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"No, you weren't." She gazed at him with eyes that were merry and wise at the same time. "You were looking at me like you regretted ever having anything to do with me."
Acheron's lips tightened. Their affair hadn't even lasted a month, and it had nearly ruined her life. He had seen how the other women - cruel, jealous bitches, the lot of them - had deliberately shunned her, and he had been fit to kill when he realized how the men had started leering openly at Millie, cracking vulgar jokes at her expense -
And it was all because she had made the mistake of thinking she was in love with him,Acheron thought bitterly.
Millie had no problems reading into Acheron's silence, and she let out the tiniest of sighs. "For the last time - there is nothing for you to feel guilty about." He had broken her heart, yes, but he had also more than made up for it. She had asked him for a promotion, which they both knew she had damn well deserved, and he had given it to her. She had asked him to sack the man she had been working for - the jerk had thought she was an easy lay just because she had been caught with Acheron's dick in her mouth - and he had done that, too, labor disputes and potentially harmful conflicts of interest be damned.
He had been willing to give her anything really, almost everything except for what she had wanted the most.
"What are you doing here, anyway? I've never known you to use one of the public elevators." When she saw him hesitate, everything suddenly became so clear it was almost as if she was meant to know...
Millie's lips parted in surprise. "You're seeing someone - and she's working for you.Isn't she?" The slight clenching of Acheron's jaw was all she needed to see. Shewasright, and equally obvious was how uncomfortable the billionaire was at having to discuss the matter with her in any way.
Because he was a gentleman, Millie thought. Acheron Simonides might have been born in the gutters and lived more than half his life with the poorest dregs of Athens, but it still didn't change the truth. He had more honor and nobility in him than most men who had been born with silver spoons in their mouths could ever earn in several lifetimes.
And yet...
"I hope she's smart enough to know how lucky she is to have you." Her voice was light, but it also carried the faintest trace of wistful envy. She might have gotten over Acheron a long time ago, but it didn't make Millie any less vulnerable to having fanciful daydreams about having someone tall, dark, and handsome sweep her off her feet.
"Actually..." An odd smile had begun to play on Acheron's slips. "I rather think she feels the opposite."
"Because you like playing up to the media's worst expectations?" Millie's voice was unintentionally tart. Whoever Acheron's new woman was, if she was that big of an idiot to buy the media's lies about her boss, then she didn't deserve the Greek billionaire at all.
"I couldn't care less of what strangers think of me—-"
"Andthat'sthe reason why all those women are quick to say the most outlandish stuff about you," Millie retorted. "They get paid to lie, and you're letting them get away with it." She shot him an admonishing glance, saying, "I get that you grew up in a world where showing weakness would get you killed, but that part of your life is over. Don't you think it's time to show the world who you really are—-"
"And that's what exactly?" His voice was of cool amusement. "An ex-mob boss foolishly trying to turn over a new leaf as the long-lost heir of a Greek empire?"
Her lips curved, but her next words, albeit spoken lightly, held a meaningful undertone. "A man who gives a damn about the women he takes to bed, more than most men would."
Five
ATEXT FROM WICKHAMcame at five in the afternoon, containing detailed instructions on how to make it to the CEO's private apartment without detection. Apparently, all of the public elevators actually had access to the penthouse. It just required someone from the inside to perform technology's equivalent toOpen Sesame, and the doors would magically unlock like Alibaba's cave.
How very much like a fairytale,Pippi grumbled to herself, only the real-life version was more like a nightmare. In the Arabian Tales at least, the sultan had made no attempt to hide the number of princesses that had made their way to his tent. With Acheron Simonides, however - didn't this secret elevator access mean he had every chance to carry any number of affairs with his female employees...without anyone being the wiser?
