Forever and Ever, My Greek Billionaire(26)

Stavros turned towards her, the polite look on his face a barrier in itself that made the words she had to say die down. “Yes, Ms. Raleigh?”

“Shall I call Ms. Somerset for you? She’s only been there for a few minutes to view the royal albums—”

His lips twisted. “Of course.”

She became more desperate. “Mr. Manolis, I—”

“You don’t need to make excuses for her. She is what she is, and I don’t...hate her for it.”

And she could see it in his eyes that he didn’t.

His hatred was gone, leaving behind...indifference.

When Stavros walked away again, she didn’t bother stopping him. She broke into a run, or at least she tried to, ignoring the pain as much as she could. When she reached Willem’s suite, she threw the door open and said abruptly, “I’ve done a bad thing.”

The two occupants in the room raised their heads in unison.

“A bad thing, you?” Willow scoffed.

Her head bobbed several times. “I did, and you may hate me forever for it.” She bowed profusely. “I accept whatever punishment—”

Cutting Serenity off, Willow shook her head with a laugh. “Will you stop that?” She looked at her employer curiously, asking, “Did you train her to be a samurai or something?”

“No, Ms. Somerset. It was entirely voluntarily on her part.”

“Will you please be serious?”

This time, Willem and Willow were both stunned into silence.

“Stavros Manolis is back and I lied to him. I made it seem like you’ve been here in Mr. de Konigh’s suite for a while and you’ve been intimate.” Throughout her speech, Serenity struggled with the desire to cover her ears and prevent her from hearing her own voice.

“Oh.” Willow blinked. “Why did you do that?”

“I wanted to punish him, Ms. Somerset,” she admitted shamefully. “He had been cruel to you, and I thought he deserved to feel a little bit of your pain.”

“I see.” Willow grinned. “Did he get jealous?” She was already imagining it, and she kind of liked the thought, vindictive or not. He deserved it, after making her jealous for a real reason—

The look on Serenity’s face made her smile fade. “Serenity?”

“He was jealous, but Ms. Somerset, he didn’t hate you for it.”

Willow whitened.





****





When Stavros unlocked the door to his room, darkness greeted him, which he expected. What he did not expect, however, was a figure rising from the bed, along with a throaty and slurred voice saying, “Welcome back, darling.”

Ingrid.

He switched the lights open, and his worst fears were confirmed. It was Ingrid. She was naked again and too drunk to get out of his room without causing a scandal. God. Damn. It.

Ingrid was trying to walk towards him, but she had already fallen thrice, and with another mental curse, he stalked across the room, picked her up, and dumped the woman on his bed. “Stay there.”

“Oooooh. Of course.” She started pleasuring herself.

Stavros was completely unaffected by the sight. “How did you get in?”

Too drunk to think of lying, Ingrid sang out the truth. “A cousin. Bribed. Keys.”

First thing in the morning, that cousin would be fired, once he told Willem about the breach.

Someone knocked on his door, and Ingrid’s fingers on her sex stopped moving.

Not wanting to risk having her come out and be seen naked, he said, “Ignore it. Keep doing what you’re doing.”

Ingrid fell back against the bed. “Yes, Master.” She giggled.

Swearing in five different languages, Stavros made his way back to the door. He opened it—

“Willow.” Something in his chest shifted at the sight of her, pale and breathing hard, as if she had run all the way to his room on her deathbed. It was not a good vision to have, and he asked abruptly, “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” He hoped she would say yes, whether it was a lie or not. It would be a lame excuse for her presence in Willem’s suite, but he would take it.

She shook her head, feeling faint at his concern. He was concerned about her. She repeated the words to herself. That was something, right? That was not indifference. Wanting to clear things up as quickly as she could, she started, “Willem—”

Stavros’ face didn’t change.

Oh God, was he indifferent?

Did he not...hate her anymore?

The words were stuck in her throat, forcing her to swallow several times. “Stavros, I—”

But then she heard it.

That voice. The moanaholic’s voice.

It went on and on, and she looked at Stavros, waiting, begging. “Please say something.” She whispered the words out loud. Anything. Just to tell her he wasn’t fucking the Dutch shit again.