The Art of Loving a Greek Billionaire (8 page)

When she raised her gaze to her ex-fiancé, the incredulity she saw in Damen Leventis’ gaze made her smile wryly. “Does my honesty surprise you that much?”

Not mincing words, he said, “Yes.”

For a moment, the old fears assailed her. Damen was a man, and she had been taught all her life to bow to a man’s wishes.
 

But then her courage reasserted itself, and squaring her shoulders, she told him in a voice that only quivered the slightest bit, “I’ve decided to stop pretending I’m the usual biddable Greek lass with you, Damen.”

His voice was bland when he answered, “I never asked you to.”

Blinking, she said, “I…suppose…not. But I’ve always gotten the feeling that you would have been displeased if I had ever gotten in your way or went against your wishes.”

“Perhaps. But it is water under the bridge now, do you not think?”

Oh! He was so cold, so unreadable!

And though this side of him had always terrified and frustrated her, now it also made Alina smile. She said softly, “You don’t seem to be the same person who dumped an heiress to be with the woman he loves.”
 

Alina was rewarded by the faintest flush coloring Damen’s cheeks, and she took courage from that. Maybe this could still work. Maybe she had been wrong about him all along. Oh, she hoped so. She dearly hoped so.

Ever since she had been engaged to him, she had found the Leventis heir to be arrogant, too much like her overbearing father for her to like. Although he had been nothing but polite and courteous with her, he had also been forbiddingly formal. The only time he had been open with her was during the time they had been guest speakers at GAYL. His attitude had surprised and confused her, but what followed after had cleared a lot of things up.

He had wanted the other girl – the one he loved – to be jealous.

And until then, never would she have expected someone like Damen Leventis could care so much for a woman to want her to be jealous.

Hopefully, he still cared for that girl, enough for him to agree to what she was about to propose.

“What is this about, Alina?”

His voice made her hand shake as she reached for her glass. She drank it all, needing the wine to give her Dutch courage.
 

He waited, patiently.
 

Damen had always been irritating that way
, Alina thought, acting like he was too cool to lose his temper because everyone and everything paled in significance next to him.
 

She couldn’t help but ask, “Are you like this with her, too?”

“Like what?”

“You act like you’re
never
wrong. You’ve always acted like that.” She almost laughed at the puzzled expression on his face.

“I do not pretend to be wrong if I am right – even if it is merely to soothe ruffled feathers.”

She shook her head. “Never mind.” She hoped, for Mairi Tanner’s sake, that the other girl had found a way to make Damen Leventis less arrogant. He needed a strong dose of humility now and then.

Placing her hands on her lap so Damen wouldn’t know how badly they were still shaking, she made herself look at him straight in the eye as she spoke. “My father wants me to get you to reconsider our engagement.” Not waiting for him to answer, she said in a rush, “I am not in favor of it.”

Alina nervously watched Damen lean back on his seat.
 

And then all he said was, “I see.”

She wanted to throw a glass of water on his face for that.

“If you really love her, this Mairi Tanner, then can I count on you to lie to my father and tell him that I did my best, but you will never leave her for anyone else?”

Silence.

Why wasn’t he saying anything?

“I will tell your father that you’ve tried your best but I am not to be persuaded.”

The words were spoken so formally, it reminded her of the old Damen – or at least the Damen she thought she knew. But he was different – his words and actions that day at the school had proven it.

And yet –

And yet it felt right now like the new Damen, the one she thought she
might
consider a friend, was nowhere to be found.
 

Alina considered his words. He would help her with her father…but he did not want to tell her father about
never
leaving Mairi?

She asked awkwardly, “Is everything all right between you two?”
 

He answered in a colder voice, “We are fine. Thank you for asking.”
 

Alina tried not to wince. She had gotten him mad, and he appeared even more intimidating now.

She wondered if she should tell him about Mairi’s unsuccessful attempts to find work. Alina was no idiot, and she had her own eyes and ears spying for her. Everyone in the world – including her father – thought of her merely as the Kokinos heiress, a pawn to be married off for mergers, but what nobody knew was that she had always yearned to be the head of her family’s business, always wished she had been born a man rather than a woman so that she would be taken seriously. Certainly, most people in Greece’s high society would never think that she paid great attention to business rumors, and that from those rumors she was able to deduce the reason behind the falling stock prices of Leventis Inc. More importantly, her spies had also told her about Mairi Tanner’s current plight and how Damen Leventis still did not seem to know about it.

But he would know about that soon enough
, Alina thought uneasily. It was only a matter of time, and when the truth came out, there would be many people paying dearly for being stupid enough to ally themselves with Esther Leventis and her own father.

“Is there anything else you wish to talk about?” Very polite. But with a tinge of impatience this time.

He really was a cold man. If Mairi Tanner was not the gold digger everyone painted her to be – and Alina liked to think the other girl wasn’t – then whatever did she see in Damen?

Alina said finally, and with great sincerity, “Thank you. And I really do wish the two of you well. I think it’s great that you made your love for her your first priority. I’m sure she loves you just as much.”

A self-mocking smile appeared on Damen’s handsome face, and the sight troubled her, especially when he said, “I’m sure it is so.”

Damen remained at their table a long time after Alina had already left. When his phone rang, he answered it almost reluctantly and when he heard who was on the other line, Damen wished he had indeed rejected the call instead.

“Is there any change?” Stavros Manolis asked. “Is she willing to speak to me now or perhaps more willing to consider it?”

“She is still hurt by what you did to her years ago,” he heard himself saying. “You must give her time.”

Chapter Ten

To prevent herself from missing Damen too much
and
making herself sick with worry about what he and Alina Kokinos would talk about when they met for lunch, Mairi decided to accept double her usual number of article requests.
 

After her shower, Mairi had already dressed herself for another day at the library, choosing a pretty but modestly designed off-white dress, before changing her mind about going out.

Yesterday’s disguise had been an epic fail thanks to Damen’s entrance. Her lips quirked at the memory. He had walked towards them like he was Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. Was it a surprise people had gawked at him and realized he was “someone” even if they didn’t know his actual identity?

It was pure luck that no one had sent a photo of the three of them together – him, Ioniko, and her – to the press, but she was not going to take her chances again. She didn’t need more of the media’s attention, and Damen certainly needed it less, considering how sensitive negotiations seemed to be between his company and investment partners.

Mairi had devoured all the news reports she could about Leventis Inc., and all of it painted a grim picture for Damen’s business. And it was all because of her. She had turned him into the laughingstock of Greece’s business community, but he never said a word about it.
 

She would do her best not to add to his problems
, Mairi swore to herself. And that meant she was going to work right here – even if it also equated to struggling with writer’s block more often.
 

Just the thought of having to get past writer’s block made Mairi sigh. At the library, she was surrounded by people, and the constant buzz and movement distracted her from dwelling too long and too often on her thoughts. But here at home, surrounded by Damen’s scent, she couldn’t help but think, couldn’t help but miss him, and she couldn’t help but worry.

Things had never been perfect between them, but something had changed and it wasn’t for the better.

With another sigh, Mairi headed for the study. There was no point dwelling on it. She just had to wait until Damen was ready to talk to her. For now, she was better off concentrating on her work.

And work she did, typing until almost every part of her body ached – her body, neck, shoulders, and oh, her poor fingers! They felt so stiff now it was a wonder she could still move them.
 

Her eyes
felt
tired, and she had to re-read her words several times to make sure she got it right.

At one point, she had written “The cat became pregnant with coffee” when she was supposed to write about the best way to choose a domain hosting site.

Mairi glanced at the wall clock, which was beautiful in its simplicity but gasp-worthy, too, with its frame made entirely of 24-karat gold.

Nine-fifteen.

It had her stretching in her seat before getting up. Her stomach growled as she did, reminding her that she had barely eaten throughout the day – and night. Mairi ignored it, already too tired to make herself anything. She climbed up the stairs to their room, telling herself she’d only take a fifteen-minute nap.

But the nap turned out to be more than what it should be. She was so tired she succumbed to a heavy sleep, and she didn’t even stir when Damen came inside their room and stopped next to the bed.

She was dressed like she had gone outside. Where had she gone and why did she seem so tired? He could easily get her bodyguards to answer him, but he resisted the urge. Doing so meant he did not trust her—

But I trust her.
 

“I trust her.”

“I trust her.”

“I trust her.” And yet even with Damen repeating the words so many times, he still couldn’t make himself sound like he meant it.

****

As days passed, his puzzlement turned into unease, which later deepened into resentment. Why did she have to fucking change? Was she really so enamored with doing whatever the fuck she did when he was working in his office that she now loved his money more than she loved him?

Whatever it was that Mairi was doing, it must be so tiring
, he thought sarcastically, that she had to blow two thousand dollars on a fucking spa treatment. It had been the first item on his most recent credit card statement and he had been so disgusted by it he had simply signed the check to pay his dues without checking the rest of the statement.

He was no cheapskate. His former mistresses had spent ten times more than that when
they
had gone to their favorite spas, and he hadn’t cared. But somehow, when it was Mairi involved, it did not feel right.
 

The memory of it set him on edge, and he moodily stared at his half-empty mug of coffee. Mairi used to prepare him one every morning, and it would always be ready by the time he came down to the kitchen. Now—

“Good morning.” Mairi’s voice was a little wan as she joined him in the kitchen, interrupting his thoughts.

Looking at her now and noting the air of exhaustion that never seemed to leave her these days, he remarked casually, “You look tired.” She did not appear wasted but she did appear weary – too much so for someone who for all intents and purposes did not have a job.

Mairi flinched at Damen’s words. Did that mean she appeared ugly to him now, only he was too polite to tell her so? With him seated across her looking like a marble statue come to life, she couldn’t help feeling so.