One Night Mistake… Now I Carry the Mafia Heir

Chapter 74: 74/Stripped of Will

Chapter 74

Stephanie’s Point of View

While I was drowning in the depths of that distant memory the image of the Professor in his elegant suit and overwhelming authority Alexander’s real, deep voice pulled me back. He placed the hair dryer aside on the table and said in a calm tone: "We’re finished."

I opened my eyes slowly, as if waking from a long dream, to find him watching my reflection in the mirror, smiling at me with dignity and calm. Who in this world would believe they were the same person? This gentle man smiling at me now with a touch of tenderness was the very same cruel man who used to delight in punishing and subduing me in his high school office.

"Thank you," I whispered, the words barely escaping my throat.

I rose from the chair, my body still trembling slightly from the memories that had scattered my senses. I headed toward the wardrobe and pulled out light pajamas to wear, hoping to escape his gaze. But when I turned around, I found Alex standing directly behind me, blocking my path with his massive frame like an immovable wall. I gasped, my heart drumming with panic. "Damn it... you scared me! Why are you standing there like that?"

He fixed his blue eyes on mine and spoke with a seriousness that made the air freeze in my lungs: "I want to ask you one question, and I want an honest answer."

I swallowed hard. "Yes... go ahead, what is it?" I asked faintly.

He asked in a sharp tone, laced with that familiar possessive edge: "Did you feel a killing jealousy over Cedric?"

Damn it. Why did he insist on digging up this subject again? I felt a heavy tightness in my chest and tried to evade him and the weight of his question.

"Alexander, please... I don’t want to talk about this right now."

With a lightning speed I didn’t expect, he grabbed my wrist and squeezed with enough force to make me let out a silent wince of pain. "Answer me, Stephanie," he said with a sternness that took me back to my school years. "Do not test my patience."

I tried to pull my hand away in rebellion. "I told you I don’t want to talk! Let go of my hand!"

He pushed me back slowly, with a provocative calmness, until my body was completely pinned against the wardrobe. He braced his other hand beside my head, sealing the trap. "Steph... answer," he hissed near my ear.

I looked into his blue eyes, which had turned into a nocturnal darkness I knew all too well. Was he practicing the same old sadistic style on me again? Did he truly believe I was still that weak student trembling before his desk? "What if I don’t answer?" I challenged, my voice shaking with emotion. "Do you intend to punish me as you used to do in the past?"

"Yes," he replied with a provocative coldness, his lips only centimeters from my face. "I will, if you continue with this stubbornness."

I let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "Do you really think I’ll let you? I’ve matured now, Alexander. I’m not that frightened teenager anymore."

He leaned closer until I felt his hot breath caress my skin. "I can do with you whatever I want, at any time, Steph," he said in a terrifyingly confident tone. "I am only giving you the right to choose now because I love you, so do not waste this opportunity."

I couldn’t believe my ears. Did he really think I would submit just because he claimed to love me? Did he believe his old authority still ran through my veins like poison? The fire of defiance and dignity ignited within me.

I raised my head proudly, my chest heaving with visible agitation. "You are not giving me anything, Alexander... I am the one who decides here. I am the one in control of my own affairs."

"You are pregnant, Stephanie," he said in a low, steady, and provocatively calm voice. "I don’t want you to get upset or for your blood pressure to rise... be obedient."

"I am not angry," I shot back, trying in vain to pull my wrist from his iron grip. "I am just annoyed by your insolence and you acting as if you have the right to control my will and my freedom."

He fixed his gaze on mine as if plunging daggers into them. "But that is the truth you are running away from," he said coldly.

"No, it isn’t. And it never will be," I challenged, my chest heaving from the tension.

Suddenly, in a swift motion, he grabbed my other hand and pinned both of my hands firmly above my head against the wardrobe with just one hand, trapping my entire body with his. "Are you truly sure about what you’re saying?" he asked with a terrifying calmness that made the blood freeze in my veins.

I swallowed with difficulty, a sudden weakness washing over my knees as if I were about to fall. Yet, I remained stubborn, head held high. "Yes, I’m sure."

"Close your eyes immediately," he commanded with a sternness that brooked no argument.

"I won’t... I won’t obey you," I said in desperate rebellion, using the last shred of strength I had.

He brought his face so close to mine that our breaths met and mingled. "Don’t make me repeat myself twice... Stephanie Miller!" he snapped, a sharp, angry glint in his eyes that made me flinch.

Did he really just call me by my full name in that authoritative tone? Did he truly want to return to the role of the stern teacher and that old power he used to wield? No matter how hard I tried to resist, he had certainly succeeded in planting a delicious terror in my heart. I closed my eyes, loathing myself for obeying him with such shameful ease.

"I’m going to release your hands now," he hissed, sending a shiver through my body. "But you are not allowed to open your eyes no matter what happens... Do you understand?"

He let go of my hands, and they slid weakly to my sides. I began to squeeze my fingers tightly from the sheer tension and fear, my body visibly trembling before him. He asked again, so close that I felt the heat of his breath on my lips: "Did you feel jealous over Cedric?"

"No," I said mechanically, as if under hypnosis.

I couldn’t see his expression, but I felt his heavy shadow looming over me. "Last chance, Steph," he said in a warning tone. "Come on, answer. I want the naked truth."

I couldn’t tell him about the bitterness of the jealousy that gnawed at my heart when I saw him with another. No, I wouldn’t give him that victory. "No," I repeated with hollow persistence.

A lethal silence reigned for seconds that felt like hours. Then he said in a mysterious tone: "Open your eyes."

I opened them and took a quick step back to escape his stifling entrapment, but he stopped me with a single look, sharp as a sword. "Did I tell you that you could go?"

"Alexander... please..." I said, a hidden plea showing in my eyes.

He placed his index finger on my lips to silence me coldly. "Hush... and now, open the robe you’re wearing."

I froze like a statue, my eyes widening in total shock. "Really, Alexander? Do you believe I’ll do this here and now?"

He approached me again, his voice becoming eerily calm: "Ah, Stephanie... it seems you’re really going to force me to repeat myself twice, aren’t you?"

My heart raced so madly I could hear it in my ears. I never expected that he still held this absolute control over my will after all these years. I felt stripped of any defense against his crushing authority. My trembling hand reached very slowly for the belt of my robe and untied it, letting it slip off my shoulders softly to reveal my body completely naked before him in the dim light of the room.

He stood staring at me in total silence for several seconds. Though he had seen my body time and time again, this time was entirely different. He was imposing his control as if he held secret keys to my mind that made me submit completely at the mere tone of his voice.

"Do you see now, Stephanie?" he said in a calm, steady tone of victory. "I don’t want to treat you like this all the time, because I only give you the feeling of power to make you happy."

He was right, and in that moment, I felt how small I was. I didn’t hold any real power over him; rather, he was the one who allowed me to feel it out of his own generosity, and at the first serious opportunity, he withdrew it coldly.

I submitted to him once more, my senses igniting in a strange and terrifying way. I found the situation attractive and tempting in a way that made me ashamed of myself.

"I..." I tried to speak and protest, but the words died on my lips. I was completely disoriented by the desire that swept through my being at that moment.

He leaned in closer, tilting his head toward my ear until his warm lips brushed my earlobe. "It seems you like this situation very much, Stephanie," he whispered in a raspy voice that sent a shiver through every inch of my body. "You love it when I strip you of your will and make you subject to my command."