The Billionaire‘s Secret Desire(42)

Lily ducked her head and rushed by them unable to keep

her tears from falling this time. Nancy saw her rush through the

office and got up to follow her.

―Lily?‖

―I‘ve got to go.‖ She said stepping into the elevator.

―What‘s wrong?‖ Nancy said with genuine concern seeing

the woman‘s tear streaked face.

―It‘s nothing. Tell Max I‘m fine. Thanks for being so nice

to me Nancy.‖ She said as the doors closed.



After the first couple of weeks of classes Lily began to feel

unwell. She had trouble sleeping, she felt nauseous, but never to

the point of losing her breakfast, and she lost her appetite. Is this

what a broken heart felt like? She thought. Luke had noticed her

fatigue and became worried. Try as she might, she couldn‘t help

but look depressed. It was getting hard forcing a smile when her

104

The Billionaire‘s Secret Desire



brother was around and he mentioned something about her not

looking as cheerful as she usually was.

One day she came out of her building after classes and a

glorious white Limousine was parked on the curb, and leaning

against the car was Nikos wearing a navy suit and tie like he‘d

just come from a business meeting. He straightened when he

saw her and gave her a devastating smile. It may have worked on

her if she didn‘t know Max, but regardless, it was refreshing to

see a friendly face.

―Bella!‖ he called outstretching his arms as she

approached him.

She couldn‘t help but smile, as he cupped her shoulders

and leaned down to kiss her cheek. ―What are you doing here?‖

―I came with Demetrius to finish off business with your

fiancé.‖ He said glancing at her empty finger, ―or—am I speaking

out of turn?‖

―We—well, I mean—―

―Say no more. Join me for dinner.‖ He could see the

subject made her uncomfortable and Nikos wasn‘t one to make a

woman feel in such a way. He loved women. Lily, however, was

in a completely different category and he‘d come to have

affection for her like he would his little sister, and she looked sad.

Obviously the engagement was off and he felt the need to cheer

her up.

―I really shouldn‘t.‖ she said looking around at the

curious gazes from the other students.

―No one needs to know.‖ He said, ―We‘ll be discreet.‖

She cocked a brow suddenly feeling a little like her old

self, ―Max told me to be careful around you.‖

―I‘ll behave Bella, I promise,‖ he said making a sign of the

cross causing her to laugh.

Gosh that felt so good! ―I don‘t know if I should believe

you.‖

105

Lietha Wards

He tilted his head at her making himself look even more

handsome, ―I can see you need some cheering up. I promise,

that I won‘t do anything inappropriate.‖ Besides, thought Nikos,

the ring may have been gone but for some reason he still knew

Lily was off limits. He knew something was wrong the last day

they were in Greece. Max was unusually cool to her and she

looked taken back by it. He wasn‘t sure what had happened

between them, but whatever it was, it was just as much as a

surprise to her as it was to Nikos. He knew he didn‘t mistake the

looks that Max had been bestowing on Lily. No man could

mistake that kind of affection even if they tried. Finally to his

relief she nodded.

―Just this one time Nikos. My brother is still very

protective.‖ She said giving him a warning look followed by a

smile. In the past she always included Max in that sentence, but

he didn‘t seem to care about her as much as he used to. The fact

that he hadn‘t even tried to contact her in the past few weeks

since she left just confirmed that. Although she guess she could

pick up the phone and call him, but she just couldn‘t bring

herself to do it.

―I‘ll agree to that.‖ He grinned opening the door for her.

She hesitated slightly before getting in the car.

A short distance away a man pulled out a cell phone and

made a call.

The restaurant that Nikos took Lily too was very fancy

and she felt out of place in her beige skirt and white blouse

regardless of how much he reassured her. Nikos requested a

fairly private table and slipped the maitre d something extra to

get his request.

Once seated Nikos asked for a bottle of expensive wine

and Lily couldn‘t help but ask how he knew where to find her.

―I have my ways.‖ He said with a knowing smile as the

waiter came over with the wine and filled their glasses. Nikos

106

The Billionaire‘s Secret Desire



waited until the man left before he continued, ―I actually asked

your brother which college you attended. The rest was easy

enough.‖

―But there are quite a few buildings Nikos,‖ she said