A Fling with the Greek Billionaire (20 page)

Nik’s phone started to ring.

Before he could answer it, she asked quietly, “Are you ever going to forgive me?”
 

Incredulity flashed in his eyes. “Are you fucking kidding me? You want to ask that
now
?”

“
When
can I ask it?” she burst out, “when you told me that I can’t ever speak of the past—”

“Well, now’s definitely the fucking worst time,” Nik gritted back. “My fiancée’s in the hospital—” He broke off, his struggle for restraint evident as he swung his gaze away from her.

She wanted to say more. She wanted him to say more. But instead she saw Nik reaching for his phone and answering it.

Her stomach curled, and she felt it, that sick, painful sense of certainty, of knowing her heart
would
crash.

“Miranda.” Nik’s tone was incredibly gentle. “You shouldn’t be on the phone, darling.” He had never talked to her like that. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. I want you to rest now, and when you wake up, I’ll be by your side.”

When he ended the call, Daria warned shakily, “If you go through that door, I won’t ever take you back.”

Nik didn’t answer.

As he walked past her, Daria panicked. “I mean it!” Her heart froze when Nik stilled just as he reached the doorway, his hand on the knob.

Without looking back, Nik said icily, “You’ve forgotten something apparently. Threats like that won’t work when you’re just a cunt.”

He stepped out before she could answer, but when he was outside her door, Nik was unable to move. Seconds passed before he realized dully that he was still here because he wanted…

He wanted to make sure he hadn’t hurt her too much.

As soon as the truth hit him, Nik forced himself to walk away.

Goddamn. Beautiful. Liar.

Why couldn’t he just fucking forget her?

Chapter Nine

Miranda’s suite in the hospital was luxurious by most standards, with cream-colored walls and paneled wood flooring. Unfortunately, the monitors and IV stationed next to the bed, connected to Miranda’s body through various tubes, ruined the sight.

Danny let him in and left right after with a nod, giving them privacy that Nik wasn’t certain he wanted.

A silent, pale-faced Miranda watched him approach. Taking the seat next to her bed, he said quietly, “I came here as soon as I heard.”

“I told Danny he shouldn’t have called you.” Miranda’s voice was weak.

“He was right not to heed you.” Nik shook his head. “Why did you try to take your life?”

Miranda looked away. “Because I couldn’t take it anymore.”

He stiffened. “Miranda—” He had a feeling he knew what she wasn’t going to say, and he didn’t want to hear it.

Miranda’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you, Nik. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I do.” She mustered the strength and courage to reach for Nik’s hand and wanted to cry in relief when he didn’t let go. “You always knew, didn’t you?”

Nik didn’t answer, his handsome face expressionless.

A painful laugh spilled past her lips. “You don’t have to pretend,” she whispered. “I tried to deny it for a long time, but the more I saw you with
her,
the harder it became to lie to myself.” She took a deep breath. “But you see, I couldn’t stop myself from hoping. I knew that because you felt guilty for not feeling a thing for me, you let me get away with so much. You gave me so many things, and I took it all because I thought…” A self-mocking smile touched her lips. “I thought, eventually, you’d learn to love me.
But you didn’t.
”

Whatever hopes she had remaining then were crushed when Nik carefully pulled his hand away. He looked at her, his eyes still not as bright as they were when he was gazing at Daria. Those eyes already gave Miranda her answer, but it still hurt when she heard him say flatly, “I didn’t. I can’t.”

She shook her head wildly. “But you fell in love with her.”

The truth in Miranda’s words fell on his brain like acid, but he didn’t allow himself to answer. Why bother when they both knew that it was something neither of them wanted to hear?

“You can’t lie to me,” Miranda cried out. “I’ve known you for a long time, and even if you don’t want to admit it, loving you has made me understand you more than you think I do, and I know – I just had to see your face, and I knew. You loved her!”

Next to her bed, the monitors started beeping.

Nik stood up. “I can see I’m only agitating—” He broke off as the door opened, worried nurses filing in, Danny following behind them.

“Just tell me please,” she begged before the nurses could make Nik leave. “If you care for me the slightest bit, please tell me, how can you love her knowing the kind of person she is? She fucked them for money. You told me yourself, Nik. She wasn’t poor like I was. She didn’t
not
have a choice like me. How can you love her and not me?”

One of the nurses reached Nik. “Sir, I must ask you to leave.”

Nodding, Nik didn’t look back at Miranda as he turned away, didn’t let the sound of her sobs stop him from leaving.

Danny suddenly blocked his way. “You can’t leave her like this!”

“Your friend is better off without me.”

Danny was enraged at the way Nik’s voice was devoid of expression. How could he bear to leave when Miranda was so obviously suffering?

“So you’re going to leave, just like that? You’re going back to your mistress like someone didn’t try to kill herself over you?” The desire to avenge Miranda’s heartbreak consuming him, Danny heard himself say, “Go back to her then. Just know that bitch’s the reason behind this. Miranda went to her, you know.” All lies, but Danny couldn’t stop himself. All he knew was that Nik and Daria didn’t deserve to be happy while Miranda suffered. “Miranda told her she wanted you back because she was so depressed, and that bitch laughed at her face. She told her she could go to hell because she already has you following her like a dog!”

****

“This is such a bad idea, I don’t even know which word to use to describe how
bad
it is.”

Ignoring Yanna’s unusual lack of optimism, Daria continued to drag her smallest suitcase out of the closet. “He needs to learn his lesson,” she said stubbornly. “This is the way to do it.”

“If you really wanted to talk to him last night, why didn’t you just call him and not be passive-aggressive with your text?” The iPad, propped next to the TV on the console, showed Alyx rolling her eyes as she spoke.

“Because.” Daria pressed down on the handle to extend its length.

“Well, that explains a lot,” Alyx said sarcastically.

“Shut up.” Daria debated whether or not to put actual clothes inside the suitcase but decided against it. This was all a farce, anyway. Turning to face her friends again, she said determinedly, “This is going to work.”

“No, it’s not,” her friends protested in unison.

“I’m not hearing you.”

“From what you’ve told us about Nik, I’m afraid he’s just going to be furious that you’re playing this kind of game with him,” Yanna revealed worriedly.

“It’s going to work,” Daria insisted. “I just don’t think Miranda’s the type to kill herself out of depression, okay? I think it’s her way to keeping him with her. If you guys ever meet her, I know you’ll think the same thing – she’s too strong to kill herself. This is all just a ploy—”

“Fine,” Alyx interrupted. “Let’s say you’re right about the other girl. So what? That gives you a reason to do something just as elaborate to deceive Nik into thinking you’re leaving—”

“I have to do something, okay?” Daria tried not to sound desperate even though that was how she really felt. “I can’t lose him again. I love him—”

“Then tell him that—” Yanna’s voice broke off at Daria’s unexpectedly bitter laugh.

“He won’t believe me even if I say that. He thinks I’m a liar and a slut.”

Alyx said gently, “So another lie’s going to convince him he’s wrong?”
 

She didn’t have an answer to that, and a second later she didn’t have the time either. Her doorbell had rung. Nik was here.

****

After his visit at the hospital last night, Nik had deliberately stayed away from Daria and instead worked the entire night until exhaustion gave way to sleep.

Today had not been much different, only the need to see Daria had become impossible to resist, a burning desire that flamed constantly in the back of his mind.

He had only taken one look at the feverish hope in Miranda’s eyes to know there was no way he could continue with the engagement.
 

She was a good woman, a strong one. Marriage to her would have been a smart decision – but only if she didn’t love him and, worse, didn’t think that he could eventually love her back.

The knowledge that he would have to break Miranda’s heart again left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he had hoped that Daria would at least provide him with a few hours of mindless bliss.
 

That was the plan, at least, but the look on Daria’s beautiful face told him he had another fight in his hands. A fight that, in his opinion, he didn’t fucking deserve coming from a liar like her.

“You’re going out?” he asked shortly. She looked like it, with her hair combed back in a sleek, high ponytail, her face perfectly made up, and her black long-sleeved dress hugging every curve of her body.

Daria lifted her chin even as both her mind and heart warned her against what she was about to do.
It’s stupid,
her mind protested.
You’re going to hurt herself,
her heart cried out.

“I’m leaving.” She stepped to the side to dramatically reveal the empty suitcase behind her. “You chose to ignore me last night—”

“Give me a break,” Nik said coldly. “You really think I’d have prioritized you over what happened?”

She could feel her heart starting to stutter and crash at the pain of his words, but she managed to keep her chin up as she answered fiercely, “I expected you to at least
text
me back—”

Nik couldn’t believe he was having this type of conversation with Daria. “You do remember you’re just my mistress, don’t you? That you’re a
cunt
I pay to fuck?” Someone gasped behind him, and he swore, remembering too late that at this time of the day, the hallway was crowded with people coming in and out of the other offices and units in Daria’s floor.

Daria whitened at the realization that other people had heard Nik refer to her in such a way. “I hate you.” But what she hated more was that she didn’t really mean it. She was mad, she was hurt, but how could she hate someone she loved? She loved him so much she even understood why he kept being cruel to her.

She loved him, but she had to make him realize now that he had to choose eventually.

Nik’s jaw hardened at the way Daria paled. He knew he owed her an apology, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it. He
was
sorry, but if he said the words, he had a feeling he might as well admit that he loved her – still loved her even though he knew she was…she was everything Miranda had said she was.

Someone who didn’t have any damn excuse to whore herself except for her love for money.

Nik was stunned when Daria suddenly pushed past him, suitcase in hand. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Daria whirled around to face him. “What do you think?” she demanded. “
I’m leaving you.
”
So beg
, she thought desperately.
Now’s the time to realize that you can’t bear for me to leave. Now’s the time to tell me you’re sorry, you forgive me, you love me.

But Nik didn’t do any of those things. A grim look settled on his face instead and he said icily, “I’m tired, Daria. Enough with this. Come back here and we’ll talk.”
 

Now was a good time to be smart for once. Nik was offering her a gracious way to be done with her charade.
 

But she couldn’t.

She wanted a grand gesture from him – God’s gift to her, the only man she had loved. Just once in her life, she wanted to know how it felt to be treated like she was more than just a body men obsessed over.

She wanted to know how it was to have a man love her and be proud of it
, Daria thought.