by Tee, Marian
Damen flinched. “It was not like that. I misunderstood—”
“You always misunderstood!” She had been wrong. She would not be able to play this cool, after all. There would no longer be anything strategic about her words and actions this time. “I know you had us investigated, and I’m sure you know that we had done the same to you. What I found out was sickening.” Her low voice shook with rage. “My niece had always loved you from the start, but you betrayed and hurt her at every turn. You treated her like trash, and now you think I’ll let you waltz back into her life like nothing happened?”
The words of Mairi’s aunt did not create fresh wounds inside him. It only made the ones that still existed burn more deeply and painfully. “I know,” he said tightly, “how much I hurt her. That’s why I’m here now. I need to tell her I’m sorry and that I love her—”
Vilma’s responding laugh was scornful. “You have a very strange way of showing your love for Mairi.” Her next words took on a biting tone. “I’ve been following Greek business news closely, Mr. Leventis. You have been removed from your own board, almost all of your assets have been frozen, and half of Greece’s high society consider you as persona non grata. Don’t you think you have more important business to take care of back home?”
“Mairi is my life.”
Somehow, the words rang true even to Vilma’s ears, and she hated it. “Mairi is the same woman you believed was interested in you for your billions, Mr. Leventis. Why would you think she’d want to see now?”
“I made a mistake not trusting her. I won’t do it again.” He added fiercely, “I won’t hurt her again.”
“And that will make it all right, you think? To admit that you were wrong?”
His voice did not change when he answered, “I will beg if I have to.”
Her face hardened. “Then beg.”
“Please give me a chance to speak to your niece. I just want to speak to her. It’s all I ask. Even a phone call – a text message or email. Any form of communication would suffice.”
“On your knees.”
Damen did not say a word, did not hesitate even for a millisecond. He simply got up from his chair and went down on his knees, uncaring of the scores of eyes that swung to him incredulously at his action.
Even when he had his billions at his disposal, Damen had not been able to uncover a single clue about Mairi’s whereabouts, and he knew the chances of finding Mairi had become slimmer the moment he lost access to his own wealth.
If begging was the only way to have a chance to see Mairi, then so be it.
Vilma also slowly came to her feet.
And then she took the glass of water from the table and threw it at Damen. “That’s for making my niece suffer and for not protecting her from almost being raped.”
~ Nine ~
Alina Kokinos felt suffocated by how crowded Miami’s airport was. It was her first time to find herself in such a situation. In the past, her family’s wealth had kept her from this. When their plane landed, there would always be a chauffeured car waiting on the grounds to whisk her off to wherever she wanted, with her passport and all travel documents processed while she remained in the comfort of the Kokinos jet.
But life was different now.
She was no longer an heiress, wasn’t even sure she had the right to use her family’s name now that she had been disinherited.
Craning her neck, she tried to search the crowd for a familiar face, but there was none. Pulling out her phone from her pocket, she re-read the anonymously sent message for the nth time.
If you would like to be the one to tell Damen Leventis where Mairi Tanner is, book a flight to Miami at this date and time. You will know then.
When Alina had received the message, she hadn’t paused to think. She had gambled the last of her money on the flight and left Greece – her first time to do so alone.
Now here she was, feeling like she had been the victim of a prank.
After all, it really did not make any sense. She really did not have anything to do with the rollercoaster affair between Damen Leventis and Mairi Tanner. She was simply a bystander, one who had won her freedom when they fell in love but found her heart enslaved when the two had parted and she saw a side to Damen Leventis that she thought she would never find in a Greek male.
Ten more minutes and then she was out of here, Alina told herself before moving to another section of the airport, closer to where passengers would come out once they got past immigration. Hundreds of people walked past her every minute, but she didn’t let it ruin her concentration, her forehead furrowed as she tried to look for—
Mairi Tanner.
She couldn’t be mistaken, could she?
Alina didn’t realize she had been walking towards the figure until she was just a few inches away. Alina whitened when a tall, good-looking man spoke to the girl. When the girl looked up, Alina inhaled sharply.
It really was her.
When the man left, Alina heard herself say, “You’re really here.”
****
From a short distance, Drake Morrison watched the drama unfold between the two women, events that he had orchestrated with skills he used as a tactician of war. In order to win, one had to be ready to suffer casualties, and in this case Drake had long known that it would be Mairi who had to suffer another blow. It was the only way for her to be truly free of Damen Leventis – to regain her self-respect.
Taking out his phone from his pocket, he took a snapshot of Mairi, making sure that enough of their surroundings were clear in the photo so that their location would be identified without difficulty. Drake emailed the photo to a popular Hollywood blogger.
Without taking his gaze from the two, he made another call, instructing some of his men to take care of his luggage and Mairi’s.
Afterwards, he strode back to Mairi and her new companion, intent on following through with his plan.
****
Mairi couldn’t believe her eyes. It was truly Alina Kokinos. The younger girl was as pretty and polished as she had always seemed, dressed in a plain but elegant short-sleeved cotton dress and flats. Alina looked innocent, Mairi thought with shame, in a way that Mairi no longer had a right to think of herself as.
Before either of them could speak again, Drake was back at her side, his arm curving around her waist. And then he was bending down, his mouth covering hers, every movement of his lips speaking of his desire for her.
There was no time for Mairi to react. She was so stunned by his actions that by the time she recovered from her shock, the kiss was over. Drake had straightened, but he remained at her side, quietly possessive and authoritative.
Alina was trembling in shock and anger. She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe it. Surely – surely Mairi knew what Damen was going through right now? Surely she was aware of how Damen was slowly going insane in his efforts to find her and yet here she was, clearly in the throes of a romantic tryst with another man?
“You are Alina Kokinos, aren’t you?”
Alina answered coldly, “Yes.”
Drake’s voice, however, was bland as he said, “If you have something to say to Mairi, I suggest we do this privately. We have a car waiting outside. You may speak with freedom there, while here…”
As the man’s voice trailed off, Alina belatedly became aware that they were attracting curious eyes. She didn’t think people recognized her yet, but it was only a matter of time. She nodded stiffly, her gaze carefully averted from Damen’s former fiancée. She was not normally this emotional, but she might just lose it if she looked at Mairi.
Drake stayed in the middle of the two women as they walked out of the airport. He immediately spotted Raymond, a short but stocky man who served with Drake in Afghanistan, leaning against a black Benz.
At the sight of Drake, Raymond moved fast, murmuring a polite greeting as he opened car doors. Alina and Mairi were ushered inside the backseat while Drake took the passenger seat next to Raymond.
Mairi reluctantly met the accusing gaze of the younger girl. The sensible part of her told Mairi she had nothing to be guilty for. But the other part of her, the one that was still numb with pain and love for a man who would never really trust her, that part of Mairi welcomed the anger from Alina. She felt like the accusation, the disgust and contempt in the other girl’s gaze was completely justified. Allowing Drake into her bed might not have been considered a gross mistake, but it had not been her best decision either.
And so to Alina, she said nothing.
How, Alina thought with furious tears rushing to her eyes, could Mairi Tanner make it feel like she was the one in the wrong for attacking when it was the other girl who had been playing around while Damen Leventis was practically existing only to seek her forgiveness?
The older girl perplexed her, and the fact that it did only made Alina more resentful. There was also a regal air about Mairi, something that made her feel untouchable and pure even though Alina had seen with her own eyes that Mairi was anything but. Mairi was only four years older than her twenty, but right now the other girl made Alina feel very much immature for her outburst.
Well, immature or not, she did not have anything to be guilty of at least, Alina thought sullenly. That kiss between Mairi and the stranger had spoken volumes. Something beyond a kiss had happened between the two, and it was something that the man felt very proprietary about.
Alina glared at Mairi. “You didn’t even have the decency to tell Damen that you are over him.”
“I didn’t think there was a need to,” Mairi answered quietly.
Alina’s temper flared. “Don’t make it seem like he’s completely to blame! Maybe he was at the start, but now you’ve done something as bad, taking another lover to your bed—”
Mairi opened her mouth to protest, but she closed it a second after. She so wanted to tell Alina how wrong she was, that she hadn’t completely crossed the line but if she did…if she did…
A memory intruded in her mind like a slap to the face. Mairi saw herself begging for Damen to listen to her explain, to give her time to make him believe in her love – how she had begged him when she had done nothing wrong, begged him even as he humiliated her in front of people who had once seen them in love and had then been subjected to seeing Damen reduce her to something no better than a beggar after the crumbs of his affection.
She shuddered. How pathetic she had been!
And when he was gone, leaving her alone as the police dragged her away, that was when she realized that it hadn’t just been people in Damen’s employ that had witnessed her humiliation. Cuffed like a criminal, she had been made to sit in the back of a police car, which then drove past people who had once been their neighbors. All their masks of friendly charm had fallen then.
When it became clear to them that Damen Leventis had abandoned her, none of them had passed up the opportunity to show their supercilious contempt for her, staring at Mairi as the police car slowly drove past them. It had been clear in their expressions they all thought the same thing.
She deserved to be thrown out because she was not one of them.
Mairi tried to block the more painful memories from her mind, but it was impossible. Being sent to jail had been excruciating, but it had been nothing compared to hearing the man she loved – the one man she had always dreamt she’d fall in love with – speak to her like she dirtied his life.
“Please, Damen—”
“I can’t believe I chose you over a real lady like Alina.”
It was just a memory, but with the “real lady” now sitting next to her, making Mairi once again feel like a cheap slut, it was just too much. She wanted to shut the world away, wanted to go back to the past and stay there with her innocence intact, her dreams unbroken.
Alina looked at her with the same eyes as all those onlookers had gazed at her that painfully unforgettable night. Alina made her feel the same way Damen had made her feel, like she was a cheap slut to ever think she meant more to him than just a body to warm a Greek billionaire’s bed.
“I didn’t mean to do it,” Mairi whispered. All thoughts of being strong had disappeared, an unstoppable sea of guilt washing them away. “I just wanted to prove to myself I don’t belong to him.”
The other girl sounded like she was about to break down, but Alina told herself it couldn’t be true. How could Mairi be affected when she had managed to get in bed with another man while Damen Leventis’ whole world consisted of Mairi alone?
“You think too highly of yourself,” Alina heard herself spit out, “if you think you could belong to someone like him.” She wanted to hurt Mairi the way she had seen Damen had hurt in all the days she had lived with him.
Damen Leventis had put this girl on a pedestal, but she didn’t deserve to be there, and Alina would make sure to drag her down even if it was the last thing she did.
“You don’t understand—”
“Don’t bother explaining.”
Mairi stopped, the arrogant tone in Alina Kokinos’ voice making her flinch. It was déjà vu of the worst kind, the way it reminded her of how she had begged another Greek’s understanding.
“You have nothing to be guilty about either. Damen and I have been sharing a bed, too. Only, he has been racked with guilt the whole time, unable to commit to me because he feels guilty about what he has done to you.”
~ Ten ~
Damen Leventis’ face completely lost all color as he sat upright in his seat, his gaze arrested by the news on TV.
Mairi was here.
Mairi was here.
Mairi was here.
A man Damen did not recognize at all had been the first to step out of the car that slowed down in front of the Tanner home. He then held out a hand and a moment later, he was assisting Mairi out. She looked beautiful, dressed simply in a dark red blouse and slacks. A little pale, but she certainly looked better than Damen did, slimmer but stronger.
He could not breathe at the sheer joy and relief that hit him at seeing her again, the feelings so strong it almost brought Damen to his knees.
She was okay.
She was alive.
A second later, he was striding out of his hotel room. Damen didn’t care what he had to do. All he knew was that he would do whatever it took to see Mairi.
****
Dinner was a silent and tense affair in the Tanner home, with both Mairi’s aunts acting strange and almost nervous. They had welcomed her warmly and that was to be expected, but Mairi had also seen the slightest bit of dismay in their gazes. It was as if they wished she hadn’t come home – or at least, not right now.
When they retired to the living room to enjoy coffee, the same uncomfortable atmosphere remained, with Vilma and Norah occasionally looking and frowning at each other as if they were having a silent argument. Someone knocked on their front door, and Norah and Vilma both stiffened.
Mairi finally asked, “What’s bothering you two?”
Surprisingly, it was Drake who answered her. She had been doing her best to ignore him, but it was difficult with the way he made her feel so self-conscious. She knew it was deliberate on his part. She wasn’t stupid. Drake truly did want her, but he did not love her and he wouldn’t care that she didn’t love him either. What she couldn’t figure out was why he was playing the lover card to the hilt, using everything in his undoubtedly extensive sexual repertoire to make Mairi feel hyperaware of his desire for her body.
“They are worried about you.”
She forced herself to say lightly, “I admit I’m not back to my normal self, but I’m not suicidal.”
“That is extremely good to hear,” Drake said in his now-familiar bland voice, “because your former fiancé is the one knocking on your front door.”
Mairi paled. “Tell me that’s just a bad joke.”
“It’s not. I posted a few guards outside, and one just texted me about D
amen’s impending arrival five minutes ago.”
“And you didn’t stop him?”
He said evenly, “No. I did not stop him. That’s not my call.”
She didn’t know what to think. She looked at her aunts, unconsciously seeking their help, but they were just as stoic, as if all three had come to a consensus without her and their unilateral decision was to let her sink or swim.
Mairi’s fingers curled into fists on her lap. She was shaking badly, and her voice shook even harder as she admitted in a whisper, “I don’t think I’m ready to see him.” This morning, Mairi had been sure she was strong enough to look into Damen Leventis’ eyes and tell him she no longer wanted him in her life. But now? Not so much. Not when his betrayal cut her so deeply she didn’t think she’d ever be whole again.
Drake had touched her. She had let another man touch her, and she wanted to die because of it.
But Damen?
Damen had been sleeping with the woman he had once been betrothed to for five years, and no matter what Alina had said, Mairi didn’t believe he could have felt as torn up about it as she felt about her own actions.
If he had…
If he had, then he would never have been able to take Alina to his bed.
The look on Mairi’s face gutted Drake, but he was able to keep himself indifferent. It was one of the blessings and curses of having gone to war, the ability to neutralize all emotions and view everything in black and white.
“It doesn’t matter if you are ready to see him or not. He is here, and now you must make your choice. Do you want him back?”
She didn’t answer.
Unfortunately for Mairi, he wasn’t inclined to wait forever for one. It would do no one any favors if he did. He stood up and walked towards the front door. “Do you want to do this inside or outside?”
Mairi stiffened. “Drake, I don’t…”
He made his voice colder and harder. “Inside or outside, Mairi?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. If only, she thought numbly. If only she could wish the world away. How pathetic she had become, but the pain that kept stabbing her heart made it difficult for Mairi to remember that she was better off than others.