Page 136 of Love Among the Ruins
Sven picked up Ioannis, handling him roughly, then took him outside.
“What’s he going to do to him?” Eleni asked, alarmed.”
“Give him a warning, if he’s lucky. I want to punch his fucking face. Kick him hard in the balls like you did before.” Dominic’s finger stroked her cheek. Anger still raged in his eyes, and she doubted that he was even aware of what he was saying. “I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight.”
“Hey, don’t worry about that now.” She was about to raise her arm and touch his face but her shoulder was hurting.
“What do you want to do?” he asked, loosely holding her hand, his fingers half intwining with hers.
She wanted to go back to the villa, get away from here. She wanted to be with Dominic and no one else, but she had come for a reason. “Should we work the room?” she whispered. “We could go outside?”
Dominic scoffed. “Neither.”
“We should stay for as long as you want. You have to—”
“I don’t care about any of that. What do you want?” he asked again.
“I want whatever you want.” She looked at him and tried to read the expression in those now darkening eyes.
“You have no idea what I want.”
Her heart missed a beat or two. Her insides turned light and fluttery. He was such a charmer. He said all the right things, looked at her as if she was the only one for him. Made her think she was Cinderella and he her prince. “I’m okay to stay here, Dominic. I’ll never have a chance to be a guest at an event like this again.”
“You want to stay here? You expect me to believe you? I’ve studied you well, Eleni and I can tell when you’re lying.”
She might have been nervous a few seconds ago, but with this man by her side, she felt invincible. “You’ve studied me as closely as one of your contracts?”
“You have no idea.”
He was so intense, she had to smile to lighten the atmosphere.
“I pay attention, Eleni, because you are worth paying attention to. You matter.”
His words vacuumed the air clean out of her lungs. This man lifted her up and made her feel special. He always had.
He showed her that she wasn’t ‘just’ a waitress. She wasn’t ‘just’ anything. She was special, and had worth, and was valued. But most of all, he made her believe that she was as precious as the air he breathed, and he needed her for his survival.
No one in her life had ever given her the right to feel valued. And now, this knight in his aviators was in her life and she was determined to cherish the short time they had together.
“How is it that you’re such a busy man, running your empire, and yet you still have time for me?”
He tapped her on the nose. “I will always make time for you.”
