Chapter 21: Side Character x Mafia Boss (21)

As she got closer, his gaze slowly drifted down to her clothes. She was wearing a standard black and white maid outfit that the staff must have handed her. It was a bit too loose on her petite frame, the oversized sleeves pooling around her wrists, but she looked so ridiculously cute in it that his breath caught in his throat.

An intense, dark urge washed over him. He wanted nothing more than to reach out, yank her by the waist, pull her directly onto his lap, and kiss her until she was completely breathless.

Unaware of his racing thoughts, Lyra neatly placed the hot cup of tea on his desk and immediately turned around to leave.

"Clean the shelf," Alastair ordered suddenly, his voice echoing in the quiet room.

Lyra stopped in her tracks. She turned around, letting out a tiny, annoyed huff, and picked up a feather duster from the nearby cart. Muttering quietly under her breath, she walked over to the tall bookshelf and began dusting the wooden ledges.

As she worked, Alastair completely ignored the documents in front of him. His eyes kept falling back onto her slender back.

Lyra could clearly feel his intense, burning stare locked onto her. Her shoulders grew rigid, her back tensing up with every second that passed under his gaze. "Don’t tell me he’s still planning to despose my body or something" she muttered.

"Clean over here," Alastair commanded, pointing a finger at the corner of his own desk.

Lyra bit her lip, reluctantly stepping closer to his chair. She leaned over slightly and began carefully dusting around his papers.

The moment she stepped near, her sweet, delicate scent hit his nose. Alastair’s mind went completely fuzzy, his pulse quickening.

Should I just stop pretending? he thought, his fingers tightening against his desk. Should I just take her right now?

No. He forced himself to hold back. He didn’t want to terrify her or drive her away. He was patiently waiting for her to realize the truth on her own- to realize who really held her heart, and who she truly belonged to.

He couldn’t wait for the day she finally found out.

As Lyra dusted the polished desk, carefully avoiding the stacks of high-level syndicate documents, she took a small step backward. Her foot suddenly landed right on a stray silver pen lying on the slick hardwood floor.

"Ah-!"

[ Host, careful! ] the System shouted frantically in her head.

Too late.

Gravity took complete control. Her feet flew right out from under her.

Bam!

She instinctively reached out for anything to stop her humiliating descent, her hands flailing wildly through the air. Instead of hitting the hard floor... she crashed straight onto someone.

The sudden, chaotic impact caused a massive stack of confidential papers on the desk to scatter everywhere, floating down around them.

For a long moment, the entire study fell completely silent. Lyra slowly opened her eyes, her heart pounding loudly....."He’s staring at me isnt he....." she asked the system.

Instead of the cold floorboards, she found herself sitting directly on a broad, hard lap. Strong, arms were wrapped firmly around her waist to keep her from falling, pinning her flush against his broad chest.

She lifted her gaze and came eye-to-eye with a pair of icy grey eyes staring directly at her from inches away. She could feel the radiating warmth of his body burning straight through her uniform, smelling the rich, intoxicated scent of dark cedarwood on his skin.

Her heart beat impossibly faster.

Why on earth does the Male Lead have to be this ridiculously top-tier fine?! she cursed furiously in her mind, completely mesmerized by his sharp jawline and dark long lashes.

The System inside her head almost glitched out from sheer stress, its notification screen flashing frantic red warnings:

[ Host! This is NOT the time to admire his face! Ignore his fineness first and save your own ass! ]

Lyra snapped back to reality like a slapped awake person.

"Oh!"

"I-I’m so sorry!"

Panicking, Lyra tried to move and scramble off his lap- only for her clumsy knee to slip against his tailored trousers.

She lost her balance and fell back onto him again with a heavy thud.

Alastair let out a low, deep groan, his chest vibrating beneath her palms. Lyra froze completely, her body going stiff as a board.

Down below, she could feel something undeniably hard poking directly against her lower back...

Her jaw dropped. She gulped, her throat going entirely dry as the horrifying realization hit her hyperactive brain.

Alastair stopped breathing for a second, his grey eyes darkening into a stormy shade as he glared down at her flushed face, his jaw clenching tight.

Suddenly-

Click.

The double doors of the study swung open without warning. A high-ranking subordinate stepped inside, carrying a thick folder.

"Boss, I have the updated reports on the Hart family’s trade routes-"

The man froze mid-sentence, his jaw practically dropping to the carpet. Papers were scattered wildly across the floor.

Lyra was sitting squarely on their fearsome leader’s lap, her face bright red and her hands resting on his chest, while Alastair’s arms held her tightly around the waist.

The air in the room was suffocatingly awkward.

"..."

The subordinate’s cheeks instantly burned a bright red. He hurriedly lowered his head, taking a panicked step backward.

"S-Sorry, Boss! I’ll... I will return later!"

He slammed the door shut so fast it rattled the frame.

Inside her head, Lyra let out an absolute blood-curdling scream. WHAT AN UTTER EMBARRASSMENT! I WANT TO DIG A HOLE AND BURY MYSELF ALIVE RIGHT NOW!

Alastair noticed her utterly mortified, panicked expression. Seeing her completely flushed face, bright red from her cheeks down to her neck, a strange feeling settled in his chest.

It was... dangerously cute.

The corner of his lips lifted almost imperceptibly into a dark, amused smirk.

"You’re moving around far too much," his raspy, deep voice vibrated low against her ear, rough and heavy with an underlying tension.

Lyra’s face flushed even hotter, practically radiating heat like an oven.

"I-... I- I am so sorry!"

Scrambling with every ounce of survival instinct left in her body, Lyra practically threw herself off his lap and scrambled onto her feet.

She didn’t dare glance down at his waist. Without waiting for a single word of reply, she hurriedly scooped up a few fallen papers off the floor, slammed them back onto the desk in a crooked stack, bowed awkwardly three times in rapid succession, and practically sprinted out of the study as if the building were on fire.

Bang!

The heavy study door shut loudly behind her.

----------------

Outside in the quiet hallway...

Lyra collapsed against the cold wall, sliding down slightly as she buried her burning face in both of her hands.

"...I am literally never going back in there," she whimpered into her palms, her heart still racing out of control. "Never again. I’m resigning."

------------------

Inside the study...

Silence returned to the massive room.

Alastair looked at the slightly crooked stack of papers on his desk, then down at his own lap, letting out a quiet, amused breath.

He leaned back against his chair, a low chuckle escaping his lips as he ran a hand through his dark hair.

"...Troublesome little mouse."

He looked down at his tight trousers, his sharp grey eyes darkening as he loosened his silk tie with two fingers.

"...Hmm. Now I have to take care of this."