Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
"You're aware of who I am."
Maika nearly jumped in her seat when he suddenly spoke. He, as in Mykos Ravensworth himself, whose Greek accent was to die for.
Stop thinking about stupid things, Maika!
"Correct?"
Maika managed a nod.
"Then you're aware of the relationship between your father and mine?"
She nodded again, albeit jerkily this time.
"And you are aware of his recent passing?"
Maika nodded the third time. The less said, the safer. Thank goodness for all those movies and TV shows she had watched over the years.
"And the debts he incurred?"
Maika swallowed hard. "I..." Was this some kind of trick question?
"It's alright, Ms. Nolan," Orion assured her. "You have nothing to be afraid of."
She wished she could believe him, but what if they were lying?
"Your father was very loyal to the family, Ms. Nolan. We would like to repay the favor by providing assistance." Orion stepped forward and placed a brown envelope in her hands. "Inside is a list of all the documents pertaining to the loans taken out under your father's name without his knowledge."
It was Maika's first time to hear all this. "Are you saying...he was scammed?"
"Yes, unfortunately so. Based on our investigation, they didn't target your father for any reason connected to his history with our family. Your father was simply...unlucky. His data was leaked, and the scammers didn't hesitate to make use of it."
"And the...the money he owes?"
"It totals $240,000."
Maika's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry," she heard herself say unevenly, "did you just say—"
Orion repeated the amount, and it was exactly what she heard.
She nearly fell out of her chair.
"I'm afraid it gets worse."
Seriously? It wasn't enough that she was suddenly saddled with a debt amounting to almost a quarter million dollars? What could be worse—
"The scammers also borrowed money from loan sharks. The kind that cuts off fingers when debtors don't pay in time."
Okay, that wasn't just worse but the worst!
"Mr. Ravensworth, however, can make that all go away."
Her gaze flew to the billionaire's, just in time to see Mykos Ravensworth nod at Orion, and Orion nodded back, and wait, what did that mean? Was that a mafia signal for—wait! Where was Orion going? Was he—was he going to leave her alone with his boss?
She jumped to her feet when she saw that Orion had already reached for the doorknob. She knew she was being silly. She knew it was mathematically safer for her to be in a room with just one man than two. But...this was Mykos Ravensworth, and the stories that followed him like a shadow weren't just stories. They were the truth stained in blood, and so—
Nooooooo!
The door had already closed behind Orion by the time she took a step.
But that was all she managed.
A step.
Because Maika...was clumsy as always, and the next thing she knew, she was already falling and falling and somehow, an arm had curved around her waist, and she found herself falling straight into the lap of the very man she had been desperate to avoid.
"Are you alright?"
He had her so, so nervous that she somehow ended up nodding and shaking her head at the same time while her mind was in a daze, and her heart, well, it seemed ready to leap out of her chest at any moment.
This...this...was the closest she had ever been to a man, and—
Oh!
Fingers cupped her chin, and she didn't know if it was because she was terrified or excited, but she couldn't find it in herself to refuse Mykos as he slowly turned her to face him.
"Would you like me to help you, matia mou?"
She had no idea what he had just called her, but one thing Maika was sure of was how impossible it was for his help to come without a price.
His golden eyes took hers captive, and try as she might, she just couldn't read anything in his gaze. Weren't their eyes the windows to their soul? Why then did his possess neither light nor darkness, but simply...
"Do you want to know," he asked slowly, in a voice that seemed to be lower and huskier, "what I want in return?"
Fear clawed her throat, and the part of her that was causing Maika to tremble wanted to say no. But there was another part of her. Another part of her that wanted something else, something she didn't yet know—
Somehow, it was that part of Maika that won by whispering, "Yes."
And that was when she finally saw something.
His eyes.
They finally came alive, his golden eyes glittering in a way that was almost feral...in its possessiveness.
"I want you to become my wife."
Maika could hardly believe her ears. "W-Why?"
"It's not for you to know right now."
"W-Will any woman do—"
"No."
He said it so easily, but also coldly, and she just didn't know what to make of that.
"And if I...if I refuse?"
"Then you'll lose what little you have."
This was her life on the line, but it was just so, so hard to think straight with Maika still seated on his lap, his arm around her waist, and—