Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Kassia managed a smile. “Of course.”
She watched Professor Y leave while the professor watched...her. She could feel his eyes on her. She didn’t understand why, and she didn’t care.
Alessandro knew he should have pulled away from Melissa, but honor had forbidden him from moving away. He had been the one to flirt with the other woman first. He had been the one to make all the moves, the one who had not told Melissa about Kassia when he had invited her to his home and fucked her the entire weekend.
He had fucked up with Kassia. He had fucked up with Melissa. And now, it was fucking killing him to see how his cruelty had extinguished the light in her eyes.
“Ms. Summers—-” He reached for her.
She flinched. “Don’t.”
He froze.
Her voice was so damn thin, and the sound had the professor lowering his arm back to his side. If he pushed, she might just crumble, and he didn’t want that for her.
Kassia stared up at him. She wanted to curse him, wanted to cry, wanted to ask him why. But no words came out. All she could suddenly think about was that odd smile on his face earlier and how stupid she was to have ignored it.
He was odd. Just like her mother. And because he was odd that way, he had been able to play with her like she was no better than a toy.
“Kassia, I—-”
She shook her head jerkily, not wanting to hear her name on his lips. “Goodbye, Professor.” She turned around and walked away. If her shoulders shook a little, well, that was fine. At least the tears didn’t fall, not until she was able to lock herself inside one of the restroom cubicles.
She sank to the floor.
And that was when she cried.
FOR A LONG TIME, ALESSANDRO remained rooted in his spot, the devastating sound of Kassia’s tears ripping him apart.
He gazed sightlessly towards where Kassia had disappeared in the distance, knowing that he could go after her and maybe make things right.
But he didn’t.
Because maybe, just fucking maybe, it was better this way for both of them.
If her smiles had made him realize she was special, her tears had made Alessandro realize she was like no one else, and that he wasn’t ready for.
It was better this way.
He repeated the words in his mind, endlessly, using them to chase away the seemingly incredible picture of Kassia walking away from him with her back straight, her shoulders shaking, a picture of defiance and shattered innocence.
Other girls her age would have thrown a bitchy fit, would have called him names and sought to humiliate him the way he had deliberately sought to humiliate her, thinking she had betrayed him.
Kassia could and should have done any or all of those, but she hadn’t.
She had simply walked away.
And that was fine.
It was better this way.
He had existed all these years without Kassia, and he would go on living, would go back to enjoying his life the way he had when he had never known someone like her existed.
He did not need her because she would be his weakness, and she did not need him because he would only bring danger to her life.
And so it was better this way.
Better.
Safer.
Alessandro’s heart was devoid of emotion by the time he reached for his door and entered his office.
It was better this way.
He had to remember that.
Part III
Chapter One
One week later
You must never ever look at him. The thought firmly plastered on her mind, Kassia lifted her chin, entered the dojo, and of course the first thing she saw was him.
Professor Alessandro Moretti.
She desperately willed herself to look away, but she couldn’t. He captivated her without even trying. Unlike most martial arts instructors, the professor didn’t don the usual karategi for class. Instead, he wore a kimono, its white fabric making a stark contrast to his deep olive skin. Secured with a black obi, the kimono showed off the hard panes of his chest, now slick with sweat. It was terribly sexy – unfairly so, for someone in his position. The sight left her dry-mouthed even as her heart ached a little. She could remember the times she had her hand pressed on that very chest. And yet she couldn’t forget that another woman had surely touched him the same way, too.
In front of her, the professor moved in fluid motion, the loose soft cotton of his kimono flowing around his legs as he moved around the fighting circle, bending, twisting, and kicking while he took on three opponents at the same time. Kassia recognized them by face. They were some of the best students of the professor’s advanced class. Or at least they were supposed to be. The professor’s deadly, graceful dance reduced them into nothing better than stumbling novices. He knocked them down, one after another, without breaking a sweat or the smallest show of arrogance.