Chapter 3: The Osborne Manor

"Every single second is an opportunity to change your life because at any moment you can change the way you feel."

-Rhonda Byrne-

***

“You will be much safer back in my place than here.” Kilian withdrew himself and reach out his hand to her to take. He reached out his hand to her.

Even though Levana knew deep down she couldn't trust this man just yet, what other choice did she have at the moment?

They left the room and headed to the parking area. He was riding one of his Bentley that day and there was a chauffeur already waiting for them.

The chauffeur opened the door for her and she entered the car.

Levana who always rode public transport or walked everywhere she went was not used to this sight. She already knew Kilian was not an ordinary man as he just spent fifty million pounds on her. 

To have this kind of comfort and luxury, it didn't feel too bad.

Levana was naturally a quiet woman. She was not shy, but she was quiet, so she remained silent and Kilian didn’t like the silence between them.

“Are you always this quiet? Don’t you have any questions for me?” He asked.

“Well, I have nothing to say for now. You seem to be a powerful man and you are used to getting your ways. Nothing I say can convince you to let me go, so what’s the point?” She replied.

He raised his brow in curiosity. For someone who had just been kidnapped and sold, she was surprisingly calm. She reminded him of a black cat. A very cute black cat.

"You know what, most women in your situation would have freaked out. They would try to resist and run away. Maybe fight back. Don't you have any fight in you?" He asked her again. 

"Physically speaking, I am not as strong as you. Plus you have a chauffeur and the black car which has been following us since earlier must be your people as well. What's the chance of me winning against you?" She reasoned. 

"Hm, I'm not sure if you're obedient or just very reasonable. Very well." 

Levana chuckled inside. Obedient? She was anything but that. But she couldn't be impulsive. 

They finally arrived at his house and she was surprised to see how huge it was. He owned an entire building. A real mansion. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. 

Considering the property price in the city, it was unexpected. One could only imagine how much that building cost. 

His place was a gated mansion and they required password before any transportation could enter, but the guards only took one look at his car and they opened without any hesitation.

“What exactly are you working as?” Levana finally asked a question and he chuckled at this question of hers.

“I’m a businessman.” He replied shortly. She thought if she asked the details, he wouldn’t tell her considering they were still strangers at the moment, so she didn’t ask further and just stayed still until the car stopped.

Another staff who was dressed in a butler opened the car’s door for them and the moment the door was opened, she saw a large hallway with red carpet in the middle and a few staff lining on both sides of the carpet, greeting him politely.

“Welcome home, sir.” They all chanted. Kilian was used to this, but Levana who came from an ordinary background thought this was odd and a little overdone.

She had a small family that consisted of her father, mother, older brother and herself but her parents had passed away and she lost contact with her brother.

Ever since she moved to London and lived alone, she never had anyone welcome her home like this.

Kilian ignored them and grabbed her hand instead.

“What are you doing?” She asked him.

“I’m going to take you to your room.” He said before he dragged her to the elevator. Yes, though the entire building belonged to him, they still had an elevator because walking on the stairs were too tiresome for them.

“You can let go of my hand now, I can walk on my own.” She told him.

“I know you can, but this place is huge, I have to make sure you’re not lost.” He replied.

“Do I look like someone who gets lost often to you?” She asked back.

“You look like a lost cat to me. So better safe than sorry.” Levana has been told she looked like a cat before in her life, something about her facial feature and personality.

But hearing it from someone like Kilian made her felt odd. There seemed to be another meaning behind those words.

They stopped on the third floor and the elevator’s door opened. There was a long hallway and there was a large door right at the end.

However, before they reached that large door in the end, there was another door but this one looked like a normal door. They stopped in front of the normal door and he explained to her.

“This is going to be your room.” He pointed at the normal looking door.

“This one here is my room.” He said as he pointed at the large door at the end.

“Why is my room right beside yours?” She asked. She was sure considering how large the mansion was, he must had other rooms for her.

“So I can always keep a watch on you. You’re my fifty million pound lady, I don’t want to lose you that easily.” He told her casually before opening the door to reveal her room.

“I see, so you’re just worried your purchase would go to waste.” She snuffed.

“You’re a very serious lady, aren’t you?” He replied. It was rare for a woman to act in such an unbothered manner toward him, especially a woman in her situation.

Most of them would be crying and pleading him to let them go or they would try to act nice and seduced him to gain whatever advantage their heart desire.

“I was born this way. I tried being friendly in the past, but I has never worked in my favor.” She replied back with a bored look.

“How do you even got the retail work?” He was curious. With this cold and nonchalant attitude of hers, one would never guess she worked in retails.

“I am pretty good at faking it, for the sake of money.” She stepped inside the room and turned to him.

“Unlike someone who can just spend fifty million dollar to purchase a human being without a second thought, I need to work in a foreign land just to afford shelter and meals, hoping better days are coming.” She replied coldly.

“Hm, I think you’re just tired right now, that’s why you’re acting like this. Maybe you have forgotten your position, but you know I can do anything I want with you, right?” Kilian tried to remind her about her place.

Instead of apologizing, she turned and looked at him with her gray eyes and responded.

“I know, you are capable of doing many things. However, I have nothing else to live for right now. What else could I lose?” Though she might appear pessimistic at the first glance, those words contained some hidden strength within them.

As someone who was dealing with different kinds of people, Kilian understood better than anyone else. The people who have nothing to lose are the most dangerous creation on earth.

“Forget it, just get inside and then you can join me for dinner later.” He said. Before he leave, her stomach grumbled.

“Ah, don’t tell me they didn’t feed you there?” He asked. She shook her head in response.

“I understand why you are acting that way now. You’re just hungry.” He chuckled. Guess he overthought everything earlier and took her way too seriously.

“I still have things to do, but I will have a maid deliver a meal to your room.” He stated calmly.

“I will leave you alone for today, but you’re not going to stay in this place rent free. I will assign some work for you later. But for today, I’m going easy on you.” He said before he closed the door without waiting for her response.

He walked inside his own room and headed over to the balcony to light up some cigarette. As he was smoking, he started to think about what happened earlier.

“That woman, she had the audacity to look at me in the eyes like that. Doesn’t she fear me?” He murmured.

It wasn’t as if he demanded to be feared. He just thought her response was quite interesting and different from the responds he had encountered in his life.  

Though Kilian might appear like an established businessman on the outside, he was far from being innocent.

No, he was a ruthless man, especially toward his enemy. He spent three years of his life in the military when he was eighteen. From this experience, he learnt the art of killing as well. But Kilian actually had a deeper secret.

After he retired from the military, he went to university to become a business man, but he was also involved in a mafia organization which was run by his father.

He always knew who his father was, but he never thought he would have any kind of association with the organization.

Initially, he just wanted to live a normal life as a businessman, but he couldn’t escape his own fate. That life chose him.

As the eldest son of his father, he was introduced to that world since he returned from the military and bore the responsibility of managing the organization as well.

After his father passed away, he took over the role as the mafia leader.

There were some rebellions of course. Some of the members disagreed with his position as the new heir and tried to bring him down.

However, Kilian was always a few steps ahead and he managed to get rid of all the traitors, replacing them with his loyal subjects.

At this point in life, he had everything he ever needed. Money, power and access to beautiful women if he ever so desired. His life seemed perfect.

However, he always knew something was missing. He just couldn’t figure out what it was yet. Until he met her.

“That woman, Levana La Rosa… she’s an interesting one.” He smiled before blowing off the smoke as he watched the moon appearing from behind the cloud.