With Mairi, he was invincible.
Without Mairi, he was broken.
It was that simple.
Damen gave the receptionist a pleasant smile, murmuring, “Perhaps you would like to double-check with Mr. Athanas one last time?”
Visibly relieved at not having to handle any kind of outburst over the slight, the receptionist quickly agreed and made the call.
When he looked down at Mairi, she asked under her breath, “Do we really have to come to this party?”
“Yes.”
She grimaced at the one-word answer. “And you’re not going to say anything more than that?”
Knowing that she only asked out of worry, he stroked her cheek in silent reassurance. “I will tell you everything you want to know at home, I promise.” He was done keeping secrets from her. Well, except for that one thing, Damen thought. Uneasiness struck him, but he pushed it away. He had planned everything carefully. Mairi wouldn’t have to know about it until he was good and ready to tell her.
The two of them turned when the doors burst open, and out walked a pair of men in black, flanking each side of their employer, Esther Leventis.
Again, Mairi found herself reluctantly impressed by the woman’s sophistication and elegance. She was about the same height as Mairi, but the way she held herself so proudly made her appear a lot taller. She was really a beautiful woman. It was just too bad Esther’s beauty was only skin deep. She doubted if she’d ever understand how Esther was able to stomach fighting with her own flesh and blood this way.
Esther made sure not to look at the woman standing next to Damen. For as long as she lived, Esther thought coldly, she would never acknowledge that trollop as her son’s wife. Mairi Tanner was the worst sort of gold digger, the kind of woman who was only fit to be a whore and not a wife.
“Esther.” Damen was the first to speak, his innate courtesy making Mairi feel even prouder of him. If she had been in his shoes, she would probably have just ended up crossing herself because Esther, for all intents and purposes, seemed very much like the Devil’s advocate.
His mother, unfortunately, was not as polite. “I believe you have the wrong party, Damen. This is a private gathering, and you are only causing yourself a huge embarrassment by coming here uninvited.”
“We both know I have been invited to this party.” Damen’s tone was bland when he answered, almost bordering on bored.
It incensed Esther, making her snap, “Well, you should know that it’s inevitable you’d be crossed off the list after what you’ve done.”
“And what is it exactly that I’ve done, Mother?”
Her cheeks flushed with color at the way Damen called her ‘mother’ but Esther lifted her chin, determined not to be shamed. He had been the first one to disobey her, to forget that he was her son. She said derisively, “I’m not the one who’s been grossly negligent at work.”
But if Esther had thought she would score a reaction from Damen, she was doomed to disappointment. Her son only nodded, his tone ever pleasant as he murmured, “I’d have to agree. If anything, you have been extremely diligent at work.” He paused, and meeting his mother’s gaze straight on, he added in a soft dig that unerringly hit its mark, “Remarkably so.”
And that was when Esther realized her son had somehow gained the upper hand in their battle. She didn’t know how or why, but her instincts never failed her. She was sure Damen had somehow come up with evidence about the illegal and unethical steps that she had taken to wrest the company away from his control. And now, like the lethally ruthless entrepreneur he was notorious for being, Damen was biding his time before he went for the kill.
Damen always did like to be thorough, especially when he wanted to hurt someone.
Esther did her best to mask her fear with contempt. “You are wasting my time, Damen.” She sought to wound him at his weakest point, and of course everyone, Esther thought viciously as she glared at Mairi, knew what that was. “We have nothing of import to discuss for as long as you have that slut—”
Damen’s eyes flashed. “Enough.” His tone was incisive, authoritative, and everyone in the vicinity, from the reporters to even Esther herself, shut up, all of them unable to help responding to the unmistakable command in his voice.
“I pick my battles very carefully, Mother. I came here to see if you and Nelson Athanas could be made to see reason, but you’ve given me the answer to that already.” The cold revulsion on Damen’s face hurt more than Esther would ever admit, but when her son spoke again, his next words produced something she didn’t think a man who had lost all his wealth was capable of inspiring—
“One of us will soon be going down. One of us will lose everything, permanently. But that person will not be me. That is my promise to you, Mother.”
When he started to speak, she held her breath, fearing he’d be mad at her for saying something so silly. At the back of her mind, she remembered all the times he had chosen not to confide in her about his problems, and she had always feared it was because he thought her too stupid and unsophisticated to help him with it.
But in the end all he said was, “How did you know my mother had a nose job?”
Head lowering in shame because she now felt she had been too petty, Mairi whispered, “I typed #EstherLeventis on Twitter and saw a magazine article about it.”