are you going? Can I come with you?”
Chapter 3
ONE MOMENT, MAIRI WAS staring white-faced at their guides as they let her and Damen loose, the strong winds speeding up their ascent, her feet barely touching the floor of the speedboat. It felt like a giant invisible hand was pulling the parachute strapped to their backs. The next moment, they were flying—-
“Aaaaaaah!”
Her Greek billionaire, gorgeous, sexy jerk that he was, simply laughed in the face of her fear.
Ignoring Damen, Mairi slowly opened her eyes, looking down to see how high off the ground they were.
Too high.
She closed her eyes again. What she had gotten herself into? And why, oh why had she been silly enough to think she could do parasailing—-
“Matakia mou,” a sweetly dark voice murmured. “Open your eyes.”
Ah, yes, now she remembered.
It was because Damen Leventis had wanted to do this with her, and Mairi could not resist anything he asked.
One strong hand cupped her cheek, stroking the soft skin gently. “Come on, Mairi.”
Strong winds continued to whip them from behind, making her feel like they were going to be blown away anytime. Her feet dangled in the air, and after what she had seen, Mairi did not like to think about how much air there was between them and the ocean.
And yet—-
That voice.
It was the most beautiful sound on earth.
She opened her eyes and stared straight into his. “I. Hate. You.”
Damen laughed again.
Ah, dear Lord, would she never tire of hearing that sound?
Damen Leventis was not the man who laughed easily or often. But that he did so with her – even if it was usually Damen laughing at her – never failed to make...
His eyes moved down briefly before returning to her face. “Your toes are curling,” he remarked, a sly smile that was also irritatingly sexy forming on his thin beautiful lips.
“It’s because I hate you.”
His knuckles brushed her cheek once more in response. “Do you really?”
He was blatantly seducing her.
And she was, darn it, happy to be seduced.
“I—-” Her words were cut off by a sudden loud creaking sound from one of the metal chains that kept them connected to their parachutes.
Damen saw Mairi’s face turn white.
Knowing she was seriously scared now, he asked tautly, “Mairi, look at me.”
She raised fear-darkened eyes to him.
Ah, shit. Why had he thought to take her parasailing when she was clearly scared out of her mind? What an asshole he was. This vacation on Crete was supposed to be an unforgettable memory for them, not a fucking nightmare for her.
“You’re safe with me.” He spoke in a quiet and firm voice, an unconscious reminder that he was her rock and he would do anything to protect her.
She nodded, the movement slight.
“I’m going to wave to the guides now,” he told her. “I’ll get them to reel us down—-”
Mairi quickly shook her head. “No, I’m okay. Just...” She smiled weakly. “Talk to me while we’re here?”
“Talk...to you?”
“It could be anything. I feel...” Color stained her cheeks as she mumbled, “I won’t be so scared if I hear you talking.”
Ah, fuck.
How quickly she could disarm him, her words something that not even the most professional gold digger could ever say convincingly. When she said things like that to him, when she looked like that at him, Damen’s cynicism disappeared like it had never existed.