Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
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.”
Chapter 4
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.