Chapter Fourteen
She said: To wed a Greek billionaire is to live a life free of doubt.
He said: Are you saying you believe in me completely?
She said: Oh yes!
He said: Do you believe me when I tell you I am going to have you naked and moaning my name in ten seconds?
(Editor’s Note: It was actually just seven. I can run fast if I have to.)
A pair of oversized aviator glasses became Mairi’s shield as she placed her hand in Damen’s and allowed him to help her out of the car. Mairi had been okay with taking a cab, but Damen had insisted they use the car Stavros had loaned to them. He did not want to risk having his pregnant wife stranded if ever any kind of tussle erupted at the courtroom.
Knowing that every little thing mattered in today’s battle, Mairi had made sure that she dressed strategically for the occasion. Her dress, with its high neckline, three-fourth sleeves, and slightly loose fit ensured that she was the picture of propriety. She did not want anyone in the court to ever remember that she had once been branded as the most infamous mistress in Europe, a modern-day Mata Hari who had ensnared every Greek billionaire in the globe.
“Your hand’s too cold,” Damen noted tightly with a frown.
“It’s because I’m nervous, not dying,” she murmured under her breath as they went past the revolving doors, preceded by Drake’s intimidating-looking security team while the ex-sniper walked a few steps behind them.
When they reached the courtroom assigned to their hearing, Damen slowed to a stop before the doors.
She looked up at Damen, confused. “What is it?”
“Tell me you believe me.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I do.”
He inhaled deeply, the words giving him more strength than he expected. “I promise you, I’ll fight for our future, sweetheart. I’ll do everything I can to take back our child’s legacy.” He stopped, and as the silence lengthened between them, Damen realized that he wanted to hear Mairi say that she wouldn’t leave him…no matter what.
Words so foolish she couldn’t bear to think of them tried to rush out of her throat, but Mairi determinedly forced them down. She wanted so badly to touch Damen’s face, to tell him that she would be his strength, his shield, his everything. But she could no longer be that. She now had her baby to think of, and it was for their baby’s sake that she had to kill this love for him once and for all.
“I believe in you, Damen.” The whispered words were all she could afford. They were the truth, too, even if it also meant she was weak and silly. Stupid Mairi, never ever learning, never ever losing her faith in Damen no matter how many times he had hurt her.
Even if the absence of love in her words made Damen feel physically sick, he clung to the hope that came with Mairi’s avowal of trust. Something, he reminded himself doggedly, was always better than nothing. Something meant he could hope that one day Mairi would not need Drake Morrison to stop Damen from ever reaching her heart.
Damen opened the door and waited for Mairi to follow him.
“Damen?”
He turned.
“Do you trust me, too?”
His answer was unequivocal. “With my life.”
A tremulous smile formed on her lips. “Then will you trust me when I tell you that there’s something I have to do out here? I won’t be of much help for you inside, but here…”
Damen’s gaze flew to the swarm of reporters and photographers behind Mairi. “The media?”
She shook her head. “No. Not them exactly. I’ve thought about this for a long time, Damen. I know the day that all your peers will accept me may never come. I thought I should change myself to make it happen, but that’s just going to make things worse. I want to help you, Damen, while still being myself.” Mairi stopped with bated breath, wondering what Damen would have to say after her spontaneous speech. When no words appeared forthcoming, Mairi forced herself to meet her husband’s gaze.
When she did, that was when he spoke. “I’ve learned my lesson, Mairi. I’m no longer afraid, I’m no longer a coward. Nothing I do in this lifetime will make me worthy of having you as my wife, but I’ll do everything I can to make me deserving you anyway.” His lips twisted. “If I wasn’t so selfish, I’d tell you to aim higher. You don’t deserve a billionaire, matakia mou. You deserve a trillionaire.”
Rough sincerity underlined each word, every syllable that fell from his lips heard by the crowd because Damen had made no effort to keep his voice from being heard.
Laughter and applause erupted from the crowd at Damen’s sardonic humor, and she smiled even as she blinked furiously to keep herself from shedding tears. Coming from the man who had once said that she was not a real lady – the same man who had once accused her of being a gold digger - those words were the ultimate apology.
Knowing Damen would need to see her strong and smiling before he entered the courtroom, Mairi smiled. Smiling as widely as she could, to the point that her lips felt stretched beyond the breaking point, she said gravely, “Trillionaires are too poor for me now. Personally, I’d aim for a bazillionaire.” She pointed to the doors behind Damen. “So if you want to keep me as your super beautiful and sexy wife, go win this case and add fifty zeroes to your bank balance.”
The smile he gave her was full of arrogance. It was Damen Leventis, the Greek billionaire at his finest, and she could have wept at the sight of it.
He turned around, and just when she thought he’d be entering the courtroom without another word, he said over his shoulder, “Fifty, matakia mou? You truly wound me. A hundred would be more like it if you believe in me.”
The doors closed behind him, the sound of Mairi’s choked laughter a treasure he tucked away in his memory like a lucky charm.
Outside the courtroom, Drake stepped close to Mairi. “What do you plan to do now?”
“I’m going to talk to the press.”
Drake raised a brow. “I thought your plan had nothing to do with the media.”
“It doesn’t. But I need them to reach the people I really want to talk to. I may not ever have the power to win the support of Damen’s peers the way someone like Alina Kokinos can,” Mairi conceded painfully, “But there are other people involved in this case, and those are my people.”
****
“Thank you for all your help, Stavros,” Damen said as he shook hands with the other man, who occupied the first row bench behind Damen’s all on his own with the exception of one bodyguard seated at each end. The men were dressed completely in black, and the forbidding expressions on their faces were enough to prevent anyone from sitting next to their employer.
Stavros waited for Damen to take the seat between his lawyers before leaning forward to speak. “Congratulations on the Kokinos takedown.”
“It wasn’t me at all, to be honest. It was all Morrison’s work.”
After a beat, Stavros asked, “Restitution after what he did to you?”
“After what he did to Mairi.”
With Damen facing the crowd, he was able to spot Willow the moment she entered the courtroom. He gestured for her to come forward, and as expected, the young woman did not appear cowed in any way at the sight of Stavros’ bodyguards as she muttered “excuse me” absently before plopping down next to Stavros.
“Give me a really good show please,” Willow said right away, her gaze fixed on Damen and appearing not to notice the sophisticated and extremely handsome man seated next to her.
Damen said solemnly, “I’ll do my best.” He turned to Stavros, whose face was, also as expected, inscrutable. “Stavros, I’d like you to meet my editor, Willow Somerset. Willow, this is my good friend Stavros Manolis.”
Willow gaped, no doubt having recognized the name from his manuscript.
Stavros only lifted one elegant brow, his tone mild as he asked, “Editor?”
Damen only smiled. “You’ll know tonight what it’s for.” And then there was no time to talk, with the hearing officially starting.
Esther’s legal team sprung no surprise of any kind as they presented the same set of evidence to the judge. It was disappointing, if Damen were to be honest, because like Willow, he had hoped the hearing would be explosive. He had prepared for this battle with laser focus, but he was not the kind of man who took pleasure in crushing an enemy that was so obviously weaker it was pathetic.
When it was his lawyers’ turn to present, Damen didn’t bother looking at his mother. He might only be moved to pity, and that he did not want to feel.
“How did you get the secretary from accounting to talk?” Stavros, who was leaning on the barrier separating the spectators from the defense’s desk, asked under his breath.
“That, on the other hand, is the work of Mairi’s aunts. They told me I was better off not asking how, and so I didn’t.”
“Everything seems to be handed to you on a silver platter with this case,” Stavros commented half-jokingly.
Damen inclined his head in acknowledgment. “I didn’t want to take any chances though. The hundred mil I borrowed from you and Sallis…” He took out his iPhone from his pocket and clicked on the app showing his stock portfolio.
When Stavros saw what was on the screen of Damen’s phone, he shook his head in stunned amazement. “You took a risk on those stocks? You must have been fucking crazy.”
“It was a calculated move.”
“Everyone knows that those stocks were a wildcard—”
“Because of its previous owner.”
The meaning behind Damen’s words sunk in, and Stavros looked at his friend with renewed respect. “You bought the company and turned it around yourself. And now, you’re a billionaire, which means even if you lose this case, it wouldn’t matter.” He gestured to the courtroom. “Why all this if the outcome didn’t matter anymore?”
“The company only went public this morning.”
“Does Mairi know you’re a billionaire again?”
Damen shook his head. “No.” He had not told his wife he was a billionaire once more because everything had changed. If being a billionaire had allowed Damen and Mairi to meet, it was the opposite now. Being a billionaire meant she would no longer need to pity him. It meant freeing her, and Damen wanted to avoid that at all cost.
The judge came to a decision in just three hours, the outcome neither what Esther nor Damen expected. “Although we can now rule the evidence presenting Damen Leventis as incapable of exercising his responsibility as head of the company invalid, the evidence presenting Esther Leventis as similarly capable is insufficient.”
The judge paused, looking at the defendant and plaintiff. Seeing their unbending expressions, he sighed and continued, “Of course, I also see the impossibility of mother and son jointly managing the company. It is an unfortunate pity, but their personal relationship is outside my jurisdiction. What I can ensure, however, is the future of Leventis, which we all know can affect the thousands of individuals it employs. As such, with the additional powers duly vested in me by both sides, I have decided that sole ownership and management of the company be determined by way of voting.”
Esther started breathing again at the judge’s last words.
“When I say voting, I do not mean that only members of the board would be considered. In this case, every shareholder and employee will be considered as well.” The judge lifted his gavel and banged it down on his table. “Case dismissed.”
****
Chaos erupted in the courtroom, and Damen and his team were showered with congratulatory messages. Esther Leventis’ furious shrieks at her attorneys tempted Damen to look her way, but he forced himself not to. He was not done with her yet, but now was not the right time to make her fully realize the consequences of her actions.
When he finally managed to step out of the courtroom, he immediately searched for his wife, but he could only find Drake. “Where is Mairi?”
Instead of answering, Drake asked, “You won?”
Damen briefly explained the judge’s decision.
“Your mother’s in control of the board, which means you need the support of the rest – the employees and stockholders – to vote for you.” He paused. “A tall order, with how Esther has portrayed you to the media.”
Damen was about to tell the other man he did not need any kind of support considering his newfound wealth, but Drake was speaking again.
“You have nothing to worry about in that score.” Drake gestured towards the crowd that had formed at the other end of the hallway. “Mairi’s been campaigning for you the entire morning.”
Damen shook his head, bemused. “Excuse me?”
“Go see for yourself.”
Slowly, he walked towards the crowd. The nearer he got, the louder and faster his heart beat because Mairi’s voice was becoming clearer and clearer. Another few steps and he was close enough to see his wife surrounded by the press, a bunch of cellphones and portable microphones pressed towards her.
“I know you may think you have no stake in this, but you do. I know many of you may think this is simply a power struggle between two wealthy individuals, but it’s not. My husband isn’t working hard to reclaim his position as head of Leventis only for himself. He’s also doing it to have the power to help those unnecessarily and unfairly affected by his dispute with your current CEO.”
“Damen cares about you – his employees. People who don’t know him may think he’s ruthless. That he’s irresponsible. But if you have worked for my husband, you should know the truth. My husband is a good man, a fair employer, and he takes his obligation towards his people seriously. I know that many of you are being paid less than what Damen himself has promised because of the new internal policies in the company. Those changes are some of the reasons why Damen wants to be back in Leventis. He’s fighting for you, and I know, if we support him, we can help him and make our choice matter in this battle.”
The smile that touched Mairi’s lips after her speech took his breath away, and what she said next nearly knocked him sideways.
“I know how most people see me. I understand why people see me that way, and it’s really okay.” She bit her lip for a moment as she struggled to keep herself composed. “But what’s not okay is for your judgment of Damen Leventis to be clouded by your judgment of me. Damen Leventis is – was – and will always be the best thing to happen to your company. Don’t allow people motivated by their self-interest to take Damen away from you.”
When she paused, Damen was no longer able to keep still, no longer able to bear the distance separating him and his wife. Her impassioned words humbled him, and even when he had successfully pushed his way to the front of the crowd, Damen still couldn’t think of what to say.
Mairi froze at the unexpected sight of Damen standing before him. How long had he been there? Had he heard every embarrassing word of her testimony? She watched with wide eyes as he reached for her, and she bit her lip hard when he cupped her face with a tenderness that nearly bordered on reverence.
“Y-you won?”
His lips curved at the question, the words another subtle proof of her complete faith in him. “No.” When she looked shattered, Damen continued gravely, “Nothing I did inside made me win. It was here – what you did that will win me the case.” Gently wiping the stray tear that had leaked out one corner of her eye, he said hoarsely, “The judge decided to subject the company’s future ownership and management to a vote. He wants every vote tallied, not just the board members, but every shareholder and employee as well.”
Mairi started to cry, relief nearly sending her to her knees as she understood what her husband was saying.
“After your speech, sweetheart, who do you think would win?”
She sobbed, “Me.”
He laughed even as he pulled her close for a kiss, unable to wait for them to get to somewhere private. “I love you, my precious.”
She whispered back, “I love you, dreamboat.” More laughter mingled with their kiss as she spoke the words. Three words that were Mairi’s gift to herself because she wanted her last memory to be of Damen Leventis smiling. She would treasure this look of his forever.
And then his phone rang.
Mairi didn’t lose her smile, didn’t even feel the need to cry when Damen pulled away at the sound of it. It was fitting, after what she had decided.
Before answering Willow’s call, Damen told Mairi, “I have to take this call. I…need to talk to my attorneys, too. Is it okay if you go home first?”
“Sure.” She meant it. She no longer had any right to mind what Damen chose to do.
“Wait for me there?”
“Of course.” But this time, she lied.