Page 64 of In Love with a Cruel Billionaire

He could barely understand her, the crackling noise over the line distorting her voice.

Frowning, Damen demanded, “Mairi? Where are you?”

She answered, but this time her voice was totally incomprehensible.

With a frown, he ended the call and sent her an SMS.Where are you? What are you doing? Call me the moment you can.

Mairi:So demanding...I love it. <3

The words made him smile, but when over half an hour had passed and she still had not called, he became edgy and tense. His mind conjured all sorts of scenarios, none of them pleasant. Dammit, if something happened to Mairi—-

Gritting his teeth, Damen called the head of his security. “Get another team set up. I want them following Mairi Tanner 24/7 undercover.”

Another half hour had passed before his phone rang again. He was in his office by then, and he answered it right away, demanding, “Where the hell are you?”

“Hello to you, too,” she answered teasingly.

Damen was not in the mood to be teased, though. He had been pacing restlessly in his office, waiting for her call. “Answer me, Mairi.” At the back of his mind was the worry that the moment he turned his back on her, someone would make Mairi open her eyes and realize the truth. That she—-

“I love you,” she said very sweetly over the phone.

His chest constricted. How could she say it so easily even though he had never returned the words?

With a sigh, he said, “I’m sorry for being an angry, grumpy jerk. I was just worried.”

“It’s okay,” Mairi said soothingly, secretly touched by his admission that he was worrying about her.

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“It’s because I’m not at my destination yet.”

“Which is...where?” He got a giggle as an answer, something that would normally irritate him but with Mairi it came out as adorable instead.

Smiling to herself, excited at how Damen would react, Mairi said, “Your home. See you there!”

Mairi ended the call.

For three seconds, he was just stunned.

She was on her way to his home?

The truth hit him.

Oh fuck!

Why now?

****

MAIRI HUMMED TO HERSELFas sheDougie-danced her way to the back door exit of his apartment, which he gave her a key to. Sometimes, she was bothered by their arrangement, but whenever she was, Mairi only had to remind herself of Damen’s own words.

It was purely a business arrangement between him and Alina Kokinos, so there was nothing to be guilty about.

Sometimes, the words rang true. Other times, it didn’t.

Either way, when his words were not enough, Mairi had one last resort, made of just three words.

I love him.

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