The Art of Forgiving a Greek Billionaire by Marian Tee Read Free Book Online

discomfort on his face. All Alina could see was a grim resolve, and her heart ached at the way his love for Mairi Tanner eclipsed everything.  
    Living with him, Alina had come to discover the softer side of Damen Leventis, a side that only Mairi Tanner’s loving and gentle nature had been able to bring out, a side that Alina had never thought existed. But now she knew. And now she was in danger of falling hard for a man who was once hers but never again.
    The ride inside the cab was spent in silence. Alina did not speak, knowing by the tense set of Damen’s shoulders that he was again thinking of Mairi. Sometimes, there was a crazy part of her that wanted to beg Damen to give her a chance. To give himself a chance to see if maybe he could love her.  
    But in the end, Alina never spoke of anything that hinted of the feelings that she couldn’t stop from growing inside her. To do so would be selfish, and she did not want to add to Damen’s problems.
    When they reached the airport, Alina had to blink furiously to keep herself from crying. She was going to miss him. It was a funny thought, considering how months ago she thought she was the luckiest woman on earth to be free of Damen Leventis.
    “I have asked Stavros Manolis to look after you,” Damen told her when they reached the very last gate, one where only passengers with confirmed flight bookings could pass through.
    Alina was startled. “Stavros?” The man who was once believed to be his sister’s suitor but had been recently exposed as one of the Greek billionaires after Mairi?
    Damen nodded. “If I know my mother – and your father – I’m certain they have something planned against you, and they will push through with it the moment I leave and you are alone. Stavros will make sure that you will not be vulnerable to them.”
    “But I hardly know him,” Alina protested, her face flaming at the thought of having to inconvenience a stranger.
    He smiled. Even though they were opposite in physical appearance and demeanor, there were certain moments when Alina would poignantly remind him of his Mairi. Now was one such moment, and Damen stroked her hair as he would a younger sister. “You have nothing to worry about,” he assured her quietly. “You will be in safe hands with Stavros so please, if you do not want me to worry about you, then say you will let Stavros look after you.”
    “I’m not a child.”
    “No. You are not. But you may be made vulnerable…just like Mairi was.”
    Of course.
    Of course it all went back to Mairi, Alina thought with hurt misery. Her head bowed. She did not want Damen to see the tears she felt sparkling in her eyes, wanting to be set free. “I understand,” she whispered.
    “Good girl.”
    She should let him go now. Alina knew that, but she just couldn’t. She needed to ask him one more time. “Damen?”
    “Yes?” He already sounded distracted. His mind was firmly focused on Mairi now, Alina knew, but she did not let that stop her.  
    “Are you really sure you’ll be able to find Mairi?”
    “Yes.”
    Her head jerked up, and her eyes were wide with incredulity as she asked, “But how? You no longer have unlimited money at your disposal.”
    Damen answered simply, “Because I will not stop looking for her. It is like asking me to stop breathing, to stop remembering that I have to breathe to live.”
    “A-and if you see her?” Alina whispered. “If you see her and she does not love you anymore, what then?”
    “Do I need the air in this world to love me back for me to breathe it? I just need it to be there. The same way, I just need to know that she is…fine. That I can love her in whatever way I’m able to.” Again, his lips twisted. “I need to prove to her that I love her, Alina. It doesn’t matter if it’s only to convince her that she has the power to destroy me. I need her. I love her. Endlessly.”

~ Eight ~
     
    Miami, Florida
    Present Time
     
    Vilma Tanner’s gaze was cold as it raked