“I’m getting impatient.”
The sound of cracking fists had Cleon mumbling hurriedly, “I saw her and I wanted to f**k her.”
Something in Damen died with those words.
This man. This bully. This sex maniac.
This ass**le had wanted to f**k Mairi when he had seen her, and in that situation this man had been the one holding all the cards and Mairi…Mairi had none.
Mairi. God, Mairi. If only he could shout her name and have it heard throughout the world – if only there was something he could do that would ensure she would hear him.
I’m so damn sorry, Mairi. I’m so damn sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.
“I asked her if she was Damen Leventis’ fiancée.”
And again, Damen knew what the answer to the question was even before Cleon said it.
No.
“She said no.”
Mairi would say no because she had not wanted anything to get back to Damen, had not wanted to cause him trouble because she loved him.
How many times, Damen wondered bleakly, had Mairi suffered for the sake of her love for him?
Cleon’s voice shook. “I swear, if she had said yes, I wouldn’t have touched her. If I had known she was your woman, Mr. Vlahos—”
Ioniko’s voice was hard as he snapped, “This is your last warning. Finish the story or it will be the last words you’ll ever say in this lifetime.”
At those words, Cleon couldn’t help it.
Not a single expression crossed Ioniko’s face as he watched the other man pee himself in fear.
Cleon started to sob like a f**king crybaby. “I told her we could come to an understanding. I saw in her eyes that she understood. She was frightened of me…”
The words made Damen’s heart crack into a thousand pieces.
If any of the gods could hear him now, let them take his life in exchange for turning back time and preventing Mairi from ever knowing that Cleon Frangos existed.
But if there was indeed a god listening to Damen, it was the god of vengeance and he struck ruthlessly, filling Damen with visions of a pale and shaking Mairi, fearful and alone, with no one to turn to for help as she found herself locked inside a room with Cleon Frangos.
“I was aroused by her fear. It made me want to f**k her even more. I couldn’t stop staring at her br**sts…”
Pure instinct had Damen taking a step towards Cleon. It didn’t matter that what Cleon was saying had already taken place. Something in him wanted to protect Mairi – even if it was only the imaginary Mairi in his mind, the one who could not cry out because she was so damn afraid.
“She told me she did not want it, but I told her I could make her want it. I unzipped my pants and showed her my dick…”
In Damen’s mind, the story took on a life of its own, and in cruel irony, his imagination was able to stay a step ahead of Cleon’s story, painfully accurate in its ability to foresee what Mairi would have done. Because he knew her that well. Because he loved her that much. Because he had always known, had always f**king known deep inside himself that Mairi loved him so much she would do anything for him. Anything.
In his mind, he saw Mairi making the decision to run.
“She bolted from her seat and ran…”
He saw Mairi dashing to the door…
“I caught her just as she reached the door…”
Mairi would try to open it…
“She managed to open it, but I kept her from leaving. I started rubbing my dick against her butt. She was trapped between me and the door…”
There would be a crazed look of fear in Mairi’s eyes, a second where she would feel nothing but fear and desperation because she was trapped. But then the sanity would return, her instinctive courage. Mairi would not cry for help.
“She didn’t plead for me to stop.”
She would think of a way to get out. She would not give up easily.
“I was waiting for her to knee me. I was ready for that. But she didn’t. I forced her on her knees.”
And she would have a plan. Because his Mairi was not just beautiful and loving, she was smart and courageous, too, and she would not have let anyone hurt her just like that.
“She punched my dick.” Cleon’s face screwed up in remembered pain and fury, something in him still hating Mairi Tanner for that one act even though he had been the one to force himself on her. Mairi had not been the only girl to try fighting off his advances, but Mairi had been the first to succeed.
Cleon was about to say more, but suddenly his blindfold was torn off. The light blinded him for a moment and he groaned as he blinked rapidly. When his vision cleared, what Cleon saw made him wish he was still blindfolded and left blissfully unaware of who he had been repeating his story for.
Damen Leventis.
It was Damen Leventis in the flesh, and the look on the billionaire’s face told Cleon his days were numbered, that he would have been better off making a confession to the police.
He started to babble, desperate to save his life. “I swear, Mr. Leventis, if I had known she was—”
“Quiet.”
That one word was as sharp and cold as a killer’s blade.
Cleon wanted to pee again.
Damen said tightly, “I will not hurt you right now. I will let you go. I will let you heal. I will let you lull yourself into thinking I’ve forgotten you or that you’re untouchable because I know you’re that stupid. And I don’t mind that you’re that stupid. When the day comes that you are at your strongest, that you are at your most arrogant, I will come back for you. And that is when you will pay.”
Damen
~ Four ~
The ringing of the phone tore Damen out of his most terrifying memories, and for a moment he was disoriented, his senses on alert, his instincts bordering on murderous. He was ready to kill anyone who dared to even consider hurting Mairi.
The phone continued to ring, and sanity kicked in a moment later.
He swiftly crossed the room to pick up the phone.
“Damen Leventis?” the voice on the other end of the line asked hesitantly.
Damen did his best to make his voice even, but memories that had not completely faded made his voice tight with guilt and self-hatred as he asked, “Is this Mandy?”
“Yes.” A moment later, unable to stop herself, Mandy demanded, “Has something bad happened to Mairi? She hasn’t been answering her phone the past few days.”
Hope died with those words, Mandy unknowingly answering the questions he had yet to ask. Damen said hollowly, “I had called hoping you would be able to tell me where she is.”