CASSIA
After showering, I returned to the room prepared for me, one towel wrapped around my body and another twisted into my hair.
The room looked almost identical to the one back at his estate. My hair and body products were arranged across the vanity. Four of my photographs hung on the walls. The wardrobe was filled with clothes I could easily imagine myself wearing. Comfortable pieces in colors I preferred, grey, white, and blue.
I scoffed softly.
I had never imagined him to be this obsessive, especially not over someone like me. I couldn't decide whether I should feel flattered that he had been watching me all these years while pretending to be dead, or furious that he had invaded my privacy so completely without me ever knowing.
The thought alone made me shudder.
The maid, Tilly, assigned to attend to me, though I certainly hadn't asked for one, paused in the middle of the room.
"An outfit has been set aside for you," she said politely. "You'll be having dinner with the boss—"
She stopped mid-sentence when the door suddenly swung open.
Kairos stood in the doorway.
What the hell does he want?
I swallowed, my hand instinctively tightening around the towel wrapped around my chest as his gaze swept over me.
"Signore," Tilly murmured. She bowed her head and curtsied deeply.
"Leave us," Kairos ordered.
"Y-yes, sir," she stammered quickly, hurrying toward the door.
I bit down on my lower lip, my hand lifting slightly as if to stop her from leaving.
But in the end, I let it fall back to my side.
As soon as she was out of sight, I turned my back to Kairos, my gaze settling on one of the photographs hanging on the wall. It was the one taken on my first day of internship.
Of course, the bastard had even taken the time to label it.
I broke the silence between us without turning around.
"Even though I'm a captive in your house now, don't you think I deserve a little respect? For old time's sake," I murmured.
"Old time's sake, hm."
I stiffened when I suddenly felt him behind me.
His warm breath brushed against the back of my neck. He edged closer, and my breath hitched. My nostrils flared instinctively as I caught his scent, pulling it in greedily as if I couldn't get enough.
Yet somehow, it still wasn't enough.
I shut my eyes, licking my lower lip as I tried to push the traitorous thoughts away. Thoughts of him unwrapping the towel around my body. Of his large, calloused hands roaming everywhere they pleased.
I imagined his touch. The soft sounds that would escape my lips as those hands unraveled me piece by piece.
God, Cassia, you're hopeless.
And honestly, I couldn't deny it.
"Look at me when you ask for something like that," he said.
"No," I blurted out. "I need to change. You should respect a woman's privacy, captive or not."
"And you are the woman?" he replied dryly.
My brows pulled together. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Kairos's fingers tightened around my shoulders, and he spun me around before pressing me back against the wall. My eyes lifted to his.
He was smirking down at me.
I didn't see what was funny about the situation. I certainly wasn't laughing. If anything, he was being completely disrespectful.
The Kairos I knew would never invade a woman's privacy like this. He had always been polite, always careful to give space where it was needed.
But now…
"Now," he murmured, gripping my chin when I tried to look away, "what were you saying?"
His touch was strangely gentle, almost as if he feared applying too much pressure might break me.
"Cat got your tongue, Red?"
The amusement in his voice, the quiet danger surrounding him, the realization that I was completely at his mercy—this stranger who looked like Kairos but behaved like someone else entirely—sent anger surging through me.
"Don't call me that," I hissed, jerking my chin free.
I pushed against his chest, but he caught my wrists easily and pinned them above my head against the wall.
He loomed over me.
My eyes widened, instinctively dropping to the towel wrapped around me, the only barrier between our bodies.
"Have I ever told you," he murmured, his gaze slowly traveling down my body, making me painfully aware of how exposed I was, "how exquisite you look?"
His voice was rough, low.
One of his hands moved from my face to my shoulder, then slowly down to my chest where it paused.
His eyes lifted to mine. I didn't look away.
I could push him away now. One of my hands was free. I could slap him, flip him the middle finger, and tell him again how furious I was that he was alive.
Yet…I didn't.
My mind refused to form a coherent sentence, and I doubted my mouth could say anything even if it tried.
Kairos slipped his finger just beneath the edge of the towel between my chest.
I stopped breathing.
My heart pounded as his fingers moved slightly, as though searching for something that wasn't even there. I was practically naked beneath the thin cloth, yet he moved with slow deliberation.
Each small touch sent sparks of sensation through me.
Any reaction I would have had if another man had done this seemed to vanish.
And Kairos knew exactly what he was doing.
He knew how much I had once wanted him. How badly I had craved him when I was younger. And now he was using that against me.
Was I ashamed?
Not even a little.
But this was fucking forbidden.
"I should kiss you now," he whispered, lowering his face toward mine.
Then what are you waiting for? The words hovered at the edge of my tongue.
But before either of us could move further, a choked sound broke the moment. Kairos closed his eyes and muttered a curse.
"S-Signore?!"
The voice hit me like a bucket of ice water. My eyes widened and I looked over his shoulder.
The woman from earlier, Mrs. Moore, stood frozen in the doorway. Her hands clutched the wooden frame, her face pale as if she might faint at any moment.