Her
Don't Worry, Baby by Rachel Fannan
D IANA TOOK HER TIME walking.
Miami was just as sunny as she remembered it, a city she had enjoyed very much but had never quite felt like home. And it had been the same with Athens , Diana thought absently. Even with all the years she had spent in Greece's capital, her soul had always felt lost and unsettled, and it was only when she realized her purpose that everything had clicked.
Home was where she could be of most help, and for some time, that had been what Helder Meer was to her.
Now...things had somehow changed.
A helpless smile broke over her lips when she saw the staff all lined up in front of Damen's building, half of them reception while the other half was security.
A man stepped up as soon as she reached the foot of the steps, bowing deferentially as he greeted her. "Good afternoon, Ms. Leventis. Your brother's expecting you."
smile widened into a grin. "Of course he is." And it was just as she expected. "Did he have to cancel any meetings to make it back here?"
"Aaaaah..."
"I'll take that as a yes," Diana concluded ruefully. "Anyway, thanks for the, err, grand welcome, and I'll see myself up."
A worried expression flitted over the man's face. "We were instructed to escort you—-"
She shook her head at the offer, saying, "It's fine. I can handle going up the elevator on my own, I promise." And because this was something she had done for ages, she beat a hasty retreat after her words, leaving them no chance to make their case.
Damen was already waiting for her when she made it to the penthouse floor, hands clasped behind his back. Tall, dark, and handsome, he was one of the richest men in the world, and - if his rivals were to be believed - he was said to be one of the most ruthless as well.
Whether that was true or not, however, didn't really matter.
For Diana, he was just Damen, the big brother who had always cherished and protected her.
And right now, Diana thought with a gulp, she needed him more than ever.
Clearing her throat, she tested a tentative smile at him, saying simply, "Hey."
His handsome face immediately softened, and she breathed a sigh of relief as his arms opened. She ran straight to her brother's embrace, and her eyes closed as his hard arms closed around her. Damen always made her feel safe, and no matter how old she got, she didn't think that would ever change.
"So..." It had been minutes since Diana had arrived at his office, and Damen had given her as much time as he could to settle down, having seen the wan expression on her face.
"I know you're not surprised that I've come," Diana blurted out.
"Your security saw it fit to inform me as soon as you booked your flight, yes."
"And because I've come here instead of your home..."
"It's something you'd rather Mairi doesn't know about."
Diana gave him a small nod.
"You know you can tell me anything," Damen said gently.
"I know." voice was subdued. "It's just hard. "
And so it was , Damen thought, seeing the way his sister had started wringing her hands on her lap. It wasn't like Diana at all to show her anxiety; with a mother like Esther, who delighted in exploiting people's weaknesses, both of them had learned early on to use their composure as a shield.
Gazing at her contemplatively, he decided it was time to give Diana a little nudge, just to see if it would be enough to have her open up. "How are your studies?"
When he saw Diana visibly relax at his words, he knew that he had done the right thing, just as he knew that school was not why she had come running home.
"I'm doing a lot better than I personally expected," Diana admitted. "Better than anyone would probably expect, considering my reasons for going there."
"You went there because it was what you felt you needed to do." Damen's voice was firm. "I see nothing wrong with that."
Diana wrinkled her nose, thinking she should've expected it of Damen to not see how eccentric her choices had been. "Honestly, I'm just glad you didn't laugh at me when I told you a Netflix show gave me purpose. Not all big brothers would have been open-minded as you."
"That's because not all little sisters are saints like mine." The words would've normally made her laugh, but instead a stricken look crossed her face.
"I'm not..." voice faltered. "I'm not a saint."
"Diana..." He stopped speaking when she shook her head, and when he noticed how her fingers had started digging into her palms, his chest clenched with the urge to protect her. She was and would always be his little sister, and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her.
"Talk to me."
"I don't know how to start."
"Then...is it about de Graaf?"
head shot up.
"You didn't think I wouldn't have my people check him out, did you?"
heart slammed against her chest. "A-And?"
Diana's tone perplexed him. "He checked out, of course." But far from assuring her, the words seemed to make her uneasy. It was almost as if she was expecting him to forbid her from seeing the man, which of course didn't make any sense at all.
"What's wrong?" Damen asked bluntly. He didn't think he couldn't have chosen any better than Matthijs de Graaf. The man was worth hundreds of millions, a Nobel Prize winner, and the decent sort all around. The only thing the professor had against him was the fact that de Graaf had yet to break things off with his long-term mistress. But since Damen's sources had ascertained it had been months since the professor had sex with the other woman, Damen was willing to overlook it... for now.
"I think...I'm in love with him."
"I suspected as much." But when this didn't ease her tension, he asked, "Are you worried that you can't make him love you back? Is that what this whole thing's about?" Diana slowly shook her head, and his puzzlement grew. "You need to be more specific if you want me to help—-"
Taking a deep breath, she cut him off, saying in a rush, "I came here because I thought I needed to let you know that by loving him...if you c-can't accept him...I can't leave him...I might have to say g-goodbye—-" voice broke.
Damen stiffened. "What the hell are you saying?"
"D-Damen." And her voice caught once more.
"Diana, dammit, you're worrying me—-"
"He has HIV."
Damen went white.
And suddenly, she could no longer stop talking, the words tumbling out one after another even as her tears started to fall. Crying was all she seemed to do lately, but even as she hated herself for it, she just couldn't stop.
I didn't know at the start, and he kept trying to push me away because of it.
He's never touched me, and I wondered about it before, but now I know why.
I don't want to put any of you at risk, and that's why I wanted to tell you first.
Because I know you can make the tough decisions.
Tell me to stay away so that Mairi and Nala are safe.
Diana's words hit him like one blow after another, and all he could do was take every fucking thing in numb silence. A part of him was still in denial, wanting to rage against the fates. He was sorry - of course he was damn sorry that life had turned out the way it had for de Graaf, but couldn't any other woman fall in love with him? Couldn't it be anyone else but Diana?
Now, he understood why Diana had been looking at him the way she had been doing so all this time. From the very start, she had come here, prepared for him to cut ties with her, and she would have accepted it. Maybe she had expected it even. God knew, the way Esther had brought her up, Diana had foolishly come to believe that she would never be worthy of people's love.
When she finally finished talking, he could only look at her for one long moment, wondering how it was that he had missed it. Sometime between the past and the present, Diana had grown from being the little girl he knew and turned into the woman she was now.
Someone who loved like he did, loved so damn fiercely that she had the strength and courage to throw everything away, just to be with the man she had entrusted her heart with.
Looking at her, he said quietly, "I don't think you came here to ask for my permission for anything."
Diana couldn't stop crying, couldn't do anything but just look at him and wish...oh God, she wished...she wished...
"Because it seems to me that you've already made up your mind."
The tears fell faster, and her heart started breaking.
"And that you're just here to tell us we have a new member to welcome to our family."
She stared at him in shock.
And then she threw herself in his arms. "Damen. Damen. Damen." She started sobbing against his chest. She had so many things to say, but in the end, it was just his name that she could utter, just like how it had been before, and she had been a little girl asking for her big brother's help.
And he had always been there for her.
Always .
"Sssh. I know." Damen kissed the top of her head. "And I'm proud of you, baby." His voice turned rough with emotion. "You've got this. We've got this."