Chapter 6

As his fingers gently touched my shoulder, I felt something strange about myself. How could I feel every day when he touched me? But, no sooner had I looked at his face than fear came over me again.

I think Thane is playing with my feelings. I felt calm a moment ago, but it quickly disappeared when Thane's face looked creepy, in my opinion.

We were on the veranda of the penthouse. After surprising me by arriving without making a sound, Thane sat down beside me. I saw a waiter carrying a bottle of wine and two empty glasses from the doorway. The waiter placed them on the small table between us. The waiter left after setting them down.

Thane moved. He reached for the wine bottle. I saw Thane begin to pour the drink into the glasses. Then, his hand offered the glass to me. I hesitated to take it, but something might happen if I didn't. So, I decided to grab the drink.

Thane also poured the drink into his glass. He drank the wine from his glass while I still stood there with a confused face. After the glass was empty, Thane's gaze fell on me. Our gazes met, and it made me uncomfortable.

"Why don't you drink it?" Thane asked me. His voice was that distinctive baritone I always dreaded with him.

No, I didn't want anything to happen. He could have mixed something in my drink. Even though Thane had said he wouldn't touch me without permission, there was still a sense of worry.

I shook my head, afraid Thane might be offended by my attitude. I prepared an excuse that might be acceptable to him.

"I-I've never had a drink like this, so-" How stupid of me.

My body trembled as I said that excuse, and the drink in my hand spilled onto the clothes I was wearing. The skirt I was wearing was also wet from the glass. Making a red stain clearly visible there.

"Oh my!" I exclaimed later.

I cursed my own carelessness. Then, I tried to clean up the spilled drink. However, Thane's body suddenly lowered in front of me. I was so nervous that I subconsciously asked, "What are you doing? Stop it."

Thane didn't listen to me. He took a handkerchief and cleaned my clothes from the drink I spilled. As Thane cleaned up my clothes, my eyes kept staring at him. My heart was racing. I seemed to be seeing another figure now.

I hoped my vision wasn't wrong this time. Thane looked different from what I'd heard. When people told me about the mafia leader who was ruthless and didn't give mercy to his opponents, I saw something else here. Indeed, his face looks scary and always manages to scare me. But not this time. He's completely different. He's softer than before. Even his demeanor doesn't seem like the Thane known as the leader of the Royal Mafia.

I'm pretty mesmerized by his current actions. He's like a prince in a fairy tale who is willing to bow before a woman. Unfortunately, this won't last long. I'm pretty sure the Thane from this side, I will rarely or never be able to see henceforth.

"Until when will you see me like that?" Getting a question like that made me nervous and difficult to answer.

What kind of question is that? How did she know I was watching her? My mind is very muddled at the moment. He wasn't even looking at me at the moment. His hands still cleaned up the leftover wine that wet my clothes. His demeanor shows that no one can play games with him.

"I-I'm not looking at you," I stammered.

Oh my! I was so nervous. My heart felt like it wanted to jump out of its socket. Why did Thane always get my feelings mixed up?

Thane stopped his movements. Now, he moved and stood tall in front of me. Both of his hands reached out to touch my shoulders. I think I'm about to have a heart attack because of Thane. The current distance is so close that it makes me even more unable to think clearly. In fact, I held my breath as our faces met.

"Why, are you afraid of me?" I nodded when he asked me that.

Of course, I was scared. Who wouldn't be if they lived with a mobster?

"Calm down, didn't I promise not to touch you more than this? Did you forget?" he asked once again, reminding me of the words he once said.

I nodded once again. It made him smile so faintly it was almost invisible. He was trying to calm me down, I guess. The fear I felt for it to be conveyed to him must have been apparent. Of course, he could sense my anxiety. It was obvious. Even I had a hard time hiding it.

Thane was still looking at me, which made me uneasy again. I tried to avoid his gaze, but it was tough because he was before me. 

I guess there's something he wants to ask me. Sure enough, a question came up, and it confused me quite a bit.

"Why aren't you doing anything? Didn't I tell you, you can do anything here. You can order the servants to fulfill your needs. You can ask for anything."

It was true what Thane said, I could ask for anything and do anything here. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I'm not used to it yet, perhaps. But, no, I didn't want to do anything. I was afraid even to just move. I can't read Thane's thoughts towards me. It could be that what has been said has something behind it, like the reciprocity of what he said.

Don't the mafia always play well and cunningly? I've read about that.

I didn't answer immediately. My mind was too frantic to be able to answer. However, there was no harm in trying. There was one thing I wanted to tell him.

"I want to get out of here. I'd be happy if you let me out of this place," I said without looking at Thane because I was too scared to see his expression.

A few seconds passed, and I heard no reply from him. I had a bad feeling about that impossible wish. Why did I have to say it? What a fool.

Thane hardened his jaw. I knew he didn't like what I said. Sure enough, I got a rejection from him.

"No. I won't let you leave this place." Thane spoke with a bit of pressure on his tone.

As expected, he would answer like that. Thane turned to stare out of the room, and he wordlessly stepped toward the door without looking at me.

Disappointed? Of course, I've never felt like this before. Just because of my words, he ignored me again. Can that be considered an undeserved gesture?

I felt uncomfortable here again. Thane's departure made me pressure myself. What should I do after this?