The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire (6 page)

With each thrust, her sobs became louder, her body became tenser, and her heart swelled and swelled because each thrust told her a new truth.

Damen was jealous. Damen wanted her to be his. Damen
cared
.

Someone knocked on the main door.

Mairi tensed.

Uncaring of the intruder, Damen chose that exact time for his fingers to join his cock, teasing her clit into stimulating her orgasm as he shoved his cock into Mairi’s heat as hard as he could.

She screamed and he groaned with her, their come mixing together, his seed so abundant it overflowed, leaking out of her pussy and dripping down her legs.

“Oh Lord.” The woman outside – a different one, probably the manager, Mairi thought dazedly – was clearly embarrassed. Mairi was, too, but one look at Damen’s face told her that he was not.
 

She tried to get out of his arms quickly, but he didn’t let her, instead taking his time to wipe her dry and re-arrange her clothes.

Damen was the first one to step outside.
 

The manager recognized him in a flash. “Mr. Leventis!”

He acknowledged it with a cool nod. “I need you to go out and redirect everyone. Tell them this bathroom isn’t functional. And after, I’d appreciate it if you
completely
forget about this.” He raised a brow.

“Understood, sir,” the manager answered nervously.
 

When the woman left, he opened the door and, taking Mairi’s hand, he guided her out. “Mairi?”

She had listened to Damen’s exchange with the restaurant manager and had known that the other person assumed it was Alina Kokinos standing inside the cubicle. The knowledge had hurt, but when she looked into Damen’s eyes, the pain eased.

In his eyes, she saw that he was worried about her, that he cared about her, that he needed her.

The twists don’t matter,
she whispered silently to herself. In the end, if they loved each other, they would have their happy ending. She had to believe that.

When Mairi still didn’t speak, fear and tension had his body stiffening. He asked tautly, “Mairi?”

Swallowing, she made herself answer. “I’m okay. Thank you for…protecting my identity.”

He relaxed after a beat, seeing that she was not mad at him. Just looking at her made him want to touch her – not sexually, but just to keep them connected.

His heart clenched. Was this how love felt? The real kind?

Mairi’s lips parted in wonder as she watched Damen slowly lift one hand up and caress her cheek. She wanted to kiss his fingers, and after a moment’s hesitation, she turned her face to the side and did it.

He stilled, the kiss startling him. More than that, it felt like a healing touch, which was strange since he had not even known he was…wounded.

Closing his eyes, with her lips pressed against his palm, her fingers stroking his cheek, Damen could almost make himself believe that Mairi Tanner was indeed in love with him.

Chapter Seven

To trust a Greek billionaire, one must accept that their breed also has a tendency to go through denial.

He said: Breed, eh? You make us sound like dogs who have a hard time accepting who their master is.

She said: Now that you’ve said it…but really, really gorgeous-looking dogs, though.
 

“You look pleased with yourself.” His friend, Stavros Manolis, remarked in a low aside as they sat next to each other on the front row, which was reserved for VIP guests of the celebrity tennis match both their companies were sponsoring.

Everywhere around them, people were in a frenzy, unable to bear the sheer excitement and joy of seeing two gorgeous and eligible Greek billionaires in one place.

After shaking each other’s hands and exchanging grins, Damen answered simply, “Life has been good, yes.”

Stavros smirked. “Come on, Damen. I’ve known you for years so there’s no point with this bullshit. Which lovely woman has caught your eye?”

The words stunned him, but not because Stavros had easily guessed it was a woman making him feel this way. “Why do you think you need to ask?”

“Because, my friend, I have always known you do not feel a thing for Alina Kokinos.”

When Damen did not answer, Stavros raised a brow. In a low murmur, “Everyone knows it is not a love match, Damen – even Alina. I doubt she expects you to be faithful to her.”

Damen knew Stavros was probably right, but it did not sit well with him. The world might not expect him to be faithful to Alina, but the world would recognize her as his wife –
not
Mairi.

“Stavros,” he said slowly, “Why aren’t you still married?”

Stavros tried to laugh the question off. “What is this? Pre-wedding jitters?”

Damen forced a smile. “Perhaps.”

They did not speak for a while after that, the match finally commencing with Greece’s national anthem playing. The usual ceremonies followed suit, and both of them fell into their roles with ease, alternating between charm and aloofness. The crowds had to be charmed, but lines had to be drawn, too. It was a tedious routine, but it was necessary because there were very few people that billionaires like them could truly trust.

Almost an hour had passed by the time they completed their duties and yet, he had not forgotten his conversation with his friend. He looked at Stavros to ask him again, but this time he didn’t have to.

Stavros answered quietly, “It is because I believe I may have met the right girl and I was forced to let her go.”

Looking at his friend, Damen knew that Stavros had lost himself in the past.
 

When Stavros spoke again, however, it was for Damen’s sake. “By asking me this, Damen, I think you may have found the right girl, too.”

“Since I am presently engaged,” he said with forced lightness, “I certainly hope so.”

Stavros shook his head. “You know what I mean, Damen. So if you think you’ve met her – don’t fuck it up like I did.”

The words stayed on his mind even well after the celebrity match between the two popular tennis pros had ended and he and Stavros parted ways.
 

When he was with Mairi, he could not remember being any happier. But even after all this time, Damen was still unable to make himself completely believe she really was in love with him. Or, as Stavros put it, that she really was the one.

And while he could not make up his mind, how long would Mairi be willing to wait?

It was a question he didn’t want to have the answer to. It also made him think of Mairi, and suddenly all Damen wanted was to hear her voice. When she talked to him, even about the silliest of things, he was at ease.
 

Dialing her number, Damen waited for Mairi to answer the phone. She normally answered after one or two rings, but this time it took him two calls before she picked up the phone.
 

“Hello?”

He could barely understand her, the crackling noise over the line distorting her voice.

Frowning, Damen demanded, “Mairi? Where are you?”

She answered, but this time her voice was totally incomprehensible.

With a frown, he ended the call and sent her an SMS.
Where are you? What are you doing? Call me the moment you can.

Mairi:
So demanding…I love it. <3

The words made him smile, but when over half an hour had passed and she still had not called, he became edgy and tense. His mind conjured all sorts of scenarios, none of them pleasant. Dammit, if something happened to Mairi—

Gritting his teeth, Damen called the head of his security. “Get another team set up. I want them following Mairi Tanner 24/7 undercover.”

Another half hour had passed before his phone rang again. He was in his office by then, and he answered it right away, demanding, “Where the hell are you?”

“Hello to you, too,” she answered teasingly.
 

Damen was not in the mood to be teased, though. He had been pacing restlessly in his office, waiting for her call. “Answer me, Mairi.” At the back of his mind was the worry that the moment he turned his back on her, someone would make Mairi open her eyes and realize the truth. That she—

“I love you,” she said very sweetly over the phone.

His chest constricted. How could she say it so easily even though he had never returned the words?

With a sigh, he said, “I’m sorry for being an angry, grumpy jerk. I was just worried.”

“It’s okay,” Mairi said soothingly, secretly touched by his admission that he was worrying about her.

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“It’s because I’m not at my destination yet.”

“Which is…
where
?” He got a giggle as an answer, something that would normally irritate him but with Mairi it came out as adorable instead.
 

Smiling to herself, excited at how Damen would react, Mairi said, “Your home. See you there!”

Mairi ended the call.

For three seconds, he was just stunned.
 

She was on her way to his home?

The truth hit him.

Oh fuck!
 

Why now?

****

Mairi hummed to herself as she
Dougie-
danced her way to the back door exit of his apartment, which he gave her a key to. Sometimes, she was bothered by their arrangement, but whenever she was, Mairi only had to remind herself of Damen’s own words.

It was purely a business arrangement between him and Alina Kokinos, so there was nothing to be guilty about.

Sometimes, the words rang true. Other times, it didn’t.

Either way, when his words were not enough, Mairi had one last resort, made of just three words.

I love him.

She recited the words as she reached for the knob, which turned easily in her fingers, stunning Mairi. Damen was here already?

The apartment was brightly lit, making her heart jump in excitement. He really was here! He had learned that she was on his way to surprise him and so he decided to surprise her in return. How sweet was that? Didn’t that mean he loved her?

She climbed the stairs quietly, wondering if she would stumble across him first or if it would be the other way around. Tiptoeing to the first door on the second floor, Mairi opened the door slowly—

“Damen?”

The voice so shocked her that she lost control of the door, and it swung open completely. Mairi stumbled inside.

Esther Leventis gazed at her in angry shock. The older woman was the first to recover and she snapped, “Why are you here? Who let you in?”

Her first instinct was to run away and let Damen deal with the fallout. But the instinct soon passed, thankfully, and Mairi managed to stand her ground. “Good evening, Mrs. Leventis.”

“If you don’t leave this very moment, I’m going to call security!”

“I’m afraid that won’t do any good,” she said apologetically even as she winced at the evil look that Damen’s mother threw her way. “Damen himself gave me a key.”

Something had changed about the woman,
Esther realized, incensed at the way the younger girl was having such an easy time handling herself in her presence. The little upstart had grown a spine, but if she thought that was enough to put her on the same level as Esther, the slut was in for a nasty surprise.

“I’m giving you one last warning, you slut. I know who you are – I’ve done my research. If I catch one more whiff of you sniffing around my son, I’ll have you expelled from that school.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”

Chapter Eight

To trust a Greek billionaire, one must remember they communicate best through sex.

She said: You seriously want to say that?

He said: You seriously must ask?