The answer had Drake stalking back to his table. He transferred all the data he had to make or break Damen Leventis into a memory stick. He had used Mairi callously, selfishly, and ruthlessly. He would never be able to make it up to her, but at least what he had in his hands could secure her future with Leventis.
I’m sorry, Mairi. I’m sorry I had to use you.
He had needed to see Mairi fight with everything she had to be strong. It was the only way to make himself believe that somewhere in this world, Paige was alive and was waiting for him to save her.
Stay alive, Paige. Stay alive for me.
Part Two
Chapter One
She said: To wed a Greek billionaire, one must be prepared to have all expectations surpassed.
He said: You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you? Our wedding was like a hole-in-the-wall affair and I still think we should marry again. You deserve a proper—
She said: I mean it. My every dream came true when I saw you waiting for me.
Note to editor: We’ll get back to drafting this chapter later. My beloved wife has just given me a raging hard-on that cannot be ignored a moment longer.
A tall dark-haired man stood with his back to the windows, sunlight cascading from behind to lay golden stripes on the royal blue carpet. He had the strong classic features of a Greek god, but marring its perfection were the faintest shadows of bruises that were still in the process of healing. He was dressed in a well-tailored black suit, with a snowy white shirt underneath.
The room he was in had marble floors, expensive stenciled wallpaper, and high vaulted ceilings. At two hundred square meters, the room was the largest in the building and cost more than a thousand dollars at night, something not any ordinary person could afford.
Even so, there was no denying the truth.
This was a hospital room, and it was not fit to be the wedding venue for a man who was once a billionaire.
When the door opened, Damen Leventis drew his breath sharply at the sight that greeted him. Standing in the doorway was the girl he would risk everything for.
Mairi Tanner.
The girl who had captured his heart…and whose heart his own cruelty and cynicism had caused to break…over and over.
For a moment, all they did was stare at each other.
Memories, short but vivid, passed through his mind, and Damen’s fists clenched at his sides.
So many memories…
Mairi, the first time he had seen her in Diana’s school, her beautiful smiling face a picture of innocence and optimism…
Mairi, the first time he had kissed her, and with a dazed look in her eyes, all she could say was ‘hi’…
Mairi, the first time he had told her the truth about his engagement to Alina Kokinos, and she could only look at him helplessly as if wanting to stop loving him but unable to…
Damen’s chest heaved.
So many damn memories, and most of them were darkened by the pain he had caused Mairi.
If he was an honorable man, he would cancel the wedding and let her go. She deserved someone better, someone who would never cause her to cry a single teardrop.
But he was not an honorable man when it came to Mairi.
He was a man whose heart no longer belonged to himself, a man whose life would be forfeit if she ever left his side.
He would never let her go. It didn’t matter if she no longer loved him. It didn’t matter if she only chose to stay with him out of pity.
Damen would take Mairi any way he could.
****
Mairi smoothed one trembling hand over the lacy overskirt of her dress, a concoction of white silk that her best friend Velvet Lambert-Sallis had especially ordered for her. Velvet was on her honeymoon now, and it was only at Mairi’s insistence that neither Velvet nor Mandy had come to her wedding. Everything about her life now was a mess, and she didn’t want her friends to suffer from any kind of public backlash because of her.
As the stylist continued to weave her hair into artful curls, Mairi let her gaze drift around the spacious walk-in closet of Damen’s hospital room, now serving as her temporary bridal boudoir.
Next to the door was a lovely waist-high rosewood cabinet, and gracing its top was a vase of exotic roses sent by Drake Morrison. The flowers had come with a handwritten note, and remembering the message made Mairi hastily blink back tears.
In your heart, you never betrayed him.
And he knows that.
“I’ll be placing the wreath now,” the stylist announced.
Mairi nodded, her eyes going to her reflection. The wreath was a gift from her aunts, a work of art made from gold-plated vines and pearls roped in the shape of flowers. They had spoken on the phone last night, and when the memory of their conversation fluttered inside her mind, Mairi had to take deep breaths to keep herself from breaking down.
‘We so badly want to be there, Mairi, but right now we can help you more if we stay here,’ Vilma had said.
‘This time, dear girl, we’ll be fighting for you. And all we ask is that you be strong for us. Can you do that for us, Mairi?’ Norah had asked.
The stylist stepped back to admire his handiwork. “There, we’re done…”
Mairi slid her feet into the shoes that looked very much like glass slippers, a gift from Diana Leventis and her classmates. The girls had used their own allowance to buy Mairi their gift, and they had sent it with a selfie photo of the entire class.
We love you, Ms. Yay!
Thank you for teaching us to dream.
Slowly, she stood up, and the stylist took her hand to draw Mairi towards the full-length mirror at the side of the room.
A young woman looked back at her, dressed in a white silk dress that bared her shoulders and emphasized the slimness of her waist before falling to a loose ballerina skirt that fell a few inches past her knees.
So many people had suffered because of her foolish heart and her decision to love blindly.
This time, it would be different.
This time, she would be strong for everyone.
It might be a mistake to love Damen after everything, but it was a mistake that she knew she would make over and over again.
She loved Damen, and she would always love him but this time, she would make sure her love would hurt no one – not her aunts, not her friends, not even Damen – but herself.
“Are you ready?”
It was not the stylist who spoke. This time, the low, dark voice came from Ioniko Vlahos, one of the few persons who had remained at her side from the very start. Dressed in a dove gray suit, the Greek billionaire had insisted on the honor of giving her away when he realized that neither Mairi nor Damen would be dissuaded from their decision to marry before leaving the hospital.
She nodded.
Ioniko moved to her side and gently took her arm. Looking down at Mairi, he realized that a part of him had always known this beautiful young woman would never belong to him. From the very start, Mairi only had eyes for one Greek billionaire.
Still, he had to ask, “You are sure of this?”
A brief smile touched her lips as she answered honestly, “It’s what I’ve always dreamed of.”
Ioniko’s lips curved.
That explained it all, really.
Since Damen Leventis was no longer a Greek billionaire, that really explained it all.
****
Damen’s chest tightened with each step Mairi took towards him.
Beside him, Damen’s best man said under his breath, “You must allow yourself to breathe, my friend.” He was Stavros Manolis, another Greek billionaire whose looks and power had turned him into a celebrity figure. Notorious for being reclusive and aloof, Stavros had shocked the world when it was revealed that he, too, had been vying for the hand of Mairi Tanner, now labelled as a modern-day Mata Hari.
Color stained Damen’s high cheekbones at the realization that he had not taken a breath since the first step Mairi took inside his room. Having overheard Stavros’ aside, the nurses who had been invited to witness the wedding giggled to themselves.
But soon the sounds died and all was left was the most profound silence as Mairi came to stand in front of Damen.
Their gazes met.
And no words had to be spoken.
In the background, the priest started to speak. “Dearly beloved, you have come to this place today so that the Lord may seal and strengthen your love…”
Slowly, Damen reached for Mairi’s hand.
Her fingers curled around his and tightened, and the quiet show of support and loyalty humbled Damen.
Soon, the time came for Mairi to profess her eternal love to Damen.
“Do you take Damen to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him all the days of your life?”
Fear erupted from nowhere, suffocating her, and for a moment she was lost in the most awful memories.
Esther Leventis, calling her a slut because she had slept with him even if he was promised to another woman…