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Drowning in horrified embarrassment at what she had let slip, MJ slowly opened her eyes to peek at Helios’ reaction and saw a grin tug on his beautiful lips as he murmured, “You noticed?”
She lied automatically, “Nope.” But of course she did. She knew every inch of his skin very well, and he had definitely bulked up. He had been on the leaner side before, but now his muscles were more defined.
“Liar.”
The sexy teasing note in Helios’ voice made alarm bells ring inside her head. Oh no, they were definitely heading to dangerous territory if she allowed this – this thing between them – to go on. Without looking at him, she muttered, “I’ll just come back when Millie’s here.” She tried to twist away from his hold, but his grip on her shoulders remained firm.
At MJ’s words, Helios knew it was time to let MJ know of his plan. “Millie’s not coming back.” He allowed that to sink in before saying quietly, “I’m the new R.A.”
Helios was...what?
MJ’s head jerked up. “You can’t be serious,” she choked out.
This time, there was no smile on Helios’ face. He was completely serious, and his tone matched it as he said, “You said you wanted a normal life. You said you wanted a normal guy to love you – and a normal guy for you to love.”
MJ shook her head slowly. “I don’t get it...”
He gestured to the room. “This is me, being normal. I’m no longer the President of the Afxisi.”
She paled at his words, her gaze incredulous as she sought for a clue from the hard expression on Helios’ gorgeous face. Afxisi was his life. Did he really mean what he had just said?
Understanding the doubt clouding her expression, Helios said fiercely, “It was the only way for me to show you that I’m willing to give up everything for you. I mean it when I said I miss you and that I want you back. That I need you back.”
For a moment, memories of the past threatened to weigh him down, threatened to drown him with terror of being hurt again.
For a moment, he vividly remembered Herod and Odessa talking about the kind of fool he had become because of love.
But in the midst of the darkness, a spark of light flickered, and reflected on its flame was MJ’s face. A bravely smiling MJ who, after being rejected by Helios as his date, still hadn’t had a single bad thing to say about him.
She’s the kind of girl who loves her guy enough not to walk out like any sensible girl would when an asshole like you shames her in public.
The words tore the chains to his ugly past, allowing Helios to break free. When he looked at MJ, tears were running down her face, and the sight of it ravaged him. Why couldn’t he stop making her cry? What the fuck did he have to do to stop being the reason for her tears?
MJ whispered, “Why are you doing this to me, Helios?”
“Because I love you.”
“You don’t.”
“Yes. I do. And I’ll prove it to you. If you want a normal guy, I’ll be that guy for you. I’ll be whatever you want me to be, MJ, because you and me, we can be as normal as we can be, but the love we have—”
She started to protest, but he shook his head. “Yes, MJ. The lovewehave. It’s never been the normal kind of love. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, an extraordinary love, and that’s what I’m fighting for. I’ve been all kinds of a fool in the past, and my stupid mistakes made you lose faith in it. But I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll find a way to make you believe again.”
Helios cupped her face. “I’ll make you fall in love with me as a normal guy, MJ. Because you and I, we’re meant to be together. Whether I’m normal. Whether I’m the President of the Afxisi. Whether I’m fucked up. You were always meant to save me, MJ. Falling for you was the only way to make me realize what I’ve always been missing and now that I know, I won’t let it go.”
