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“Mairi?”
The voice was familiar, and she looked up, her jaw dropping when she saw Ioniko Vlahos standing before her, a slight smile playing on his lips. He looked as gorgeous and sophisticated as ever, stunningly fashionable in a way her own extremely conservative Greek billionaire couldn’t be and preferred not to be.
“H-hi.” She stammered the word out even as she wondered in a panic what he was doing here. Oh my God, what if people started putting one and one together and realize that—-
“Relax,” Ioniko said calmly as he seated himself opposite her. “I have my security team on watch. No one will even be able to open their Twitter accounts without my security team knowing.”
Mairi blinked. “Is that really possible?”
He shrugged, saying simply, “If you have enough money, yes.”
And of course he had enough money, being a Greek billionaire himself.
But still...
Her discomfort communicated itself to Ioniko, and never able to stand seeing Mairi less than happy, he asked gently, “Are you worried about what Damen would think?”
“It’s not that...” She stopped when she saw Ioniko pulling out his phone and dialing a number.
Seeing her confused look, he said, “I’m calling Leventis.”
She gaped. “What—-why—-no!”
But it was apparently too late as Ioniko spoke. “Yes, it’s me, Ioniko. I am here with your lovely woman. I’m sure you know where she is. Oh, she’s safe with me.”
He paused.
Mairi could imagine Damen succinctly cursing him and winced at the image.
Ioniko spoke again. “And yet, I am the one with her, not you. But by all means, come here and get your woman. I will keep her company while you are not by her side.” He ended the call.
“Ioniko!” She was badly tempted to laugh and cry at the same time, incredulous at the way he had baited Damen on the phone. But when he winked at her, she couldn’t help giggling.
“You’re evil,” Mairi told him.
“He must be reminded now and then not to take you for granted.”
She protested right away, “He doesn’t take me for granted.”
Ioniko simply shrugged.
Looking at him, she had a feeling that this was no chance meeting. Also, she was in a public library. It was not exactly the kind of venue where Greek billionaires typically hung out.
“Mairi, you figured out I am here for a reason, yes?”
She nodded. There was a sick feeling in her stomach, and she wondered why that was so. Ioniko Vlahos would never hurt her. She was as sure of that as she was sure of her own name. But somehow, she felt nervous and she started playing with her pen, trying to keep herself calm.
“Mairi, I heard some troubling news.”
“Oh?” She tried to sound surprised and not terrified, but her voice broke at the end.
“A handful of my acquaintances informed me that you have been sending applications to every school in the city—-” He paused, trying to figure out how to say the rest. But there was no way to get around it and with a pained expression on his face, Ioniko continued, “—-and that every application has been rejected.”
She gripped her pen hard, her knuckles turning white. The words were humiliating and she couldn’t meet Ioniko’s gaze as she asked in a low, shamed whisper, “Does Damen know?”
“You know what they say, Mairi. The people concerned are often the last to know, and in this case that person is Leventis.”
Relief had her trembling. “Thank God.”
Ioniko was disbelieving. “Then he truly does not know?”
“I don’t want him to know,” she said fiercely. “I read Greek as well as you do, Ioniko. I know what the papers say. I don’t need people laughing at him for another reason. They already think he’s crazy for choosing me over Alina Kokinos, and now they’re going to pity Damen if they find out that no school in the country wants to hire me.” A thought occurred to her, and her horrified gaze flew to Ioniko. “If you’ve heard about this, does it mean that the media will pick up on it soon?”
“If you continue doing it—-”
Mairi quickly shook her head, almost giddy as she said, “Then I’m safe.” Giving him a hesitant smile, she said, “I’ve already found a job.”
The words came as a surprise to Ioniko. He did not think there would be a soul in Greece brave enough to go against the Kokinos and Esther Leventis combined. Of course, he had planned to do just that by helping Mairi, but then again, he had more power than most people.
“Who hired you?”
“It’s an online job. Not teaching, I’m afraid, but copywriting, which is close enough.”
As she told him more about her work, Ioniko became enraged, snapping, “That is not a job. It’s slavery.”
“It’s a good and decent job, and right now it’s all I care about.”
He shook his head. “For God’s sake, if that’s the only job you can get, come work for me instead!”
