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“Are you all right?” Mairi asked in concern, noticing the sudden pallor in the younger man’s face.
Leon nodded curtly, not trusting himself to speak for the meantime.
Nervously, Mairi led Leon inside. Trying to hide her nervousness, she began talking, telling him about the house. “That’s the door to the library, that one leads to the housekeeper’s quarters, and the nanny’s...”
She paused at the door of the dining room. “I also thought we should have dinner first?”
“My pleasure,” Leon murmured. “But does that mean you’ll be feeding me, Ms. Yay?”
Mairi reddened. “Absolutely not.” She saw Leon looking at the CCTV and finally realized where the suggestive words were coming from. “Mr. Arlotta.”
“Leon, or I can’t promise to be a good boy.”
“Leon—-”
“Say it again, Ms. Yay.”
She shook her head in exasperation, but her lips twitched all the same. “You’re persistent. I’ll definitely give you that.”
“It’s not my only redeeming factor, Ms. Yay.” He rattled his cuffs. “And I could show you that if you let me go.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to say stuff like that.” She pointed to the camera. “He’s not watching us.”
Leon only raised a brow.
“It’s the truth, but it’s up to you to believe me or not. He trusts me, you see,” she said gently.
Again, that look in her eyes, Leon thought grimly. His lips tightened. Suddenly, he was tired. And furious. Why had he thought he was different from his father? His father had fallen for a rich married woman and had his heart broken by it. Why the fuck had he thought it would be different for him?
He looked around him. A house worth millions of dollars, with furniture probably worth the same amount or even more. This was the kind of lifestyle Damen Leventis could give Mairi. He had been a fucking fool to think she would choose him and his unstable future over all of this.
“Let’s just cut to the chase,” he said abruptly.
In the act of walking towards her seat at the table, Mairi stilled at the words and slowly turned to face Leon. Even when he was handcuffed and in jeans, even though his appearance made him stand out in his luxurious surroundings, there was nothing pitiful about him. He was still as imposing as ever, and his attractive Italian looks only served to enhance it.
He wasn’t just attractive. Now that she allowed herself to look at him, really look at him, she realized that he wasn’t just that. He was beautiful, in the way Damen was beautiful, too. He was beautiful, enough to mesmerize her yesterday, enough to make her lower her guard and give him a chance to kiss her.
But it just wasn’t that.
And she finally realized it.
In a short span of time, she had recognized in him a kindred spirit. Someone she was just born to get along with like a house on fire. It was in the way he had helped her when she had tripped, in the way he had made his classmates welcome her.
In just one day, he had made her care for him. It probably wouldn’t make Damen happy, but it was the truth. It wouldn’t have probably made Leon happy either since the way she cared wasn’t exactly what he wanted. Her affection towards him would always be that of a teacher, a mentor.
The realization had her relaxing and ignoring his words, she asked with a smile, “Shall we have a meal first?”
The smile Mairi sent him was beautiful, and despite himself, Leon couldn’t help reacting to it. The smile knocked him sideways, but he strove to hide it. Shrugging, he said indifferently, “If that will make you feel better.”
“It will,” she reassured him.
He gave her a suspicious glance.
Pretending not to notice, Mairi gestured towards the place prepared for him, which was at the foot of the table. When he took a seat, the cuffs were immediately removed, but they were then placed around his left ankle, chaining him to the chair.
He was grudgingly impressed. “Smart.”
“He is, quite,” Mairi said not so modestly.
The twinkle in her eyes made him frown. “Something’s changed.”
Attendants started serving them soup. After thanking them, she looked at Leon, meeting his gaze directly. “It was wrong of you to kiss me.”
The bald-faced declaration took him aback. He hadn’t expected that from her, and now he was even more convinced something had changed. “If you’re waiting for me to apologize, I won’t.”
“I know. I’m not holding my breath for it, but I just wanted to say it all the same. You were wrong, but I was also wrong for letting my guard down.”
The words made him frown. He didn’t like hearing the professor blame herself. “It’s not your fault. You’re right. I was wrong. I’m sorry I took advantage.”
Silence.
He looked up.
“Sorry,” Mairi said quickly. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I made you apologize.”
