She pressed her ear to the door.
Esther released a scoffing laugh. “You are seriously reprimanding me for the way I treated your slut?”
A thousand ways to counter her words raced in Damen’s mind. It never failed to amaze and disgust him the way Esther could act like a self-righteous bitch when everyone in Greek society knew the truth about her.
But at the end of it all, Esther was his mother and honor and duty both demanded that he treated her with respect, or at the very least civility. However, although he could not and would not publicly disavow her, that did not mean he would follow the same rule in private.
He was the sole reason their fortune was still intact even after the scandal Esther and his father were embroiled in. It would not do her any good to forget that.
Esther began to feel unnerved at the way her son continued to stare at her so coldly. Why oh why couldn’t he be as biddable and as easily manipulated as his sister? Her life would have been so much more different if he was.
When Damen still did not say anything, she said defensively, “You cannot blame me for thinking she’s your slut! She’s here, alone in a man’s home and wearing your clothes. What do you think the Kokinis would say if the paparazzi manage to take a photo of the two of you and it’s printed for the world to see?”
“I will say this one last time, Mother. You are not to call or think of her as a slut. If you do, then you will regret the consequences.”
Fury made her grip the handles of her designer handbag tightly, the only thing she could do to keep herself from giving Damen a much deserved slap the way she had been able to when he was young. But of course she could not do that anymore. It wasn’t just because he was a grown man. Damen also happened to control the purse strings, and in her world, that man was god.
“Why did you come here?”
“The Kokinis want to meet tonight instead of next week.”
“No.”
Esther swallowed. “I have already accepted the invitation and told them you are eager to meet with them as well.” She tried not to flinch when Damen cursed. “It will be the height of discourtesy if you cancel at such late notice---”
Damen laughed bitterly. “You dare lecture me on manners?”
Esther colored at the pointed barb. Pretending she did not hear his words, she continued, “The Kokinis want to set a date for the wedding and I agree. The girl has waited long enough – she would be a laughingstock if you keep her dangling.”
“She is only twenty.”
“But you have been her betrothed since she was fifteen.”
Lesson 8
To catch a Greek billionaire, you must learn how to forgive.
She said: Because a Greek billionaire does not always a smart man make.
He said: You are too harsh. Haven’t you heard of challenges making victories all the sweeter?
She said: Just consider all Greek billionaires’ wives diabetic then.
“What happened, Mair?” Mandy asked quietly as they settled at their usual table in the faculty cafeteria for lunch.
She shook her head, keeping her smile cheerful. “I had my fling with the Greek billionaire, that’s all.”
That was definitely not all, Velvet thought. Mairi looked so fragile right now she was seriously scared her friend would shatter at the mere mention of that person’s name.
“Maybe you should take the day off and say you’re sick so you can get some rest,” Mandy suggested.
Velvet nodded. “You already look terrible anyway.” Mandy kicked her under the table and she quickly corrected herself, “I mean, you’ve been working hard lately so maybe the stress has finally caught up with you and…” She trailed off lamely. Bedside manners were not her forte.
Mairi tried to up her cheer factor by another notch. “Seriously guys, I’m okay.” And she was – or she would be. She had to be. She needed to move on because last night made it so painfully clear.
Damen Leventis was not the man she was supposed to live happily ever after with.
The rest of the day proceeded in a tediously slow manner, with every second ticking by a slow kind of torture. She did her best to keep busy, but there were only so many triple checks on students’ book reports she could do before the words started to swim before her eyes.
She tried to forget, too, but that one was even more difficult. It was as if she was fated to hear the words over and over. Damen Leventis had been betrothed for years – and he had taken Mairi’s virginity even when he already belonged to someone else.
Not a single Greek billionaire in her favorite stories was that much of a bastard.
Her phone buzzed and she fumbled in her haste to get to it, her silly heart still stupidly yearning to hear from Damen. Maybe…maybe he had realized he was wrong, had gotten out of the betrothal, and now he wanted her back?
She opened the message.
Oh drat. It was just a reminder that her payment for this month’s usage was due.
Mairi wanted to throw her phone away after reading it.
Afternoon skies darkened into the evening, but she still didn’t hear from him.
“Thank you for taking me out again, but this time you are going to let me pay or I swear I won’t hang out with you anymore.” It had been almost two weeks since she had made Her Greatest Mistake and Mairi was only starting to move on. Mandy and Velvet helped a lot, as did her work and more recently, she even had Ioniko Vlahos helping to keep her occupied.
They were enjoying a meal in his yacht again – the only “safe” and “private” place Ioniko could vouch for as Mairi was adamant about not being seen in public fraternizing with a school patron. It was a beautiful yacht, sleek and white on the outside, luxurious and decorated in plush purple on the inside.
Today, they had decided to enjoy coffee on the deck, lounging in the sun chairs while enjoying the cool breeze fanning their skins.
Ioniko studied the woman next to him intently. She was even lovelier and a hell of a lot sexier than he remembered. She also still had the most amazing br**sts, rounded and pert without being too heavy. Even though Mairi liked to dress in loose tops, they were simply too abundant for their size to be properly hidden.
Mairi coughed.
Ioniko grinned as he met her gaze, knowing why she had called his attention.
“You can look at my face, you know,” she said dryly.
“Ditto,” he answered.
“Huh?”
“You look at me, but you do not really see me.”
She tried to make sense of it but couldn’t. “Umm…huh?”