Page 39 of Below Deck Billionaire
Tiffany gaped. ‘What? That’s terrible.’
Theo shrugged. ‘Welcome to my life.’ Sucking in a breath, he continued the saga. ‘So I took off after them, running around the front of the club, and managed to snag one of them and punch him in the face, which was… witnessed by a cop and I got arrested.’
‘Oh Jesus.’ She hadn’t expected that development.
He chuckled at her startled reply, which seemed to relax him, the hands jammed in his pockets now sliding loosely onto the wheel. ‘Only briefly,’ he assured. ‘But, yeah, it was a hell of a night. My parents were furious.’
‘I’m assuming hers were as well.’
‘Not as furious as they were when pictures of me and their daughter arriving at a club and me in the back alley of that club two hours later having sex with an older woman were plastered side by side over every Greek news site in existence.’
‘Oof.’ Tiffany winced.
‘But the worst part was how distraught Angelika was about it all. It was awful.’ He grimaced as if the memory of that moment was still seared on his brain. ‘She turned up at the door with one of the tabloids in her hands, yelling and bawling her eyes out. She accused me of making a fool of her and disrespecting her, which was fair enough. The pictures of us entering the club did make it look like we were together and that I was cheating on her right under her nose. She also said that I’d betrayed her and our families’ wishes about us marrying and… how could I because she was in love with me and… I was a callous, unfeeling bastard.’
Tiffany winced some more. She could only imagine how that must have gone down.
‘I swear to you,’ he said, meeting her gaze, his blue eyes piercing her as if looking for her understanding, ‘I had no idea she felt that way.’
For what it was worth, Tiffany believed him. Sincerity oozed from his eyes and tinged his voice along with a faint note of disbelief. Like he still struggled with what had happened.
‘I thought she’d thought this whole running joke between our families was just that. But apparently, she’d been secretly in love with me for years and because I never told her straight out that I didn’t love her and that I didn’t want to marry her, she’d thought I’d come around, and she’d been waiting for me to make the first move.’
Yeesh. Poor Theo. Even if he had missed the signs, which he may well have – teenage boys weren’t known for their emotional intelligence – it was obvious he’d been blindsided and felt dreadful.
‘If I’d known how she felt I would have had conversations with her earlier. I would never have let it get to that point. She was one of my oldest, dearest friends and to see her hurt her like that and know I was responsible?’ He shuddered. ‘That was really awful.’
It hit Tiffany then, the realisation dawning suddenly. ‘That’s why you’re a strict one-and-done guy.’ It made perfect sense now.
‘Yup.’ He nodded. ‘I made up my mind after that terrible confrontation that I would never again be unclear with a woman. And so that none of them would ever be in any doubt, I decided I’d never offer anything more than a one-night thing.’
For a moment, Tiffany wondered how different Theo’s life might be without that early negative experience. If he’d been allowed to do stupid things like most people growing into adulthood, screwing up without it being splashed all over the papers and becoming monumentally consequential for him and Angelika and their families.
Would he be wifed up by now like all the other male role models in his family? Have his own kids running around? A funny little pang pinged Tiffany’s chest. She actually felt a little sorry for the guy.
‘What happened then?’
‘She went into a bit of a depression for a while, delayed going to the US. Everyone, including me, was really worried. And it caused a huge rift between the families for a few years.’
‘But not any more?’
‘No. Angelika slowly came out of her funk with some help and things got back on an even keel for her and for us. We started to talk about how it all evolved and she was really sorry about not being honest with me about her feelings, and I apologised for my complete cluelessness.’ He gave a harsh half laugh. ‘And we became friends again, which also healed the split between our parents. She went to the US and kicked hotel ass and met a guy who she married, and they have three children and she’s very happy.’
‘All’s well that ends well, huh?’
‘Right.’ He shot her a rueful smile.
‘So…’ Tiffany frowned, still obviously missing a piece. ‘How does Dimitri fit into all of this? Or does he take it upon himself to hold grudges on behalf of women generally?’
Theo gave her a thin smile. ‘Dimitri is Angelika’s godfather. And with no children of their own, he absolutely dotes on her. And even though everyone else, including her actual father, who I was pretty sure was going to kill me when those photos came out, has moved on, Dimitri has not. Good friends with my grandfather or not, he’s not willing to let bygones be bygones.’
Okay. Tiffany got it now. Sort of. Even if it did sound like she was caught in the middle of a Greek tragedy. Still didn’t mean she was on board with what Theo was proposing. ‘Thank you for that info, it all makes a little more sense now. But…’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t think us pretending to be engaged is the way to go with Dimitri. It seems like he values honesty, and you’re suggesting a deception.’
‘It’s not ideal and I’m not okay with deceiving him,’ Theo admitted. ‘But trust me, I know old Greek men, and this one in particular, and I’m trying to give him a way to save face as well. He’s proud and the one person offering him a lifeline to stop his company from going under is the one he denounced as being an untrustworthy playboy at every opportunity all those years ago. But if I’m a better man, he gets to be gracious and forgive and be the bigger person and magnanimously accept what is essentially a hand out.’
Tiffany blinked. Gah. She had not expected the man to be so persuasive over this preposterous idea. But hell if he wasn’t winning her over. As if sensing her wavering, Theo pressed his advantage. ‘Please, it’s only two days.’
‘And three nights.’ Of utter temptation.
