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 looked at him seriously. “I think I’m going to call you...”
He raised a brow, knowing that whatever she decided on it would definitely be...rare.
“Dreamboat.”
Yes, definitely rare and it was definitely hard to keep a straight face as he coughed and said, “That’s...err...interesting.”
She beamed. “At least it’s something of ours.” Mairi nodded encouragingly at him. “What about you? What do you want to call me?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Matakia mou.”
Mairi burst into laughter. “Maybe I should call you Gollum instead.” But even as she teased him, she couldn’t help but feel cherished. Because those words, translated to English, meant ‘my precious’.
“WE’RE AGREED THEN? You will move in this weekend?” Damen asked as his limousine slowed down to a stop on the very same road Mairi had chosen to meet with him the first time. The cloak-and-dagger stuff she insisted on frustrated Damen but for now, he knew he should not push his luck.
It was already a miracle he had somehow persuaded her to come back into his life. Damen would not dare do anything else that could make her leave him again. If she wanted to walk back to school from here, then so she would. However, Mairi did not have to know that he would also have an entire security team tailing her to make sure she reached her destination in one piece.
She bit her lip. “Are you sure Diana won’t mind?” Greek girls could still be terribly conservative and she didn’t want anything to ruin her friendship with the young girl as much as possible.
“She will understand. This is normal for Greek men.”
Mairi glanced at him in astonishment. “Really? I thought it would be the opposite?”
Her words puzzled Damen. “In what way should it be opposite? Do you think it is better that I live in your home?”
“No, no. I mean, it’s not normal for a couple to move in together before marrying, right? Not that I’m saying we’re going to get married soon but—-” Mairi stopped, belatedly noticing the way Damen had suddenly whitened.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
How could they have—-
FUCK! This was not fucking happening. This could not be fucking happening.
“Damen? What’s wrong?” Mairi reached out to touch his face, but he caught her wrist and shook his head. She let her arm fall back down, trying not to feel hurt.
He asked carefully, “What exactly do you think we are now, Mairi?”
She frowned at the question, unable to see the point of it. “Are you worried about the labels?” she asked finally. “We don’t have to be girlfriend or boyfriend. We can just be...an item.” That was the best she could come up with.
“An item...that will eventually lead to marriage?”
She colored, but not wanting to lie she said, “Eventually, yes.”
“But how can that be when I am still engaged to the Kokanis heiress?”
The words made Mairi’s vision blur. “What do you mean you’re still engaged?” she whispered.
The pain in her voice made him flinch. Goddamn it! He had promised himself he would not hurt her, but why the hell did things always get fucked up between them?
“Mairi, I didn’t lie to you this time. When we were in Vlahos’ yacht, I told you I wanted you in my life.”
“Yes.”
“But did I say I was going to break it off with her?”
“No, but...” She looked at him blankly. “How else will you have me back in your life if you still belong to her?”
“I don’t belong—-”
She shouted, “How?”
This time, he was the one who tried to reach out to her. And this time, she was the one to push him away.
“How?” she sobbed out. She had a feeling she already knew, but she needed to hear him say it.
Damen said bleakly, “I wanted you back in my life as my mistress.”
SHE WALKED ALONE. SHE had always walked alone on this street, which was the shortest and most isolated path leading back to the school. But somehow, none of those times had felt as empty and lonely like how she was feeling now.
In her mind, she could still hear Damen demanding that she listen to him – that she let him explain.
“You don’t understand,” Damen had said.
She shook her head. “No. It’s you who don’t understand. I love you—-”
“For God’s sake, Mairi! You’ve known me for what – three fucking days? And now you’re telling me you fucking love me? Do you know how fucking crazy that sounds?”
Yes, she knew. She had always known it sounded crazy. But she had grown up believing that someone like Damen Leventis would walk into her life, make her fall in love with him, and then they’d live happily ever after.
Maybe it was crazy. But was it so fucking wrong? Was she so wrong to believe that the kind of fairytales she believed in, the ones that had Greek billionaires in it instead of Prince Charming – was she so fucking wrong to want to believe that those fairy tales could also come true?