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She had expected the offer but was still touched by it. Even so, Mairi said softly, “You know I can’t accept your offer.”
He countered aggressively, “You can secretly work for me online then.”
She looked paler and weaker than she should be and yet when she spoke, it was in a quiet voice, not sounding proud, humble, or self-pitying. “Ioniko, thank you for the offer, but you know I can’t accept any kind of help from you. It would be disloyal to Damen.” She spoke the words like they were a fact – like her love for Damen Leventis was a fact of life, and in that moment she had never seem so beautiful in Ioniko’s eyes.
“Is everything worth this, Mairi?” His voice became savage. “If he truly loves you, shouldn’t he know about how you are suffering now?”
When she didn’t answer, he wanted to shake her. What the fuck had Damen Leventis done to deserve her? And what the fuck could he do to make Mairi realize Ioniko would be able to take better care of her?
When Ioniko didn’t answer, Mairi couldn’t help but look at him, fearing that she had angered him in some way. But instead of disapproval or anger, there was another emotion on his face. It was something she didn’t want to label, and it was intense enough to have her blinking back unexpected tears.
“Ioniko...” Her voice wavered.
The fragile note in Mairi’s name caused a wave of helpless rage to wash over him. He was Ioniko fucking Vlahos, the head of his own billion-dollar empire, and yet fate had rendered him powerless to help the one woman who had affected him in a way that no other woman had been able to.
He still was not sure if he was truly in love with her, but he was close to it – and that was enough.
“If you do not want me to fight for you then you must look strong in front of me, Mairi Tanner,” Ioniko said quietly. “You must look strong and happy that you have indeed chosen Damen Leventis over me. That you do not regret loving Damen Leventis.” His voice hardened. “Because if you continue looking the way you look now, you tempt me to go back on my word and try to steal you away.”
She wanted to look away. Oh God, she felt blessed and cursed at the same time. She was no one – nothing extraordinary about her that could have explained why she had the loyalty of someone like Ioniko. But she did have it, and she owed it to him to not to make things harder.
Lifting her chin, she met his gaze and said with all the conviction she could muster, “I’ll always love Damen, Ioniko. The life we share may not always be perfect, but he will always be the reason I breathe and I know...” She had to stop speaking, needing time to keep her tears in check. “I know you are one of the reasons why I’m by his side and for that I’m eternally grateful. I’ll always treasure your friendship, Ioniko, and I’ll always be humbled by it.”
Her words had a bittersweet sound. They were not what he wanted to hear from Mairi, and he knew she knew it too. She would never be his. He knew that and yet, it did not seem to make any difference to his heart.
It continued to beat, and one of the reasons it beat was because of her.
He started to speak, but stopped.
She, too, had been about to speak but stopped as well.
Both of them became aware almost simultaneously of a presence that shattered the privacy of their world.
Their heads turned, also in almost-perfect synchrony, towards the library’s entrance.
Mairi’s breath caught.
Damen.
He appeared like an avenging angel, dressed in black and white, his stride powerful and fierce, and an almost battle-like expression on his chiseled face. He did not make a single sound and yet there was something about his presence now, authority and virility leashed in one dangerously beautiful form, causing everyone around him to look up.
Chairs were scraped back, heads looked up, and jaws dropped. Even the librarian was so flustered she had dropped the books she was holding as he came close, apparently too larger-than-life for her to handle.
Damen stopped, and everyone – including Mairi – held their breath.
He bent down and, in a graceful move, scooped up all the books and placed it on the table nearest to the librarian. “These are too heavy for you.” He murmured the words, but the library had become so silent the air carried his voice throughout the place.
The librarian nodded, a dumbstruck expression on her face. Her gaze as well as everyone else’s followed Damen’s progress as he walked past her.
Mairi’s heart beat faster and faster as he came nearer and nearer. She loved him so much, and every day she found herself loving him even more. In her eyes, he became more beautiful and dearer to her every day, and with each step he took towards her, she felt fainter and fainter.
