by Marian Tee
He had heard every word.
Chapter Fourteen
“Ready to go?” Ioniko asked gravely even though he knew it was a pointless question. Katya had told him their sister hadn’t slept a wink, spending the rest of the night packing her things and making calls to ensure she no longer had any need to go back to Miami.
MJ nodded. “Ready as I will ever be.” She forced a smile, telling herself she had learn to do it sooner or later anyway.
Katya returned her smile, but her sister’s was an even bigger fake. MJ’s heart constricted, knowing how much Katya worried over her. But it was as if she couldn’t completely empathize with anyone. Walls around her heart had somehow come out of nowhere, preventing her from feeling as much as she wanted.
She could smile, but she couldn’t laugh. She could whisper, but she couldn’t shout. And she could care, but she could never love.
They stepped inside the elevator, the silence between them unbroken. She closed her eyes.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
She was doing the right thing.
She was.
MJ opened her eyes when the elevator chimed, and the doors opened to the lobby. Ioniko stepped out first and Katya followed. Only when she stepped out did she see the man standing at the very center, hair disheveled, clothes rumpled, but still looking like the most beautiful man in the world.
Oh God, God, God.
Why do you keep doing this to me, God?
Why?
“MJ,” he said hoarsely.
His voice snapped her out of her reverie, and lifting her chin, she forced herself to walk.
“MJ…”
Still, she didn’t falter, forcing herself to walk past him. But before she could, he had his fingers wrapped around her wrist. He spun her around, and she opened her mouth to tell him to let her go. But he beat her to talking, and the words he told her wrecked her world.
“I heard what you said last night.”
MJ almost fell back.
Oh God, no.
Helios never took his gaze off hers. “And I don’t give a fuck. Stay with me and torture me if it makes you happy. Just…stay with me. Don’t leave.” His voice broke.
She squeezed her eyes shut at the torment in Helios’ gaze. It wasn’t right to have someone so strong and proud like Helios begging her like this. “Please,” she said thinly, “please let me go.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” he growled rawly. “I want you with me, whatever the consequence, no matter what.”
She tried pulling away, desperate to put some distance between them. “I won’t ever allow that to happen. If you really heard me…” MJ gasped. She had to. She just couldn’t breathe, the pain inside her ballooning to such proportions it was as if she could no longer breathe without hurting.
“I can’t ever do that to you,” she choked out. “I can’t. I don’t want to.”
“But I want you to,” he said tightly. “I need you to. Because the alternative is worse. I don’t want to lose you.”
She shook her head and the tears started to fall. “Please. Just let me go.”
The hopelessness in her voice chilled and weakened him, but he rallied on, knowing he would fight for her until his dying breath. He had fucking faced a fucking nation of criminals for her. He would not give up now.
“Tell me,” he urged her tautly. “Just tell me what you want—”
Even knowing she was being unfair, she cried out, “Ioniko.”
In a second, her brother was there, pulling her away from Helios.
Helios went berserk as he found himself surrounded by Ioniko Vlahos’ men, all of them intent on keeping the woman he loved away from her.
“MJ, no! Don’t leave me!”
But still, he saw her sobbing as she turned her back at him.
If she disappeared on him now, he had a feeling he would never see her again.
Panic ate at him, driving him to his knees.
“What the fuck do you want me to do?” he shouted. “Do I need to get myself raped just to make us even? Because if that’s what it takes for us to be together again, then it’s what I’ll do.” His chest heaved, his emotions spiraling out of control. “How many men do you want? Five? Ten?”
MJ shuddered to a stop, crying so hard she could no longer make herself move. His words were so, so vile, but they were words of love, too, and she knew it.
Behind her, Helios’ voice was hoarse and panicky. “Tell me,” he shouted. “You want it done with a fucking GoPro? Anything. Just…” His voice broke. “Don’t leave me.”
And when Helios Andreadis crumbled in front of everyone, so did the walls around her heart. Everything just clicked, and it became so wonderfully, painfully clear.
All this time, she had pushed him away because deep inside, she was afraid he would do it. She had been afraid they would do it to her. That if she allowed herself to believe everyone would still love her…that was when they would turn their backs on her.
That was when they would realize she could never earn their love.
And so before that could happen, she had forced everyone to earn her love instead. Katya, Ioniko, and Helios.
“Please…MJ…what do you need me to do so I can deserve you?”
With a cry, MJ whirled around and ran to Helios, falling to her knees and pulling him into her arms. He gasped and shuddered in the circle of her embrace. The sound and feel of his relief made her cry harder. Made her hug him harder, too.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so, so, sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She wept harder as she felt him tenderly cupping her face, and when their gazes met and she saw the unconditional love in his eyes, she sobbed, “I’m so sorry.”
He lifted one shaky hand to push away the wet strands of hair clinging to her tear-ravaged cheeks. “You never have to say sorry to me, brat. As long as you don’t leave me.”
She shook her head, pressing her lips to his. “Never.”
His control snapped, and he hauled her tightly to him even as he took her lips in a kiss. “I love you.”
She wept and laughed, loving the way her heart thrilled at his words. She was going to be all right now. She was really going to be all right. Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, she kissed him back, whispering, “I love you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Helios Andreadis, President of the Afxisi, was terrified.
Normally, he would have a problem admitting that, but today was different. A man should only marry once in his lifetime if he could help it, and Helios knew in his case that would be true. So of course, he reasoned to himself irritably, he would be feeling a little…terrified. Anxious. Nervous as fuck.
Beside him, Kellion clapped him on the shoulder. “Breathe, President.”
He inhaled, exhaled, and after that, he said, “Fuck off.”
Kellion burst into laughter, drawing the attention of the crowd. And it was quite a huge turnout, with the university’s chapel filled to the rafters. More students waited outside, all of them hoping for a glimpse of a couple that was now the stuff of legends and urban myths.
Helios’ breath caught when he watched two attendants slowly open the doors of the chapel. Somewhere at the side, the famous pianist they had invited to his wedding began to play Stay with Me, a slower version than what was originally performed by Sam Smith.
After a few moments, Ioniko appeared, holding the hand of Helios’ bride as he guided MJ up the steps. His heart swelled at his first sight of her. Perfect. Sheer bloody perfection, and he could not believe that she was really his.
She had no veil covering her face, and personally he liked it that way. Her long brown hair flowed freely down her bare back, and her face was a picture of glowing happiness even though her violet eyes showed more than a little apprehension.
Across the entire length of the chapel, their gazes met. You look gorgeous, he told her silently.
She grimaced. I just hope I won’t trip on my gown.
&n
bsp; He smirked. Her gown was of white silk, with a corset top and a full twenty-foot train, which her own sister had insisted on. He had agreed wholeheartedly with Katya’s choice since the alternative was MJ’s preference for a short skirt to make sure she didn’t trip.
Ha!
Like he would ever let her wear something so skimpy.
It had been a year since they had survived the worst ordeal of their relationship, and he was sure as hell nothing worse than that would happen. One year, and MJ had slowly found herself again. There were times when she would have a vacant look on her eyes, but he knew how to get around that now, knew how to bring her back to the present and remind MJ that they still had a long, happy future to look forward to.
By the time Ioniko handed MJ to his care, his bride was crying profusely. “Take care of her, Andreadis,” Ioniko said soberly.
He nodded. “I will.” He meant it with his life. And he would treat her gently, too. Treat her like she was a piece of fragile jewelry because she was that precious to him.
But when MJ continued to sniff and sob next to him as they walked to their seats, he heard himself growling, “Stop crying.”
“I’m trying.” But she only ended up sobbing more loudly anyway.
“If you don’t stop crying…”
She looked at him innocently. “Wh-what?”
He muttered under his breath, “You might have me in fucking tears, too.”
Her eyes widened.
He glared at her. “And if that fucking happens, I’ll kill you.”
But his threat, rather than scaring her, ended up making MJ smile. At least her tears stopped, Helios thought. As they took their seats, he grasped her hand and squeezed it tightly, the tension inside him only easing when she squeezed his hand back. These days, he had a pathological need to know she was really there with him.
When it was her turn to speak her vows, she stood up, surprising Helios because they had initially agreed that they would not be making any personalized vows. But she had always intended to say this, as a way of thanking him for loving her during her darkest days.
She looked at him, and his sheer gorgeousness took her breath away, as always. His hair had grown a little longer now, enough for him to have to tie it back halfway, making him look sexy and rakish. Combined with his wonderful black and white suit, and he looked like a cross between James Bond and a pirate, guaranteed to make every eligible girl in the church swoon.
Taking a deep shaky breath, she said, “When I first met Helios Andreadis, I thought he wasn’t human. It wasn’t because he was the grouchiest person ever…”
Laughter from the crowd made her pause and smile, but she hurriedly continued when she saw Helios’ glare. “It wasn’t that, really. It was because…he took my breath away with his courage, his strength, his compassion. He’s not…” She closed her eyes, remembering the time Helios had saved Rick from the men who had abducted him.
“He’s not the type to back down from a fight, to stop fighting for the people he loves…” She remembered the time he had allowed himself to be beaten up just to prove to her that he could be normal for MJ. “And just as easily, he would allow himself to be defeated if it’s what it takes to protect the ones he loves.”
Wiping her eyes, she said, “It was because of these things that I fell in love with him and did everything I could to get into this school. I wanted to see him, be a part of his life, and maybe if I was lucky, maybe I might even get him to fall in love with me.”
“You mean seduce him,” Kellion coughed not so subtly from the front row.
MJ turned red, but Helios only smirked.
“I was so excited when I was about to meet him the first time here in school. I had so many things I wanted to say but when the moment finally came…” She smiled sheepishly at Helios. “I ended up making him mad because I was talking to him like this. Do. You. Understand. What. I’m. Saying?”
Helios scowled, which only made the crowd roar with laughter.
“In my defense, it wasn’t like I wanted to make him feel stupid. I just thought he might not be so fluent in English.”
Helios slowly ran a finger across his throat.
She gulped. “Anyway, my time as a volunteer at Afxisi was made special because I got to wake him up most days. The times he was not alone, I’d rather not remember.” This time, her eyes bored through his while color stained his cheeks.
“I got to see sides of him that not everyone gets to see and all of it, the good and the bad, it just made me love him more.” She smiled at Helios, mouthing I love you. Tears stung her eyes as he mouthed the words back. The old Helios would have never done this for her, but ever since she had been taken away, it was as if Helios was determined to make her feel loved and cherished every second of her life, never mind if it meant having his pride dented once in a while.
But today, it was her turn to give back.
“Helios is the most magnificent man on earth. And in hindsight, I would never have known how much he loved me, I would never have been able to comprehend how much he loved me if not for the time...I was taken away.”
Silence descended on the crowd as her words sunk in.
Helios froze in his seat. While he had no problems hiding what had happened, he had never opened up about it, not wanting to cause MJ more distress. “MJ…”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I got this.” And the smile she gave him was 100% the old MJ, the one who always worked hard to look for silver linings in every cloud.
“I used to ask God why did He let that happen to me. Why me? What did I do so horribly wrong that I had to go through that? But with every day that Helios made me feel loved, made me feel like the most important person in his life, I eventually understood that…maybe, maybe if that never happened, more women would have suffered the same fate, or maybe something worse if Helios hadn’t come to save me and put a stop to the entire operation. But more than that…if it didn’t happen, I might never have learned to love him as much as I love him now.”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she continued tremulously, “If that didn’t happen, I would never have known how much Helios mattered to me, never would have allowed myself to love freely and open myself completely to the risk of being hurt. But because that happened…I can be the kind of woman who can give herself completely to the man I’ll marry. I can look straight into his eyes…”
She raised her gaze to Helios.
“And tell him,” she choked out, “that I really do love him with everything inside me and everything I can be. I will love him until my dying breath, and if it means dying now to make his life longer by just a second, I would do it. Because my every breath belongs to him. Because Helios Andreadis is my life, and I will never forget that—”
Helios had her in his arms before she broke down completely, and his lips caught hers before she could say another word. He was humbled beyond imagination at what she had revealed, knowing it was true. She was no longer looking at what happened to her with regret because for her, every second of it had been worth the lesson of learning to love freely.
“I love you,” he said fiercely against her lips. And he would love her forever.
Ten minutes later, and the priest was finally forced to stand up and go to the kissing couple. He tapped the groom’s shoulder. “The ceremony isn’t over yet, Mr. Andreadis.”
****
When Helios came out of the en-suite bathroom of his yacht’s master bedroom, he found his wife at the balcony, dressed in a silk nightgown with its matching robe. The look on her face made him cross the room swiftly, and wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her back, making her lean against his chest.
When their eyes met, he told her calmly, “You look like shit.”
The vacant look in her eyes disappeared. “I do not!”
He laughed, and after a second, she made a face, realizing he had pulled one over her again. It was his way, she had long ago realized, of making her stop thinking about memories t
hat were best left forgotten.
Feeling his lips trail down her skin, she arched her neck to give him better access. “I love you, Mr. Andreadis,” she whispered shyly.
He stopped kissing her, raising his head to look at her with a knowing smile. “You’re just calling me that so I can call you Mrs. Andreadis, aren’t you?”
Her answering smile was sheepish. “Kinda?”
Laughing, he spun her around to face him and as he kissed her, he murmured against her lips, “I love you, too, Mrs. Andreadis.” Lifting her up in his arms, he carried her back to the bedroom, figuring it would serve to meet the tradition of carrying his bride over the threshold.
Laying MJ gently on the bed, he asked her solemnly, “You’re sure about this?” Unknown to everyone, he and MJ had not made love since her abduction, Helios allowing her time and space to heal and make the most important decision about her body.
It had killed him to hear her speak about what she had gone through when she narrated her ordeal to their therapist. If he had the chance to kill everyone in that fucking warehouse again, he would have given up his entire fortune to seize that opportunity. Dying once was just not enough for what Manolito Chavez had forced MJ to undergo.
Looking down at MJ, he swore to himself that he would wait for as long as it took for MJ to trust him with her body. When she opened her mouth to speak, he readied himself for rejection, but instead all she said was, “I can’t believe you’re going to take my virginity again.”
A ragged laugh escaped him. “Did you really just say that, brat?”
She nodded, a half-shy, half-teasing smile on her face. “But I really mean it. I’m just stunned, that…we’ll have something this special for us to celebrate again. Because if it were up to me, I’d never have done something like that. But it happened and now…” She tenderly placed a hand on one smoothly shaven cheek. “I think it’s all predestined, don’t you think?”
“Whatever you say, brat.” He lowered himself to her, careful not to crush her body under his. “All I know is that I’m lucky to have you in my life.”