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Chapter 7
NIGHT HAD ALREADY FALLEN, he was in the thick of things in his part-time job at an I.T. firm, and yet Leon still couldn’t forget what he had seen this afternoon.
Intending to go after the professor and apologize for teasing her too much, Leon had come to a sudden stop when he burst past the back doors and found Mairi running towards her husband.
Even if Mairi had not been there, Leon wouldn’t have any problem recognizing the other man. As someone who intended to make his first fortune in the stock market, he would have been a supreme idiot not to know Damen Leventis by face.
Although a lot of hype had been made about Greek billionaires, most of the ones Leon had met were typically old, balding, and ugly as hell. It was just unfortunate Mairi’s husband happened to be the opposite, and it annoyed the shit out of him the way the billionaire didn’t seem to care whatever people thought about him in a suit and a floral baby carrier.
It had Leon grudgingly acknowledging how fucking cool that was of the billionaire.
He had been about to walk away, deciding to give the professor much-needed privacy, when the billionaire’s eyes suddenly met his. Leon had met it unflinchingly.
He had never backed down, and he wasn’t going to start now, regardless of the other man’s billions. He also didn’t make any effort to conceal his hostility, but even so, Leventis’ face remained impassive.
Which was why now, upon answering a call on his office phone from an unidentified number, Leon heard the other person on the line drawl in a bland voice, “This is Damen Leventis.”
Shit, Leon thought, disconcerted. So this was how billionaires operated.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, sir?” Leon asked mockingly.
Fucking punk.Damen refused to be baited into losing his temper. “I’d like to keep this as brief as possible. To start with, my wife knows nothing about this call and I prefer for it to stay that way.”
“Scared she’ll get mad you’re being over-possessive?” Leon taunted.
“Secondly, she also hasn’t made any mention of you. But I’ve pretty good instincts, so I did my own homework.”
“Which means you probably know I’m on scholarship, broke, and with a family to feed back in Milan.”
“I also know your employer’s impressed by your intelligence, diligence, and knack for the market.”
Leon scowled. “If that’s some kind of dig—-”
“Not at all, Mr. Arlotta. I only want to be clear. I knoweverythingthere is to know about you.”
He bristled. “You don’t know a fucking thing—-”
“Anytime I choose, I can bring the roof down on your head and you won’t recover. We both know you’re going far. You have a bright future ahead of you. But you can’t afford any single misstep right now, and if I choose so, a misstep will be an understatement of how I can turn your world upside down.” The billionaire paused. “Is that clear to you?”
His jaw clenched, but his voice was flat and unimpressed as Leon said, “Get to your fucking point.”
“My wife has told me explicitly she wants to solve whatever’s bothering her right now. And because I love and trust her, I respect her decision. I won’t do anything.” Damen Leventis’ voice hardened. “If you think you have a chance to make my wife fall for you, that’s your choice. Whatever you do, just make sure you don’t fucking make her sad or cry in any way. Do that, andI will bring you down.Do you understand?”
“What I understand is that you may be more insecure than you’re letting on if you have to threaten—-”