Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
He had been willing to give her anything really, almost everything except for what she had wanted the most.
"What are you doing here, anyway? I've never known you to use one of the public elevators." When she saw him hesitate, everything suddenly became so clear it was almost as if she was meant to know...
Millie's lips parted in surprise. "You're seeing someone - and she's working for you. Isn't she?" The slight clenching of Acheron's jaw was all she needed to see. She was right, and equally obvious was how uncomfortable the billionaire was at having to discuss the matter with her in any way.
Because he was a gentleman, Millie thought. Acheron Simonides might have been born in the gutters and lived more than half his life with the poorest dregs of Athens, but it still didn't change the truth. He had more honor and nobility in him than most men who had been born with silver spoons in their mouths could ever earn in several lifetimes.
And yet...
"I hope she's smart enough to know how lucky she is to have you." Her voice was light, but it also carried the faintest trace of wistful envy. She might have gotten over Acheron a long time ago, but it didn't make Millie any less vulnerable to having fanciful daydreams about having someone tall, dark, and handsome sweep her off her feet.
"Actually..." An odd smile had begun to play on Acheron's slips. "I rather think she feels the opposite."
"Because you like playing up to the media's worst expectations?" Millie's voice was unintentionally tart. Whoever Acheron's new woman was, if she was that big of an idiot to buy the media's lies about her boss, then she didn't deserve the Greek billionaire at all.
"I couldn't care less of what strangers think of me—-"
"And that's the reason why all those women are quick to say the most outlandish stuff about you," Millie retorted. "They get paid to lie, and you're letting them get away with it." She shot him an admonishing glance, saying, "I get that you grew up in a world where showing weakness would get you killed, but that part of your life is over. Don't you think it's time to show the world who you really are—-"
"And that's what exactly?" His voice was of cool amusement. "An ex-mob boss foolishly trying to turn over a new leaf as the long-lost heir of a Greek empire?"
Her lips curved, but her next words, albeit spoken lightly, held a meaningful undertone. "A man who gives a damn about the women he takes to bed, more than most men would."
Five
A TEXT FROM WICKHAM came at five in the afternoon, containing detailed instructions on how to make it to the CEO's private apartment without detection. Apparently, all of the public elevators actually had access to the penthouse. It just required someone from the inside to perform technology's equivalent to Open Sesame, and the doors would magically unlock like Alibaba's cave.
How very much like a fairytale, Pippi grumbled to herself, only the real-life version was more like a nightmare. In the Arabian Tales at least, the sultan had made no attempt to hide the number of princesses that had made their way to his tent. With Acheron Simonides, however - didn't this secret elevator access mean he had every chance to carry any number of affairs with his female employees...without anyone being the wiser?
Was it possible that Millicent Longbourn wasn't the only female employee he had taken to bed?
But even if that were the case...
Why should it matter to her?
The perplexing state of her emotions had her so distracted and conflicted that Pippi ended up literally jumping in fright when, upon exiting the elevator, a deep voice came out of nowhere to murmur, "Welcome back, Ms. Jones."
Blimey!
"Mr. S-Simonides." Her voice came out a croak, the sight of him causing her heartbeat to race as if it were practicing for a marathon.
She had always been too busy to care much about boys - or men, for that matter - but now she realized it was only because none of those she met had been able to affect her the way Acheron Simonides did.
The billionaire lounged before her in a picture of effortless elegance, with the silky ebony locks of his hair still slightly wet and his sculpted frame dressed in a black, buttoned-up shirt and a pair of loose cotton slacks.
He was so blasted mesmerizing it was a struggle not to stare. He just wasn't like all the rich men she had the misfortune to meet, but neither could he be described as ordinary. He was just...unique, a man so obviously comfortable in his own skin that his powerful presence was made more magnetic by a seamless blend of sophistication and grittiness.
He was all that and more, which only meant one thing.