Lahat ng Kabanata ng In Love With The Dangerous Professor: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

CAELUM'S POVThe first sensation I experienced, when awareness hauled me back into the land of the living was pain. Intense, searing pain that swept through my ribs as fire. My skull pounded with a low ache that somehow even seemed to make thinking more of an effort. I attempted to shift and instantaneously regretted it. Every muscle in my body was protesting.I forced my eyes open. The ceiling over me was wood, uneven beams that appeared to have been hand carpentered. This wasn't a hospital. The air was redolent of pine and smoke, and somewhere close, I could hear the crackle of a fire. I groaned, turning my head slowly and trying to fend off the lightheadedness that followed.Celine was there.She had fell asleep in a wooden chair next to the bed, her head cocked at an awkward angle. Her hand was curled around mine, her fingers locking into my own. She clung, even in her sleep. Her face was pale, bruised a bit along one cheek; there was a cut above her eyebrow that someone had wash

CAELUM'S POVThe study is exactly what I would have expected from Vivienne. This dark wood paneling, the expensive art on the walls, that giant desk that oozed power. She walked through the place as if it was hers, which I guess, in every way that counted for much of anything, it was. Her dress was blood red, snatched back with violent precision by her hair, and when she looked at me, her smile revealed only teeth."Wine?" She picked up a crystal decanter and poured two glasses without giving me time to respond. "I'm glad you came, Caelum. Saves me the time from finding you again.”“Maybe I’m done running,” I said.She handed me a glass. I didn't drink. Neither did she. There we were, mother and son, a decade of violence and betrayal separating us.“Or perhaps you’re here to kill me.” Her voice was conversational, like we were talking about the weather. She approached the window, gazing down at the party below. “I’ve been curious to see which you I was going to get tonight. The dutifu

CAELUM'S POVI searched that mansion like a madman looking for Celine. There were bodies all about, the fallen guests and guards and attackers jumbled in death. The summit was a battlefield, total chaos. The hallways were filled with smoke, rendering visibility to no more than a few feet. Shots were being fired from all around, but it’s not clear who was shooting at whom.My ribs throbbed where Vivienne had slashed me. My shirt was soaked with blood, tacky and warm. But I ignored it. It was only information, after all, and the only kind I was interested in right now was where to find Celine alive.I kicked open another door. Room deserted, furniture tumbled, no bodies. I moved on. The mansion was enormous, a maze of hallways and roomlets and secret passageways. She could be anywhere. Might be holed up, could be hightailing it, might be —No. I did not want to consider that being a possibility. She was alive. She had to be alive.I discovered Kent and Ryker defending against a pack of

CAELUM'S POVDirector Chen and a guy she’d introduced as Federal Prosecutor James Mitchell sat opposite me. The place was better than the room I’d been interrogated in for hours. Real conference table, comfortable chairs, and yes, coffee that didn’t taste like that from a pot sitting for two days.They were trying to put me at ease. Attempting to keep this transaction as if it were a business deal, not what the hell it truly was. Me. Selling out everything I’d ever known to save the woman I loved.Mitchell spread papers on the table between us. “Here’s the deal, Mr. Morano. You take the stand and testify against Vivienne Morano in courtroom. You turn over documents, recordings, any tangible evidence you have access to. You point out key figures in her organization, describe the hierarchy, follow the money.”"In exchange?" I kept my voice neutral.“Immunity for all past crimes up to today’s date. For you and Miss Moretti." Chen clasp her hands together on the desk. "And we'll put both

CAELUM'S POVTime dilated to the beating of hearts. I could see Vivienne’s finger on the trigger, I could see the gentle pressure as she started pressing it. I got a view of Celine’s eyes, wide with fear but maybe something else too. Trust. She trusted me to save her.I calculated distances, angles, odds. Twenty feet between us. The knife I kept strapped to my ankle, concealed beneath my pant leg. Could I get to it and hand-draw it and throw it accurately before Vivienne shot me? Maybe. The odds weren’t good, but they weren’t zero.I raised my hands, kept going. Buying all the time I could. "You win. I'll do whatever you want. Lead the family, fight your wars, be your puppet. Just let her live."Vivienne tilted her head, considering. The pistol, however, remained pressed against Celine’s temple. "Tempting. Very tempting. You know how much I have wanted you to take your rightful place. To be the son I reared you to be.”"Then let me," I said. "I'll come back. I'll do everything you wan