Love Beyond the Mask novel Chapter 67

She pushed him away in a fluster, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, "Okay, enough already. I've been sitting here so long I'm practically boiling."

"Seems like our little Miss Denial has finally come around, huh?" The man's thin smile was like a spider's web, and his gaze seemed to ensnare her like a little bee unable to resist his charm.

Whitney was beside herself, her face aflame as she looked up at the towering man; her heartbeat skipped wildly out of rhythm.

There was no denying it—she was a little smitten.

A man like him—handsome, aloof, wrapped in an air of mystery and prestige, with a control that was measured and a wisdom that was cunning—what kind of woman wouldn't be?

The man, who had a lethal magnetism, had come to her aid in her moments of need. His identity was a riddle yet his background was undeniably powerful.

The inner barrier Whitney had built was starting to crumble…

She turned to leave as her lips unwittingly curved into a smile, "All good now? So, I can go, right?"

But Ludwik swooped her up in his arms, "Consider this our first date. And maybe a little massage after this?"

Whitney gasped.

Why did a simple massage sound so salacious when he said it?

Whitney, facing a portrait of mature mischief, found herself carried into a stylish suite.

Two therapists were already there waiting.

Ludwik set Whitney down gently—being pregnant, she could only get a foot rub.

He, on the other hand, stretched out on the bed with a male therapist attending to him.

He must be tired because he said no more. It seemed that he was always falling asleep quickly whenever she was around.

Whitney quietly dismissed her masseuse and moved next to him, attempting to adjust his position. Even in sleep, his brows were knitted in tension. She instinctively wanted to smooth them out but then her fingers brushed against his silver mask. Her heart skipped a beat.

Now, getting this close was her best chance to unveil the mystery.

Just one look beneath the mask, and she would see his true face, discovering who he really was.

Her nerves were taut, but she hesitated not. She'd soon know if he was the real Ludwik, wouldn't she?

She held her breath and lifted the mask, revealing a chiseled face with rising brows. But it was a face completely different from Ludwik's! A scar marred his eye socket, and Whitney froze in shock. He was indeed not the man she thought.

"What are you doing?" The cold tone was followed by a grip on her wrist, and he pinned her down.

His eyes flashed with a dangerous red hue, only softening when he recognized her. Whitney's hand throbbed with pain, "L…"

"Getting this close while I'm asleep is dangerous. And did you ask for my permission?" His eyes were icy, his anger palpable.

Whitney paled, her fear prompting a stammered explanation, "I just wanted to see you…"

"See what? I don't like being looked at. Don't ever be this rude again, got it?"

The stern warning that he gave intentionally surrounded her like frost.

"Okay…" Whitney's voice was small with a tinge of hurt.

He let her go and lay back down, his gaze cold and oceanic. He knew the girl would try something like this. He touched the mask on his face, hoping he'd managed the deception well. Noticing the silence beside him, he wondered if he frightened her with his anger.

Ludwik turned to see the complex look on her face.

Nearly chuckling, he pulled her close and softened his voice. "What's the matter? You don't like the scar?" he asked the question on purpose.

Whitney shook her head. It wasn't that; she just hadn't expected that he really wasn't Ludwik.

She couldn’t tell if she was relieved or somehow disappointed.

"So you think I'm ugly?" he teased further.

Whitney was speechless, "I haven't even seen all of you, but you're not as handsome as I imagined."

He shrugged, the rogue in him prominent, "Too bad, you've already agreed to give us a try. No returns now."