When his fingers gently touched my shoulder, I felt something strange within me. How could I feel at ease when he touched me? But then, as I looked into his face, fear returned to me.
I suspected that Khane was toying with my emotions. I had felt a moment of calm, but it vanished when Khane's face appeared menacing to me.
We were on the penthouse veranda. After startling me with his silent arrival, Khane sat beside me. From the door, I saw a servant bring a bottle of wine and two empty glasses. The servant placed them on the small table between us and left.
Khane moved, reaching for the wine bottle. I watched as he poured the drink into a glass. Then, he handed the glass to me. I hesitated to take it, but something might happen if I refused. So, I decided to accept the glass.
Khane poured himself a drink, sipping the wine from his glass, while I remained still, confused. After finishing his glass, Khane's gaze locked onto me. Our eyes met, making me uncomfortable.
"Why aren't you drinking?" Khane asked me. His voice was distinct, a baritone that always instilled fear when I was with him.
No, I didn't want anything to happen. He might have put something in my drink. Even though Khane had said he wouldn't touch me without my consent, I still felt anxious.
I shook my head, afraid Khane might be offended by my behavior. I prepared an excuse that might be acceptable to him.
"I-I've never had a drink like this before, so—" How foolish I was.
My body trembled as I gave my excuse, and the drink spilled onto my clothes. My skirt became wet from the wine, leaving a visible red stain.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed.
I cursed my clumsiness. Then, I tried to clean the spilled drink. Suddenly, Khane knelt before me. I was very nervous and unconsciously asked, "What are you doing? Stop."
Khane ignored me, taking out a handkerchief to clean my clothes from the spilled drink. As Khane cleaned my clothes, my eyes couldn't stop staring at him. My heart raced; I felt like I was seeing a different person now.
I hoped my vision wasn't deceiving me this time. Khane seemed different from what I had heard. While people described him as a ruthless mafia leader who showed no mercy to his enemies, I saw something else here. Yes, his face looked frightening and always managed to scare me. But not now; he seemed gentler than before, even behaving like someone other than the Khane known as the leader of Royal.
I was quite impressed by his actions. He was like a prince from a fairy tale, willing to bow before a woman. Unfortunately, this wouldn't last long. I was sure this side of Khane would rarely, if ever, be seen again.
"How long are you going to stare at me like that?" His question made me nervous and unable to respond.
What kind of question was that? How did he know I was watching him? My mind was in chaos. He wasn't even looking at me now. His hands were still cleaning the remaining wine from my clothes. His demeanor showed that no one could mess with him.
"I-I'm not watching you," I stammered.
Oh my God! I was truly nervous; my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest. Why did Khane always make me feel so mixed up?
Khane stopped his movements and stood upright in front of me. Both his hands reached out to touch my shoulders. I felt I might have a heart attack because of Khane. How could I not? Our distance was so close, making it hard for me to think clearly. I even held my breath as our faces were close together.
"Why? Are you afraid of me?" I nodded when he asked.
Of course, I was afraid. Who wouldn't be scared living with a mafia?
"Calm down, haven't I promised not to touch you more than this? Do you forget?" he asked again, reminding me of what he had said before.
I nodded again. This made him smile slightly, almost imperceptibly. I thought he was trying to calm me down. My fear must have been evident, enough for him to sense it. Indeed, it was clear. Even I struggled to hide it.
Khane still stared at me, making me uneasy again. I tried to avoid his gaze, but it was difficult since he was right in front of me.
I felt there was something he wanted to ask me. Sure enough, a question came that confused me.
"Why don't you do anything? Didn't I say you could do anything here? You can ask the servants to fulfill your needs. You can request anything."
Khane was right; I could ask for anything and do anything here. It wasn't that I didn't want to, perhaps I just wasn't used to it. But no, I didn't want to do anything. I was too scared even to move. I couldn't read Khane's intentions toward me; there might be something behind his words. Like a hidden agenda.
Mafias always play cleverly and deceitfully, don't they? I had read about that.
I didn't answer him immediately; my mind was too chaotic to respond. But it didn't hurt to try; there was one thing I wanted to say to him.
"I want to leave here. I would be happy if you let me leave this place," I said without looking at Khane, too afraid to see his expression.
A few seconds passed, and I didn't hear a response from him. I had a bad feeling about my unlikely request. Why did I say that? Foolish.
Khane clenched his jaw; I knew he didn't like my words. Sure enough, he rejected my request.
"No. I won't let you leave this place." Khane spoke with a slightly raised tone.
I expected that he would respond like that. Khane turned to look outside, then without saying anything more, walked toward the door without looking at me.
Disappointed? Of course, I had never felt like this before. Just because of my words, he ignored me again. Was that considered inappropriate behavior?
I felt uncomfortable being here again. Khane's departure made me pressure myself. What should I do next?