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)
“He whispered to your fucking ear?” Damen roared.
She winced. She definitely shouldn’t have said it. Mairi started to blab. “It just happened, I never wanted it to happen, and I promise I’ll never let it happen again so please don’t divorce me, please, because I love you so much so it will be the death of me if you don’t understand that I didn’t mean it to happen. Please?”
Mairi ended the call before Damen could answer.
Damen was left staring at his phone, torn between amusement and anger. The amusement was purely because of Mairi; it was just like his wife to confess everything in one five-minute-long sentence. The anger, however, was entirely directed at someone else.
Fucking punk.
He sent Mairi a text message.
Mairi nearly dropped her phone when it vibrated in her hold.
Damen: I still love you, I still trust you, and if you do not want that student to die, I will give you only until today to “handle” the problem.
Mairi: I will, I promise.
Damen: In your bodyguards’ presence. And they won’t be undercover.
Mairi: Damen!
Damen: Today, my love. That’s all the time you have.
Chapter 9
“WHEN YOU SAID WE’D have company, Professor, I have to admit I never thought you’d be this kinky.” Leon’s voice was dry as he gestured to the handcuffs dangled in front of him by a stoic-looking man.
The gun tucked on the man’s side made his job obvious, together with the eleven others surrounding Leon. All twelve had escorted him from the moment he came knocking on the front door. Leon had a feeling they had also been asked to escort him home, just to make sure he wouldn’t sneak back to be with Mairi in private.
Mairi smiled weakly. “I’m really, really sorry, but it was the only way I could get my husband to agree to me meeting you at our home.”
“I suppose I should be thankful he wasn’t thinking of holding me at gunpoint—-” Leon’s eyes widened at the way the professor turned red. He asked incredulously, “Doesn’t he know that’s overkill?”
“He knows. I know. They know.” A sheepish smile when the bodyguards nodded in unison. “But...it’s only because he loves me that much,” she said simply. “And when I think about it that way...” She shrugged helplessly. “I can’t quite make myself mad over it.”
She might not be mad, but he was. He didn’t like seeing her this way, didn’t like seeing the way her lovely eyes softened when she talked about her Greek billionaire. It made pursuing her feel futile, and he didn’t want that.
Leon extended his wrists. Catching sight of the CCTV camera mounted in one corner, he looked straight at it and said mockingly, “If your husband is this insecure over me, well...” His lips formed a taunting smile. “However, who’s to say you won’t be the one to kiss me first, Professor?”
Mairi gasped.
The cuffs clicked in place, and Leon flinched at the sound. It reminded him of an extremely bad memory, and his jaw tightened. Mairi might think this was all a joke, but he knew it was more than that. The fucking billionaire really did know everything about him, after all.
“Are you all right?” Mairi asked in concern, noticing the sudden pallor in the younger man’s face.
Leon nodded curtly, not trusting himself to speak for the meantime.
Nervously, Mairi led Leon inside. Trying to hide her nervousness, she began talking, telling him about the house. “That’s the door to the library, that one leads to the housekeeper’s quarters, and the nanny’s...”
She paused at the door of the dining room. “I also thought we should have dinner first?”
“My pleasure,” Leon murmured. “But does that mean you’ll be feeding me, Ms. Yay?”
Mairi reddened. “Absolutely not.” She saw Leon looking at the CCTV and finally realized where the suggestive words were coming from. “Mr. Arlotta.”
“Leon, or I can’t promise to be a good boy.”
“Leon—-”
“Say it again, Ms. Yay.”
She shook her head in exasperation, but her lips twitched all the same. “You’re persistent. I’ll definitely give you that.”
“It’s not my only redeeming factor, Ms. Yay.” He rattled his cuffs. “And I could show you that if you let me go.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to say stuff like that.” She pointed to the camera. “He’s not watching us.”
Leon only raised a brow.
“It’s the truth, but it’s up to you to believe me or not. He trusts me, you see,” she said gently.
Again, that look in her eyes, Leon thought grimly. His lips tightened. Suddenly, he was tired. And furious. Why had he thought he was different from his father? His father had fallen for a rich married woman and had his heart broken by it. Why the fuck had he thought it would be different for him?
He looked around him. A house worth millions of dollars, with furniture probably worth the same amount or even more. This was the kind of lifestyle Damen Leventis could give Mairi. He had been a fucking fool to think she would choose him and his unstable future over all of this.