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“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 goingto pityDamen 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!”
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.