The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire (9 page)

Mairi stumbled on her way to the podium, having heard Damen’s words.

Damen paled.
Shit
. He had meant to hurt her for being too close to Vlahos, for wanting him – Damen – to be more like Vlahos, like he was not enough for her, the way he had never been enough for his parents to love.

But the way she scrambled to right herself, her body posture tense and defensive, told Damen that she would rather stumble again than have him help her now.
 

He shoved his hands deep inside his trouser pockets, the only way he could stop himself from reaching out to Mairi. He watched her from behind, feeling so goddamn proud at the way she was able to keep moving even after what he had stupidly done.

I’m sorry,
Damen thought achingly.
 

He had promised never to hurt her again, but what they had – what he had made her agree to – it just wasn’t going to work. Had he really been such an idiot to think it would be different for them?

He had to make a choice.

He had to choose now, before Mairi chose someone else over him.

Mairi did her best as she read her speech, and if her voice shook once or twice for no reason at all, well – there wasn’t anything she could do about that. She just hoped the crowd thought she was nervous and not…heartbroken.

The speech was short and simple, and she worked on keeping her voice clear and inflectionless as she began thanking the people who had to be thanked.

“And lastly, our school’s Teachers' Day presentation would not be the special occasion that it is this year if not for the generosity of our guests of honor, who have gifted us with financial sponsorship and their precious time.”
 

Conscious of Ms. Thorn’s strict rules about etiquette, Mairi took a deep breath, unaware that the microphone had picked it up again and created a sound like a tornado throughout the auditorium.

The crowd laughed.

She…wished she could laugh with them.

Mairi forced herself to look at Ioniko first. “And so on behalf of the faculty, administration, and students making up the Grecian Academy for Young Ladies, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our guests of honor, Mr. Ioniko Vlahos—”

Ioniko raised his hand in a small wave, a simple act that had the entire student body giggling.

She turned to the
only
couple on the stage, her gaze blinded with tears. “—and the soon-to-be-wedded couple, Mr. Damen Leventis a-and Ms. Alina Kokinos.”

Her fingers curled around her speech, crushing it in her hand the same way Damen crushed her heart as he helped his fiancée out of her chair like she was a precious jewel so they could acknowledge the crowd with smiles and a brief wave.

Mairi mumbled the rest of her speech. She didn’t care if the crowd thought she was speaking Cantonese now. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from Damen as possible.
 

As she walked back to her seat, the ugly hateful truth that she had tried to be blind to finally made itself undeniably clear.

The problem had never been her love or making Damen believe in it.

The problem had always been whether Damen could believe in love. Because if he could believe in love, then he would never have made her go through this. If he understood how love could hurt and kill, he would never have forced her to see him and his fiancée together.

The rest of the presentation proceeded in an efficiently speedy manner, as was typical of any event organized by GAYL’s terrifying principal. The highest award went to an old history professor about to retire, and Mrs. Bettany became teary-eyed when Ms. Thorn presented her not only with a framed certificate but also a prize check amounting to $50,000, sponsored by this year’s guests of honor.

Mairi thought her ordeal was about to end, but it was not. It was only about to get worse, she realized as she dimly heard Ms. Thorn invite the guests of honor to make a brief speech themselves.

“Mr. Leventis? Ms. Kokinos? Would you like to go first?” Ms. Thorn sent them an encouraging smile.

Cold sweat bathed Damen's body under his suit. He had an awful feeling that something bad was about to happen.

“Would you like me to take care of this on my own?” he asked, hoping she would indeed say yes. But she did not.

Alina shook her head. “It’s fine.”

Left with no choice, Damen tried not to look visibly reluctant as he offered Alina his hand and guided her to the podium, his hand on the small of her back. He knew that such a simple gesture would hurt Mairi even more, and his gaze searched hers, needing to let her know that it did not and should not mean anything because he did not care about Alina in any way.

It took less than a second for Damen to spot Mairi in the crowd, and he sucked his breath in at the glassy look on her face.
 

Shit.
 

Shit, shit, shit.

She looked like he was killing her again and again, and the most painful thing about it was that it might just be true. If the roles had been reversed, Damen knew he would not be as stoic. If he ever saw another man holding Mairi in any way, he knew would very well lose it and start a fistfight.

As he and Alina reached the podium, Ms. Thorn moved close to the microphone and asked charmingly, “How about a kiss between the lovely couple? I am certain I speak for many students in saying we think you had the loveliest engagement party. The two of you make such a beautiful couple and we’d love to celebrate your engagement with you two today.”

Chapter Eleven

To trust a Greek billionaire, one must be prepared for competition.

She said: Like, a lot. You don’t know what I have to go through—

He said: Says the woman who had not one, not two, but three fucking Greek billionaires after her.
 

A fucking kiss?
Ioniko’s face hardened in disbelief. He had heard that the indomitable Rose Thorn was good at charming people and getting money out of their pockets, and now he knew it was true.

No wonder there was such a huge media presence today
, Ioniko thought in disgust. She had planned this all along, and since it was rare to catch Damen and Alina together, much less sharing a kiss, a photo of it would surely put GAYL on the map.

He looked at the couple, who were clearly taken aback by the request as well.

And then he looked at
her.

Mairi was completely white, and even this far away he could see the stricken look on her face.

Ioniko’s gaze returned to Leventis, the asshole who had caused Mairi to look like that. He was smiling, talking easily, trying to cajole Ms. Thorn out of the request, but the other woman was just as ruthless, making it impossible for Damen to refuse lest he wanted the crowd to think he disliked kissing his fiancée.

When he turned to Mairi again, he cursed under his breath. She looked like she was near to collapsing.

Fuck this.
 

He did not like playing the knight in shining armor, but something about Mairi made him want to pretend he was good.
 

Without a word, he stalked off the stage and headed towards Mairi’s direction.

****

Stavros Manolis looked up at the imposing entrance of the Grecian Academy For Young Ladies.

After so many years, he had finally found her.
 

This was the best lead he had in ages, and instincts told him that this time he might really see her again.

Mairi Tanner.

He owed her so many things, not the very least his apology for ruining her life without even knowing it.

Inside, he was greeted by name by one of the usherettes. The woman was well-trained, welcoming him without hesitation even though Stavros knew she was surely shocked and curious about what a bachelor billionaire was doing in a Teachers' Day presentation at a school where none of his family members studied.

Nyssa unclipped the CB radio from her pants to let Ms. Thorn know about the unexpected presence of yet another Greek billionaire.
What was it with today,
Nyssa wondered,
that GAYL was practically bursting with hot rich guys?

And Stavros Manolis? The man was notorious for his workaholic ways, rarely being photographed for the society pages because he was
that
reclusive. The only events he attended were those sponsored by his company. They were very strictly monitored ones, leaving no chances for the paparazzi to interview him.

Stavros waited patiently for the usherette to speak with her superior. When she turned back to him, her welcoming smile was something he expected. Because he was who he was, doors would always open. Always.

“Ms. Thorn would like to invite you to the VIP row, Mr. Manolis.”

“It would be an honor.” He knew how this worked. He had come here without an invitation. This was what the school required in exchange.

As the usherette escorted him inside the auditorium, he was surprised to see a couple of familiar faces on stage. There was Ioniko Vlahos and, even more surprising, Damen Leventis and his rather insipid fiancée Alina Kokinos.

Damen was engaged in a lighthearted banter with a woman Stavros assumed to be the principal. As he listened absently to their exchange, Stavros knew his friend was fighting a losing battle. It was just a simple kiss between an engaged couple; it would be the height of rudeness to his fiancée if he continued refusing.

He asked the usherette quietly, “I believe you have a Ms. Mairi Tanner working here?”

“Oh, yes. She was our presenter for the opening speech. Would you like to meet her after the ceremony?”
 

“That would be ideal.” Stavros paused, considering his options. “If you could point out where she’s seated for now though?”

The woman stopped next to the front row seats. “There she is, Mr. Manolis.”

Stavros slowly followed her gaze.

It was her.

It really was her.

And she looked…she looked exactly like how she looked that day she had been expelled for being labeled a gold digger because of him.

****

“My fiancée is a shy person, Ms. Thorn…”

“Oh, we are not asking for a passionate kiss, Mr. Leventis. I am very much aware of the tender age of my students. This is all in the spirit of celebrating your engagement, you understand. Just a small sweet kiss between a loving couple would be more than enough, wouldn’t you say so, girls?”

The students cheered their agreement.

Mairi listened sickly to the word play between Damen and Ms. Thorn, knowing that in the end the latter would win.

It would only be a matter of time.

And if they did kiss…

And if she saw them kiss…

She wanted to be sick.

****

Ms. Thorn was not going to give this up.

Damen knew she was not being a bitch about this, knew she was simply being her usual calculating self and saw no harm in asking for something that should be simple for any engaged couple to do. It was not her fault that she did not know how much he had fucked up and that by kissing his fiancée, he would be hurting another – the woman most special to him.

The thought of hurting Mairi again had his face hardening. No. Never. He had hurt her enough. He prepared himself to be rude, and damn what happened afterwards, but Alina, for once in her life, beat him to speaking.

“He is very protective of me,” Alina was suddenly saying. “I’m much younger than he is. He doesn’t like people to think he’s taking advantage of my age.” She smiled up at Damen even as her gaze remained unreadable and guarded. “What he needs to realize is that I am not to be protected.”

She took his face in her hands and tiptoed, her lips touching his.

Damen stilled.

In his mind, and he did not know if he had imagined it or not, he heard it so clearly – Mairi catching her breath, Mairi’s tears splattering on the floor, Mairi giving up on him.