Chapter 17
She said: To wed a Greek billionaire, one must be ready of exes dropping by...all the time.
(Long pause)
He said: Technically, she was not an ex-girlfriend. Rather, she was my ex-fiancée.
She said: And the distinction is a good thing because?
He said: You truly have to ask, sweetheart? She became my fiancée for purely practical reasons. You were my only girlfriend – the only woman I chose with my heart and not my head.
(Long pause)
(Note to Editor: Could you take that out? I think that ended up sounding too sappy.)
(Note to Editor: Willow, I’ll be forever in your debt if you keep that line.)
(Editor’s Note: We’ll keep this. I estimate additional one week on the NYT bestselling list if I use it as a new excerpt for the book.)
––––––––
“I MUST CONFESS I HAD expected you to contact me a lot earlier than this.” Damen took the initiative to speak first, mincing no words as he did.
Seated across him, Alina Kokinos was as beautiful and elegant as ever, her every movement graceful and precise as she curled her fingers around the stem of her wineglass to take a sip. Her face was expressionless, but her stiff posture belied her inner tension.
The restaurant they were in was dim and low-key, its tables and chairs, made of varnished pallets and glass, projecting a rustic chic charm. But more importantly than that, its location was obscure and frequented only by town locals, making it the perfect place for Damen to meet the woman he had once used to make Mairi feel worthless. The memory of it still stung, enough to have Damen take a sip of his wine as well.
When he lowered his wine glass, he saw Alina gazing at him. The vulnerability he glimpsed in her eyes had Damen consciously softening his tone as he said, “We can postpone this if you want.” Even though it was unlikely for him and Alina to resume the friendship they once had when he was still reeling from Mairi’s loss, he would always consider himself indebted to the younger woman. She had been one of the reasons that he had not stopped looking for Mairi, Alina’s silent support giving Damen reason to hope that maybe...maybe he was not such an evil man that Mairi would be unable to forgive him.
The gentleness of Damen’s tone enabled Alina to smile even as her heart continued to ache at the mere sight of him. He was dressed in another one of his exquisite handmade suits, his hair styled perfectly. The latter was rare for Damen, who she knew had not one vain bone in his body. It prompted her to ask haltingly, “Do you have somewhere important to go to after this?”
Damen’s lips curved in a slight smile. “Is it that obvious I took the time to comb my hair?”
Alina’s own smile widened, and the world around her seemed to be just a bit more colorful at the sight of Damen’s amusement. Oh God, she was so hopelessly in love with him.
If only there was something she could do to make Damen Leventis feel the same about her.
Swallowing back the lump of pain in her throat, Alina said teasingly, “I wasn’t even sure you were Damen Leventis when I first saw you.”
Damen feigned a grimace. “Ah. That bad then.” He watched Alina laugh, the tension gradually leaving her body. An air of fragility surrounded her, and it had him biding his time. He didn’t want to accidentally say or do something that could have her walls crumbling down.
When the sound of her laughter faded, Damen took it as his cue to speak and he asked carefully, “Are you still living in Stavros’ apartment?”
“No. I’m staying at one of my friends’ apartment.” She paused. “I don’t think I’ll ever come back to my father’s house. It might be more comfortable there, but it really was like a gilded cage. I like my life better now. I like being able to make my own decisions.”
He nodded. “That is how it should be.”
An uneasy silence fell between them. Alina placed her hands on her lap so Damen wouldn’t see her wringing them. Esther Leventis’ words echoed in her brain.
Damen will never listen to me, and I cannot blame him. I have betrayed him too many times. But you, Alina, he trusts you. You must make him see reason. You must make him see the truth about the woman he’s married. You must be the one to protect him because no one else can.
“Alina—-”
She said in a rush, “I love you.”
Damen stilled, the rest of what he had to say obliterated by Alina’s unexpected admission.
She gazed at Damen’s handsome face searchingly, hoping for a hint of softening. But there was none, his silvery eyes as inscrutable as the rest of his expression. Alina’s heart started to crack, but she forced herself to continue, reminding herself that she was doing this for Damen’s sake.
“The American with you all the time—-”
“Morrison,” Damen said, stiffening even more.
She looked him in the eye. “He’s Mairi’s lover.”
Seconds passed before Damen responded, two short words that tore her world apart. “I know.”
A cry of anguished surprise burst out from Alina. “And you still took her back?” She shook her head in pained confusion, the crack in her heart getting bigger and bigger as she was confronted with the reality of Damen’s love – of how he loved Mairi Tanner so damn much he was willing to turn a blind eye on reality.
“How could you, Damen?” she whispered. “How could you still marry her and...if what the tabloids are saying is true...you’ve even let that man live with you?”
The unspoken implication of Alina’s words slashed into him, but Damen pushed them away. He didn’t give a fuck if Alina and the whole world thought he was a fool for allowing Mairi and her ex-lover to live under one roof. They would never understand that having Mairi close was the only way for him to keep living.
He said tightly, “What happened between them is firmly in the past—-”
“You can’t know that for sure—-”
“She always sleeps in my bed—-”
She cried out, “She doesn’t need to be in his bed to betray you! She doesn’t need to fuck him to be in love with him!” Tears ravaged her voice as she whispered, “I know because you never had to take me to bed to make me fall in love with you.”
As she bent down her head to cry, she heard Damen say, “I’m sorry.”
And she knew that there was no way for her to win.
Damen would always love Mairi.
She didn’t lift her head when she heard him move, didn’t move a muscle even when she sensed Damen’s hesitation. He was standing right next to her, and Alina could feel his desire to touch her. She craved that touch, even knowing that it would only be Damen wanting to comfort her and nothing else.
Please. Please touch me.
But in the end, he did not.
“I don’t want you to think I do not appreciate your concern. I can’t see how you found out about it, but that doesn’t matter. I appreciate that you thought I needed the warning about...them...” Damen shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “You’re a beautiful person, Alina. Inside and out, and I hope that one day you’ll find the man who’s deserving of your love. But that man isn’t me. I love Mairi. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, and I’ll always love her...even if I end up losing her to another man.”
****
O UTSIDE THE RESTAURANT , a cab was stationed across the road. The woman seated at the backseat wore a large pair of sunglasses, which effectively concealed her tear-stained gaze as she stared at the couple seated at the back of the restaurant.
A part of her had foolishly hoped that even after all the clues, she would still end up being wrong. But that part of her had died little by little, starting from the moment she had seen Damen walk inside the restaurant and straight to where a beautiful Alina waited for him at one of the tables.
When Damen stood up and acted as if he was about to reach for Alina, Mairi’s head whipped away. She didn’t think she could survive it if she saw Damen touching another woman. Meeting Drake’s gaze through the rearview mirror, she whispered, “I’ve seen enough.”
Instead of telling the cab driver to resume driving, Drake turned his head to study the couple inside the restaurant. Something didn’t add up here. If he had to bet his life on it, he would have bet that Damen Leventis was in love with Mairi and would rather kill himself than hurt his wife again.
But if that was the case, why all the secrecy? And why meet Alina Kokinos?
“I’ve sworn to myself never to interfere between the two of you, Mairi, but don’t you think you should ask Leventis about this first?”
Ask Damen?
Oh, how she had always risked asking Damen Leventis, had always been foolish enough to give him the benefit of the doubt.
She remembered the first time she had learned about Alina Kokinos’ presence in his life. The memory burned vividly in her mind, pain shredding her heart as she remembered Damen capturing her wrist when she attempted to touch his face. She had asked him what was wrong. She had asked because even though she had a sick feeling in her stomach that something was wrong, she had goddamn asked him because she wanted him to prove her wrong.
Damen? What’s wrong?
What exactly do you think we are now, Mairi?
Are you worried about the labels? We don’t have to be girlfriend or boyfriend. We can just be...an item.
An item...that will eventually lead to marriage?
Eventually, yes.
But how can that be when I am still engaged to the Kokinos heiress?
Mairi squeezed her eyes shut, but more unwanted memories flooded her mind. She remembered, God how she remembered, the pain still raw, the time she had goddamn asked Damen when he wanted to throw her out of his house.
I won’t believe you until I hear it from—-
Get out of this house. Is that clear enough for you?
What?
Get out of my fucking house, you gold-digging bitch!
Damen, what are you—-
What I am is a fucking fool to think you loved me.
Mairi covered her face with her hands, needing the world to be dark so that no one would see her as she made the choice to be weak.
She had asked Damen.
So many goddamn times.
But this time, she couldn’t afford to ask him, knowing if she did, she might not be strong enough to stay strong for her baby.