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 frowned. “What do you have to do with them?”
“Consider it as my way of atoning for the trouble I have caused you and Mairi. The data was obtained illegally, and I of course won’t force you to use it. But if you do, you can be assured that it will significantly level the playing field between you and your enemies.”
Damen drawled, “Let me guess. You had your goons beat the information out of your target.” The words were a jab at how Drake had enlisted law enforcers to physically restrain Damen from getting near Mairi and Drake’s own use of force against Damen.
Drake only responded to the barb with a smile. “I only do that for special cases. After all, when a man hurts the woman who selflessly loves him repeatedly – to the extent of having the woman arrested in front of their own servants – such a person deserves that kind of treatment, don’t you think?”
Curtly, Damen said, “It will never happen again.”
“If you say so—-”
“I know so.” Damen looked at Drake straight in the eye. “I love her with every breath of my life. I’d lie for her if I have to. I’d kill for her. I’d go down on my knees if it’s what would keep her at my side.”
Drake knew those last words were costly for someone with such great pride as the ex-billionaire. But he was unimpressed. He had seen a lot of horrors in his life at the battlefield, and one of the greatest horrors was the fact that some people could never change.
Damen Leventis might have convinced himself that he loved Mairi now, but what could a son of someone who had been raised by a cold-hearted bitch like Esther Leventis truly know about love?
“For Mairi’s sake, I hope you do mean it. Because if I find out that you’ve hurt her one last time – if Mairi asks for my help to leave you—-” Drake’s face hardened. “You will never see her again.”
Having made his point, Drake saw no point in sticking around. Without another word, he made his way to the door, walked out, and stopped. “Mairi?”
Damen’s head jerked up. A second later, he was walking swiftly out of the study and coming to an abrupt stop next to the other man when he saw his wife standing in the hallway. The look on her face had his chest squeezing painfully hard.
He had seen Mairi this same fucking way once.
Devastation in eyes made glassy with tears, face too pale, and lips that wobbled in an effort to keep her emotions at bay.
He had seen her like this when Damen broke her heart for the first time.
It was the time Damen had told Mairi he only wanted her to be his mistress and not his wife.
She had left him after that.
Damen willed himself to breathe and keep his voice even as he asked, “What’s wrong, Mairi?” She was not going to leave him. She was not. Whatever the trouble was, he would fix it. She was not going to leave him. She was goddamn not.
Drake’s jaw clenched. What the fuck had happened now? What the hell had Damen done? He ignored the fact that Damen had been with him the whole time. Mairi was a strong woman, but she was, had been, and would always be weak where Damen was concerned. “What is it, Mairi?” His voice was harsh with concern.
The two men had spoken at the same time, and they turned to each other as if in challenge. One sized the other’s right to care for Mairi while the other sized the other’s ability to do so. It was clear in both their stances that Mairi only had to say the word and one of them would die fighting for her.
Chapter 5
She said: To wed a Greek billionaire, one must need a bodyguard.
He said: As long as his name isn’t—-
She said: Don’t say his name—-
He said: Asshole Morrison. There, I didn’t say his name. See how you’ve tamed me so well, sweetheart?
“HER NAME WAS PAIGE.” These were the first words that Drake had written in the letter he had saved in the flash drive, which Mairi guessed he didn’t want Damen to know about.
Both of us joined the Army at the same time. She was a few years younger than I was, and we had different reasons for joining. I had been idealistic then. I wanted to fight for our country. Paige, she wanted to die for it – she said it was better than dying raped in her neighborhood.
We grew...close. We didn’t want this closeness, but it happened.
And I messed up.
I made her think she could depend on me, the way she couldn’t rely on anyone else in her life. But I messed up – we were on a mission when she was injured, and I had to leave her because I needed to bring the people we rescued to a safe place.