Page 14 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

It was beginning to be clear to him now. Maybe Kassia had played with him just to ensure she could get him to tutor her for those two tests. Maybe Jacob had told her he didn’t want an idiot for a girlfriend.

So many damn possibilities, Alessandro thought grimly, but none of them mattered. She had made a fool of him, and he had let her.

In front of him, Kassia was shifting on her feet, all blushing shyness, and he had to force back the growl of rage that threatened to come out of his throat.

“The day I took those tests, I was sick.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I was burning up with fever, and my temperature – it was crazy. I think you could have probably boiled an egg on my skin.”

Alessandro didn’t answer. Puzzle pieces in his mind were scrambling to rearrange themselves, and they all started to paint a different picture of the past.

“Just getting up those stairs...I really wanted to cry, Professor.”

Alessandro felt himself going pale with each word.

That day he saw her with Jacob was still a vivid memory in his mind.

He remembered how she smelled and felt hot, and his fists clenched.

He remembered how the healer had warned him about his senses not functioning normally, and Alessandro knew then he had just committed the most devastating mistake.

In front of him, Kassia was still babbling about the day. “If not for Jacob, I would never have made it to class, Professor. Never. ” She didn’t look at him as she spoke, but anxiety was written all over her, and the way she kept tugging the tips of her hair tore his heart into pieces.

How the fuck had he gotten everything so damn wrong?

He opened his mouth to say something, anything to stop his world from crashing down on him, but it was too late.

“There you are,” a voice sang gaily from behind.

He knew who it was, even without having to hear those words. He knew, just by watching Kassia stiffen and her gaze jerk up to meet his in hurt confusion.

Kassia watched with sick fascination as Professor Y – the chemistry teacher she loved to hate – took hold of Alessandro Moretti’s arm and wrapped it around her own waist, as if she knew that was where it belonged.

The older woman faced her with a smile. “Everything all right, Ms. Summers?” She threw a coy look the professor’s way. “Or is this wicked man of mine giving you trouble about your grades?”

The older woman laughed, and with just that sound, Kassia knew. That sound said it all. Deep down inside, people never failed to recognize the sound that would destroy them.

“Why aren’t you saying a thing?”

Why was she saying too much?

Professor Y snuggled closer towards the professor, and Kassia’s world started to spin faster and faster when the professor didn’t pull away. He did not!

The older woman patted the professor’s cheek. “Leave this naughty man to me. If he bullies you, I’ll punish him...after our quickie.” She pulled away with a sigh. “I should have come to you as soon as I got your text. Maybe I’d have caught you alone then.”

With another sigh, she took a step back from the professor. “Maybe next time.” She glanced at Kassia and winked. “You’ll keep our secret, right, Ms. Summers?”

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.