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And no words had to be spoken.
In the background, the priest started to speak. “Dearly beloved, you have come to this place today so that the Lord may seal and strengthen your love...”
Slowly, Damen reached for Mairi’s hand.
Her fingers curled around his and tightened, and the quiet show of support and loyalty humbled Damen.
Soon, the time came for Mairi to profess her eternal love to Damen.
“Do you take Damen to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him all the days of your life?”
Fear erupted from nowhere, suffocating her, and for a moment she was lost in the most awful memories.
Esther Leventis, calling her a slut because she had slept with him even if he was promised to another woman...
Cleon Frangos, licking his lips as he unzipped his pants while telling her that they could come into an understanding...
Alina Kokinos, telling Mairi that she had been sleeping with Damen since he had thrown her out...
Mairi squeezed her eyes shut.
No.
She was going to put everything behind her now.
When she opened her eyes, Damen was gazing at her, his eyes fierce, his jaw clenched hard.
Everything inside Damen demanded that he beg for Mairi to stay with him, to marry him, and to love him. But he held the words back even if doing so almost killed him. He was not as selfish as he had thought, after all.
If she married him, the future ahead of them was anything but rosy.
He was no longer a Greek billionaire.
He was only a man who made too many mistakes, and all he could offer her was his love.
He would not keep her with him if she chose to be smart and run away from this wedding.
And so he waited.
Time passed ever so slowly. Around them were reminders of forces that were for and against them. The documents of Esther’s lawsuit against him on the bedside table, the gift from his sister and her aunts, the men who cared for Mairi enough to give her away to Damen if she so chose...
At that moment, Damen realized none of it mattered.
Whether people stood by them or not didn’t matter.
All he wanted was Mairi to be his wife, and if she said yes, then he would fight to the death to keep her safe, cherished, and loved.
“I do.”
His head jerked up, Damen unable to believe that he had really heard Mairi whisper the words.
Unshed tears shone in her eyes as she whispered again, more fiercely, “I do.”
The rest of what the priest had to say was lost in the applause that followed.
Damen pulled Mairi into his arms, and cupping her face, he took her mouth in a kiss that, for as long as it lasted, obliterated every memory of pain.
As their lips met in that one kiss sealing their union, it was as if the past had never happened, and Damen Leventis and Mairi Tanner were just two people who had always been in love with each other.