Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
His heart almost shattered at what that meant. That was why she felt so close to deaf children then. “So you built a foundation for him?”
“Yes,” she agreed tonelessly. “Because I love my half-brother that much.”
No.
How could he have gotten it so wrong?
By the time Leandro got past the painful shock of how fucking mistaken he had been, Bobby and her half-brother were out of the restaurant. “Bobby?” He ran out, his heart beating furiously. He had to make her understand that he had just been so out of his mind with jealousy that he had leapt to the wrong conclusions.
He needed to make her understand—-
Leandro skidded to a stop when he saw Bobby standing at the curb while her brother took the keys to his car from the valet.
He said hoarsely, “Bobby.”
She turned to him, and that was when Leandro saw she was holding her phone.
Bobby said dully, “I just received a message from Priscilla – your cousin. She’s been trying to call me but since she couldn’t get to me, she thought she could text me everything about what you did. She’s so very sorry, you see.”
The phone dropped from her fingers, as if Bobby was too weak to hold on to it.
And Leandro’s heart dropped with it, knowing that there was a good chance his heart wouldn’t ever recover from seeing the pain that he had caused Bobby.
Part Two
Prologue
“O Theos na ton anapafsi.”
May God rest his soul, and the hundreds of invited guests murmured them over and over to the family of the deceased. Their soft voices echoed throughout the hallowed halls of the church, their tones painfully bleak.
Tyler shifted uncomfortably on his feet and pulled on his collar. He knew he should be thankful, being one of the lucky few who had been selected to cover the first death anniversary of Greece’s most beloved public official. But if Tyler was honest, he would rather be covering the opening of the 10 millionth hotdog stand in Central Park. Memorial services depressed the hell out of him, and this one was fast proving to be one of the most depressing.
Everyone inside the church had grim looks on their faces. If he didn’t know better, he’d have assumed Orion Christopoulos had just died yesterday instead of a year ago. Had Orion Christopoulos really that been great, Tyler wondered. Since his job only required him to follow society gossip, Tyler had no idea at all about politics, much less news that had to do with governments outside America.
A shadow fell over Tyler, briefly covering the light streaming from the stained glass walls of the church’s balcony. When he looked up, Tyler did his very best not to gape.
Leandro Christopoulos.
It really was him!
Tyler nodded to his cameraman, who immediately raised his camera to his shoulder and zoomed in on the Christopoulos heir.
Tyler giddily took in his fill of the billionaire swiftly making his way to the podium. Tall, dark-haired, and olive skinned, Leandro was very much like the Greek god he was often called by his fans worldwide. Dressed entirely in black, he cut an imposing figure, his presence so magnetic and strong it felt like he was omnipotent.
There was a look of deep respect in most of the locals’ eyes as they gazed at Leandro, almost like they wanted to bow down as the new head of the Christopoulos family walked past them.
When Leandro came to stand behind the microphone, Tyler heard the women next to him inhale sharply, the sound akin to someone who, after living in darkness for so long, just had a glimpse of the sun.
In all honesty, that was how the past twelve months had felt like, Tyler thought. He was a proud member of the Leandro Christopoulos fans club and had been one of the millions heartbroken upon learning that Leandro was joining his family as they withdrew from the public while in mourning.
Not a single picture of any of them surfaced in the media, which was why the press had gone crazy when the announcement about Orion Christopoulos’ death anniversary had been released. After one long year of being starved from any semi-naked and sweaty photos of one of the world’s most infamous bikers, the public was willing to pay just about anything to catch a glimpse of him.
As Leandro spoke of his gratitude for those who had come to honor his father’s passing, Tyler was content to just stare at the billionaire. His cameraman could fill him in later about whatever it was that Leandro said. Now, all he wanted to do was daydream and pretend that he was the one girl allowed to be with Leandro during the past year.
According to those close to the family, Leandro, his younger sister, and his mother had worn black every day of their mourning as well as refrained from attending any social gathering.