Irresistible Deception

28

"Ameo!" He ignored her sudden barging into his office as he had gotten used to her rash actions. "I want to ask you a question."

She walked up and stood right in front of him. Finally, he gave in and raised his gaze to hers, leaning on his chair. "Go ahead." Her entire face lit up and he took notice of her eyes being even brighter than before.

"I want to work."

His ears perked up to the request, and his green eyes narrowed on her. Now he was paying attention. "And why would you do that?"

Blair gave him a quizzical look. "To pay off the debt, of course, and then I could leave."

"Aren't you happy here?"

His question took Blair off guard. "Why does that matter?" She stared at him like that was a stupid question.

Ameo stayed silent for a while. She wanted to leave, but he couldn't do that. He wanted her to stay. Whenever she was around, his night terrors subsided and his insomnia improved quite a lot. His chest ached with the mere thought of her leaving. He needed her to stay.

Finally, he spoke, trying to control his annoyance. "Are you really able to work as a maid here?"

"Yes!"

Blair beamed that her request was being considered, but her reaction to it made Ameo even more upset.

He managed to stop the urge to show his displeasure; he had gone too far to mess up the trust. She was comfortable with him enough to not stutter all the time. Ameo stared at her for a bit, her eyes had no hidden intentions, oblivious to his attraction towards her.

Didn't she feel anything between them, or was she taking it at face value? Ameo thought. Based on how she acted around him, it was like she kept on pretending that there was nothing going.

The free thoughts flying around his head upset him more and more. "No," he announced before he could keep himself together and think.

Blair's smile slowly fell. "Why... why not? Can't I just pay so I can leave?"

"There's no point in doing it," he said and resumed his paperworks and documents.

"Why?"

He heard her voice crack when she spoke like she was on the verge of tears, but he ignored it. "Do you know how many years it takes for someone like you to earn that amount?" He flipped through the pages and read the contents.

Her teary gaze dropped to the floor, she won't be able to pay back the money. Blair's heart ached to the thought of it. Maybe if she pleaded with Ameo, he would eventually let her leave without paying. She has seen the way he treated Alina, Natal, Philip and even other workers; he was stern but not disrespectful.

"Please, just forget about the money, you know I can't pay that sum of money and besides, it's very little compared to what you have."

She looked up and he remained silent, ignoring her as he attended to his work.

Ameo's jaw clenched, not by anger or annoyance but unease; the way she spoke sounded like she was held hostage. He didn't want her to think of herself like that or see him as a threat, either.

He let out a sigh. "I can't do that, Blair," he said, his eyes still on the papers. "We are talking about 2.1 million here."

In which has already been received, not that was what he wanted in return; he wanted her in return for the money. But she didn't have to know about that. He resisted the urge to smirk at the thought.

"So, forget about it. You have everything you need and want here, besides..." Finally, he moved his attention to her. "What's there to look forward to if you ever go back? You have no family and barely a social life, either. And also, I'm not stopping you from leaving the building whenever you like, you are very free here."

Blair clenched her fists, she knew he was right; she had nothing to look forward to. Except for Alessia, but even she probably knew that Blair would never come back. But after all this, there were still questions bugging that she couldn't shake off.

"What do you really want from me, Ameo?"

His eyes looked to hers. His green gaze searched hers deeply. Was she stupid or suffering something similar to it?

"What I want, Blair. Is you. All of you. Everything I can get and lay my hands on from you."

The room stood still, Blair tried time and time again to ignore all his strange advances toward her as she thought it was something not to be bothered with. All those times, he kissed and held her. How could she even think that kissing someone was something casual? She then made an internal face-palm by her stupidity.

Ameo slowly stood up from his seat, looking down at her. She inhaled a shaky breath. She had forgotten how tall he was as he towered over her.

"Have you already forgotten what I said, Blair?" His deep voice remained neutral and expression nonexistent, she couldn't tell if he was angry or not.

"When I said that I'm attracted to you, I meant it." His eyes were hooded with desire, watching her as he neared her. Immediately, she dropped her eyes down.

He looked at her before his gaze shifted to her soft lips as she bit them to calm her nerves as she stared down at her feet.

His gentle arms enclosed and pressed her to his chest. A tingling feeling burst through her. Blair's stomach flipped and her heart palpitating. She tensed up and she suddenly felt strange when she later relaxed by his leather-scented cologne that filled her sense of smell as her head rested against his broad chest. She shut her eyes, listening to his calm, reassuring beating of his heart.

"Blair, I know this is hard for you." He softened his voice as he gave her petite figure a tender squeeze in his arms. "But no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to bring that amount of money. And you have your parents to blame for it, it isn't your fault."

Ameo and Blair stayed in each other's arms, not wanting to let the other go. It was like time stood still to savour the moment for longer. And gradually, she forgot all about the debts; he would never hurt her, he has always given her space and patience.

Ameo slowly lifted her chin to her face, her eyes were shut. This gave him the opportunity to examine more of her that he couldn't get enough of. Her soft features, with light freckles sprinkled around and those soft lips, would easily heighten any man's instinct to protect her.

She then opened her doe eyes to stare at him, watching him as he uninterruptedly caressed her hair. Ameo noticed she was no longer afraid or timid around him. He couldn't help but gaze down to her lips. When was the last time he felt them against his lips? Felt like forever.

His stare moved back to her hazel eyes and down to her lips again before leaning in. Blair didn't flinch or resist—a silent invitation.

The kiss was light, yet gave such a huge impact on her. Her mind shattered to different emotions. It was intense as rolls of electronic sensation descended her spine.

His calm demeanour dismembered itself. A gasp broke through her as Ameo's tongue slipped in, dominating hers. His arm held her tight, crumbling her shirt. His fingers clenched her hair, pulling her head back to deepen the kiss.

Soft groans were released from the base of his throat as he lost himself into the swirls of lust and longing surrounding them both.

But it was cut short with an abrupt loud knock on the door from Philip.

{Sir Adler,} he spoke in imalic through the door.

Ameo pulled away in frustration and looked at the door. {What is it?} he asked. The volume of his snarl was loud enough to cause the woman in his arm to jump. It immediately gave Ameo the urge to soothe her, but he didn't have the time to do it.

{There is something I would like to discuss with you.}

{And how urgent is it?}

{Very, sir.}

He let out a sigh and looked back at Blair, who avoided his gaze.

"Blair, we will take more later, okay?" He tucked her loose hair strands behind her ear and subtly placed his lips on her forehead.

She wordlessly nodded before walking out, left being more confused and distressed than when she entered.

She touched her forehead, the feeling of his lips still lingered there. How did all this happen?