CHAPTER FIFTEEN

As they walked down the spiral staircase, she noticed another one to her right. They both led up to the second floor and met in the middle in an imperial staircase style.

She held on to the iron banister and felt how smooth it was under her hand. The mansion was immaculate, with white sparkling marble.

Natasha looked up and noticed a big Venetian-style crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, decorated with hundreds of teardrop crystals. It evoked a very vintage, elegant feel.

She was still staring at it when she suddenly crashed into a wall of hard muscles. Stiffening, she stepped away. Antonov turned around and glared at her aggressively.

"Are you blind?" he barked. "Watch where you're going."

"Stay out of my way," Natasha responded. Antonov was big enough to scare even an average man. But, Natasha wasn't an average man. He didn't even trickle a muscle in her body. Rather, she found his presence irritating.

Antonov gave her a final glare before turning around. They stepped off the stairs, and he started walking toward the left corridor. As Natasha began to relax again, she continued to inspect the mansion.

Lorenzo didn't know what minimal was, and whoever decorated the place had good taste. The place felt homely, somewhere built with love, carefully blending and refining details.

Natasha was awed by the surrounding. No wonder, people did everything to get rich because money brought beauty, and beauty brought comfort.

Unlike her life, she had only stayed in exotic places while on a mission. Her normal life was a regular one with a scrappy apartment.

When they came to a stop, Natasha quickly halted in her tracks, stopping an inch away from him. Her eyes widened, and she took a few steps back.

She was bracing herself for when he snapped at her again. Natasha knew that the fight with Antonov would last for a long time. So was her distress around Lorenzo.

"Sarah, this is a new housekeeper," he said, his voice soft.

Natasha felt her mouth drop as she stared at his enormous back in shock. Did he just talk softly? Oh, he wasn't all that mean after all. He was just like that with Natasha.

"Ohh, dear. How lovely. Where is she, love?" Natasha heard a voice ask.

Sweetie? A bulky and moody man like Antonov was addressed as 'love' and he didn't snap the person's head?

Antonov's back was blocking Natasha's sight, so she stepped to the side, and my eyes widened. A woman, probably in her early fifties, was standing in front of him, wearing a similar black dress, even though hers was below the knees.

She smiled sweetly at Antonov as she wiped her hands on her white apron. When she saw her, her smile widened.

"Ah, there you are," she said as she walked toward Natasha.

"Look at you. Such a beautiful young girl."

Before Natasha could do anything, she was swept away from Antonov.

Taking her by the hands, Sarah led her into the kitchen through a mahogany, modern-looking wooden door.

The kitchen was humongous, The big cabinets were beige and there was a big island in the middle. The shiny countertops were made with a mixture of different shades of gray.

There were four high chairs placed in front of the bar, and she saw two women standing there, wearing the same dress as hers.

They were younger than Sarah but older than Natasha. Both appeared to be in their late thirties. They looked up when they heard them coming in.

As she got closer, they looked her up and down as if they were inspecting an object.

Natasha felt uncomfortable under their scrutiny, and it caused her to unconsciously grab Sarah's hand a bit tighter.

"We have a new one," Sarah announced excitedly.

"We don't need extras," an unfriendly-looking brunette said.

Sarah tried opening her mouth to answer, but a voice beat her to it. "Then leave if you don't want the extra."

Natasha's back straightened at the sound of his voice, and her body tensed. She swallowed hard when she saw the women's eyes widen.

They suddenly appeared skittish and quickly looked down.

Sarah let go of Natasha's hand and swiveled around, hands on her hips as she stared at the man with a powerful aura.

This was his house, so it was expected that he would parade as he wished.

Licking her lips, Natasha slowly turned around and made contact with Lorenzo's emerald eyes.

Calm and fierce, clashing together as they stared at each other silently. Natasha felt her heartbeat accelerate as he kept his unflinching gaze on hers.

Her stomach twisted in knots as she squirmed restlessly on the spot. She felt heavy, and a weird feeling encompassed her body.

Her stomach twisted again when she saw him taking a step forward, his big body moving smoothly. Natasha sucked in a surprised breath when she realized that it was butterflies she felt.

His presence made her nervous. Scared. And giddy. Yet, the Vera side of her battled with it all.

"Natasha is going to work here with you. Sarah, you can assign her work schedule," Lorenzo stated evenly. Natasha swallowed several times when she heard his voice again.

His eyes moved away from hers, but only because he was looking at her body. She saw his gaze travel down to her waist, hips, and then her legs.

Her body started to warm up under his scrutinizing stare. His eyes stayed there for a few seconds before he moved back to her face.

The look that he gave her made her stagger back a step. At her reaction, his lips tilted upward slightly into a small smirk that was hard to see. But it was there. That devilish smirk. Sexy devilish smirk.

Natasha shook her head and closed her eyes quickly as she tried to get herself under control. It was impossible. Without even trying, Lorenzo Lizzo had successfully taken over her mind.

Opening her eyes, she stared into his. He gave her the same look as before, clearly not,

His eyes were filled with desire and hunger. It looked like they were longingly expecting a challenge that he would accept, sure of himself to win.