She shook her head. “No. Not them exactly. I’ve thought about this for a long time, Damen. I know the day that all your peers will accept me may never come. I thought I should change myself to make it happen, but that’s just going to make things worse. I want to help you, Damen, while still being myself.” Mairi stopped with bated breath, wondering what Damen would have to say after her spontaneous speech. When no words appeared forthcoming, Mairi forced herself to meet her husband’s gaze.
When she did, that was when he spoke. “I’ve learned my lesson, Mairi. I’m no longer afraid, I’m no longer a coward. Nothing I do in this lifetime will make me worthy of having you as my wife, but I’ll do everything I can to make me deserving you anyway.” His lips twisted. “If I wasn’t so selfish, I’d tell you to aim higher. You don’t deserve a billionaire, matakia mou. You deserve a trillionaire.”
Rough sincerity underlined each word, every syllable that fell from his lips heard by the crowd because Damen had made no effort to keep his voice from being heard.
Laughter and applause erupted from the crowd at Damen’s sardonic humor, and she smiled even as she blinked furiously to keep herself from shedding tears. Coming from the man who had once said that she was not a real lady – the same man who had once accused her of being a gold digger - those words were the ultimate apology.
Knowing Damen would need to see her strong and smiling before he entered the courtroom, Mairi smiled. Smiling as widely as she could, to the point that her lips felt stretched beyond the breaking point, she said gravely, “Trillionaires are too poor for me now. Personally, I’d aim for a bazillionaire.” She pointed to the doors behind Damen. “So if you want to keep me as your super beautiful and sexy wife, go win this case and add fifty zeroes to your bank balance.”
The smile he gave her was full of arrogance. It was Damen Leventis, the Greek billionaire at his finest, and she could have wept at the sight of it.
He turned around, and just when she thought he’d be entering the courtroom without another word, he said over his shoulder, “Fifty, matakia mou? You truly wound me. A hundred would be more like it if you believe in me.”
The doors closed behind him, the sound of Mairi’s choked laughter a treasure he tucked away in his memory like a lucky charm.
Outside the courtroom, Drake stepped close to Mairi. “What do you plan to do now?”
“I’m going to talk to the press.”
Drake raised a brow. “I thought your plan had nothing to do with the media.”
“It doesn’t. But I need them to reach the people I really want to talk to. I may not ever have the power to win the support of Damen’s peers the way someone like Alina Kokinos can,” Mairi conceded painfully, “But there are other people involved in this case, and those are my people.”
****
“Thank you for all your help, Stavros,” Damen said as he shook hands with the other man, who occupied the first row bench behind Damen’s all on his own with the exception of one bodyguard seated at each end. The men were dressed completely in black, and the forbidding expressions on their faces were enough to prevent anyone from sitting next to their employer.
Stavros waited for Damen to take the seat between his lawyers before leaning forward to speak. “Congratulations on the Kokinos takedown.”
“It wasn’t me at all, to be honest. It was all Morrison’s work.”
After a beat, Stavros asked, “Restitution after what he did to you?”
“After what he did to Mairi.”
With Damen facing the crowd, he was able to spot Willow the moment she entered the courtroom. He gestured for her to come forward, and as expected, the young woman did not appear cowed in any way at the sight of Stavros’ bodyguards as she muttered “excuse me” absently before plopping down next to Stavros.
“Give me a really good show please,” Willow said right away, her gaze fixed on Damen and appearing not to notice the sophisticated and extremely handsome man seated next to her.
Damen said solemnly, “I’ll do my best.” He turned to Stavros, whose face was, also as expected, inscrutable. “Stavros, I’d like you to meet my editor, Willow Somerset. Willow, this is my good friend Stavros Manolis.”
Willow gaped, no doubt having recognized the name from his manuscript.
Stavros only lifted one elegant brow, his tone mild as he asked, “Editor?”
Damen only smiled. “You’ll know tonight what it’s for.” And then there was no time to talk, with the hearing officially starting.
Esther’s legal team sprung no surprise of any kind as they presented the same set of evidence to the judge. It was disappointing, if Damen were to be honest, because like Willow, he had hoped the hearing would be explosive. He had prepared for this battle with laser focus, but he was not the kind of man who took pleasure in crushing an enemy that was so obviously weaker it was pathetic.
When it was his lawyers’ turn to present, Damen didn’t bother looking at his mother. He might only be moved to pity, and that he did not want to feel.
“How did you get the secretary from accounting to talk?” Stavros, who was leaning on the barrier separating the spectators from the defense’s desk, asked under his breath.
“That, on the other hand, is the work of Mairi’s aunts. They told me I was better off not asking how, and so I didn’t.”
“Everything seems to be handed to you on a silver platter with this case,” Stavros commented half-jokingly.
Damen inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I didn’t want to take any chances though. The hundred mil I borrowed from you and Sallis…” He took out his iPhone from his pocket and clicked on the app showing his stock portfolio.
When Stavros saw what was on the screen of Damen’s phone, he shook his head in stunned amazement. “You took a risk on those stocks? You must have been fucking crazy.”
“It was a calculated move.”
“Everyone knows that those stocks were a wildcard—”
“Because of its previous owner.”
The meaning behind Damen’s words sunk in, and Stavros looked at his friend with renewed respect. “You bought the company and turned it around yourself. And now, you’re a billionaire, which means even if you lose this case, it wouldn’t matter.” He gestured to the courtroom. “Why all this if the outcome didn’t matter anymore?”
“The company only went public this morning.”
“Does Mairi know you’re a billionaire again?”
Damen shook his head. “No.” He had not told his wife he was a billionaire once more because everything had changed. If being a billionaire had allowed Damen and Mairi to meet, it was the opposite now. Being a billionaire meant she would no longer need to pity him. It meant freeing her, and Damen wanted to avoid that at all cost.
The judge came to a decision in just three hours, the outcome neither what Esther nor Damen expected. “Although we can now rule the evidence presenting Damen Leventis as incapable of exercising his responsibility as head of the company invalid, the evidence presenting Esther Leventis as similarly capable is insufficient.”
The judge paused, looking at the defendant and plaintiff. Seeing their unbending expressions, he sighed and continued, “Of course, I also see the impossibility of mother and son jointly managing the company. It is an unfortunate pity, but their personal relationship is outside my jurisdiction. What I can ensure, however, is the future of Leventis, which we all know can affect the thousands of individuals it employs. As such, with the additional powers duly vested in me by both sides, I have decided that sole ownership and management of the company be determined by way of voting.”
Esther started breathing again at the judge’s last words.
“When I say voting, I do not mean that only members of the board would be considered. In this case, every shareholder and employee will be considered as well.” The judge lifted his gavel and banged it down on his table. “Case dismissed.”
****
Chaos erupted in the courtroom, and Damen and his team were showered with congratulatory messages. Esther Leventis’ furious shrieks at her attorneys tempted Damen to look her way, but he forced himself not to. He was not done with her yet, but now was not the right time to make her fully realize the consequences of her actions.
When he finally managed to step out of the courtroom, he immediately searched for his wife, but he could only find Drake. “Where is Mairi?”
Instead of answering, Drake asked, “You won?”
Damen briefly explained the judge’s decision.
“Your mother’s in control of the board, which means you need the support of the rest – the employees and stockholders – to vote for you.” He paused. “A tall order, with how Esther has portrayed you to the media.”
Damen was about to tell the other man he did not need any kind of support considering his newfound wealth, but Drake was speaking again.