AN: Yay, another update. :D This chapter has a little more Kaiba in it now, like I promised! Enjoy!
CHAPTER X
The Lion's Den
"Wait here. Mr. Kaiba will be right with you." The man named Roland said to Liv and left her to herself in the impressive foyer of the mansion. Everything was decorated in ice blue shades and silver, which fitted perfectly into the massive rooms of the castle. In the middle of the room stood a round baroque style table and on top of it stood a silver vase with white roses. It was an elegant combination of the antique and the modern style. 'At least he has some taste… or enough money for an interior design consultant.' Liv thought to herself while she was waiting.
"Miss O'Heire." Kaiba greeted in his usual stone cold tone when he came around the corner. He was dressed in a skinny fitting black pant with strap decorations on it and a turtleneck jersey, which accentuated his tall and thin masculine frame. Of course he finished his outfit off with a belt with a Kaiba Corp buckle on it.
"Mr. Kaiba." She answered quite emotionless, trying not to strangle him right here and now.
"I hope you recovered from the attack?" He asked casually and stopped in front of her. Seto then offered his hand for a shake like it was all business. Liv looked down to his hand in hesitation. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, because she didn't feel very comfortable in the lion's den. After a few seconds Seto arched one of his brows at her when the situation slowly started to become a little awkward.
"I'm fine. Thanks for the invitation." She then said dryly and shook his hand. An ice cold shiver shot down her neck and spine when her hand touched his. Liv forced a smile on her lips. "You have a pretty nice home, Mr. Kaiba."
"Nice to hear. Thanks for helping Mokuba. He's already waiting in the salon. Follow me, Miss O'Heire." He said firmly and mentioned for her to follow him through the great white double door. Once they reached the salon a high-pitched voice almost hurt Liv's ears.
"Olivia!" Mokuba squeaked in joy and hugged her cautiously, because his arm was still bandaged. "Thanks for coming! It's so good to see you! I hope you are fine!"
A gentle smile played an her lips when she looked down at Mokuba and brushed over his black hair. "Good to see that you're fine, Mokuba."
"Please, sit down. May I get you something to drink? Cognac? Or something else as an aperitif?" Seto asked and interrupted their little reunion.
Liv blinked at him. Seto Kaiba offering to get her something to drink still felt awkward. "I'm fine with a Pepsi. Thanks." She said and glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. While he ordered his butler to get them their drinks she took a closer look at the luxurious salon. The floor was tiled with finest mahogany wood. Two royal blue velvet couches in Chesterfield style were the centrepiece of the salon. The cocktail table looked like it cost a fortune and was decorated with white orchids. A fireplace right beside the couches gave the whole room a cozy atmosphere and the orange flickering light of the flames painted the furniture with its warm colours.
She then sat down on one of the Chesterfield couches and Mokuba took the place right next to her. Liv didn't really know what to say to start a conversation with the tall CEO, who took a little sip of his cognac. Bakura's idea of being a Trojan horse was brilliant but so hard to put into action.
"You look a little nervous, Miss O'Heire." Seto then said as he sat down across of her and crossed his legs in an elegant fashion. His long piano thin fingers played along the edge of his cognac glass while his piercing blue eyes stared right into hers.
Liv blinked at him a little surprised. "No, I'm not. I'm just not used to be invited for dinner by someone…"
He cut her off. "Someone like me?"
She nodded. "Yep."
Mokuba giggled beside her. "My brother is a super nice guy as soon as you know him better. He's just acting like a cold stone all the time."
"Mokuba." Seto exhorted and rolled his eyes.
Liv then gave the older brother a pointed look. "Oh really… is that so?" A little smirk played on her lips, but he didn't give her an adequate answer to her question.
"Well, Miss O'Heire. Why don't you tell us a little bit about you. Why did you decide on studying IT here in Domino?" Seto asked to change the topic. His icy eyes never left her out of sight. For Liv they felt like thousands of tiny needles were poking her without mercy.
She took a sip of her Pepsi before answering. "Because it's the only thing I'm brilliant in. I've always been fascinated by codes and programming things." Liv answered casually and avoided to tell Seto that her beloved father was the reason for her fascination.
"You have a lot of self esteem." He stated dryly. "Your courage to save my brother from those bullies proved it once again. That was very brave of you."
"Nothing to thank for." She said. "I was wondering what was in that metal case the assholes took from Mokuba. There must have been something in there that was worthy enough to hurt Mokuba like that."
Seto's lips formed a wry line. "Prototypes. You don't need to know more."
Liv's eyes narrowed in curiosity. There must be more to it than just "prototypes". But before she was able to say anything more one of Seto's butlers entered the salon. "Mr. Kaiba, dinner is served and ready."
After they moved to the dining room the three of them sat down at the long table. It didn't take long and the soup was served by Seto's personell.
"What are your plans after your graduation?" Seto asked when he finished the first course.
"I don't know yet. Find a well payed job as a programmer or establish my own company to compete with you, Mr. Kaiba." She teased him with a hint of sarcasm in her undertone and a smirk on her lips.
Again Mokuba grinned sheepishly. "Hahahaha. I like her!"
"I don't believe that someone could ever compete with Kaiba Corp." Seto commented dryly. "Tell me, Miss O'Heire, what are your parents doing for a living?" He asked to get back to the basic small talk.
Liv's hands balled into fists at his question beneath the table and she tried her best not to loose her composure. Her jade eyes locked with his icy blue ones for a second and she wished she could just punch him right into his visage. "My mother stayed at home after giving birth to me and decided to enjoy life as a housewife. My father earned good money at a big company here in Japan. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago." She explained without giving Seto too much information about herself.
"Oh gosh… I'm so sorry to hear that, Liv." Mokuba said with a sad undertone.
She shrugged and tried to keep her emotions at bay. "Yes, cancer."
"I'm sorry." Seto said too and gave one of his butlers a pointed look like he wanted to say that they were ready for the main course. For a split second Liv glared daggers at the good looking CEO in front of her. 'You are the cancer that wrecked my life.' She hissed mentally.
"Alright, let's talk about something more… positive." Liv suggested and and forced a smile. "I always wondered how it feels to run such a big company together with your brother at such a young age, Mokuba. That's pretty fascinating."
The dinner went on with regular small talk, but Liv and Seto still didn't break the ice that separated them. Fortunately Mokuba was the one who talked through the whole evening, so the atmosphere never became more awkward than it already was.
Once the dinner was over Seto ordered Mokuba to go to bed early and get some rest. Being all alone with Seto Kaiba, the person she hated the most, was like pure torture for her. But then she remembered what Bakura had said to her. They were back at the salon and sat across of each other in awkward silence until Seto started to speak.
"Normally I wouldn't wine and dine with someone who dared to speak to me like you did when we first met at university, Miss O'Heire." Seto said firmly and gave her a pointed stare. "I don't know why you think like that about me and maybe you're right, but I don't care at all. I'm used to it that people think I'm a self-regarding bold guy who owns a successful company. All that matters to me now is that you saved my brothers life and I always settle a debt."
Liv arched a brow at him. "What do you mean, Mr. Kaiba?"
Her jade coloured eyes followed his motions cautiously while he withdrew something from his pockets. He then handed her a silver envelope. "Since you didn't tell me how I can say thank you for what you've done for Mokuba I thought this should do it."
"What is that?" Liv asked and took it from him. His icy irises watched her every move while she opened the envelope. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw a big pack of bank notes in it. She was lost for words for a second.
His eyes narrowed at her, but also Seto didn't say a word. Liv then just closed the envelope again and put it down in the cocktail table in front of her. "No deal."
"No deal?" Seto asked a little surprised.
"Neither I want nor do I need your money, Mr. Kaiba." Liv said dryly. "I want something completely different."
"Then tell me." Seto said and leaned a little forward. His eyes looked straight into her soul. "Tell me what you want, Miss O'Heire." The undertone of his voice had something… sexy in it. She didn't know why but it gave her goosebumps all over.
"A job." Liv said perky.
Seto started to laugh. "A job… are you serious? Kaiba Corp doesn't hire people without qualifications." He then stood up and walked over to her and also Liv stood up from where she sat.
"I already told you that I'm the best you can get, Mr. Kaiba." She protested with a little grin on her lips. "You were the one who said I should think about how you can say thank you. That's what I want. I want a job in your programming unit." Her gaze was solid and confident.
He stared down at her with his arms elegantly crossed in front of his chest. "Miss O'Heire, the programming unit is…" But she cut him short.
"Just the right place for me, Mr. Kaiba."
His blue eyes narrowed to slits and he leant a little down to her until his face was close to her ear. "Deal. Don't disappoint me, because there won't be special treatments."
"You won't regret it." She said under her breath, a little surprised by the little distance between them. But she played along with it. "I guess it's time for me to go home now. It's late and I really need to get some sleep. I don't want to be late for ma first day of work, because my boss is a pretty strict guy."
Seto smirked a little. "That's right and it's definitely not a good idea to make your boss angry. I'll drive you home now."
Liv blinked at him in surprise. "Why don't you order one of your slaves in suits to drive me home?"
"I might be an asshole like you used to call it, Miss O'Heire, but I'm still a gentleman." He retorted in his usual arrogant fashion. "Believe it or not."
Liv's eyes needed a few seconds to adjust to the brightness when Seto switched on the light in his garage. She was lost for words for a moment when she saw all the luxury cars in there. Maserati, Rolls Royce, Maybach, Mercedes AMG, Tesla. "Seriously…?"
"What?" He questioned and looked back at her over his shoulder.
She crossed her arms in front if her chest. "Ah nothing. I was always wondering of men are trying to compensate something with buying such expensive cars. Don't you think?"
"You should be a little less cheeky if you don't want to get fired on your first day at Kaiba Corp." He suggested arrogantly when they both got into the silver Maserati cabriolet. "I'm thankful for what you've done for Mokuba, but I'm your boss now. Don't forget that."
"Yeah… looks like it." Liv sighed and buckled up.
They didn't talk a lot during the ride, which didn't take long thanks to the powerful motor of the luxurious car. It was almost midnight and the streets were busy with lots of young people in front of the night clubs. Liv yawned when tiredness slowly started to overwhelm her.
"Alright. We're here." Seto said when he stopped the car in front of Bakura's home.
"Thanks for driving me home, boss." Liv said a little amused and out special emphasis to the last word. "And thanks for the dinner."
"I'll see you at exactly 8am on Monday in my office. You'll get your work attire and everything else. Don't be late, Miss O'Heire." Seto said and gave her a pointed look. "Have a good night."
"Of course, big boss." She blinked at him and opened the door and got off the car. "Have a good night too. See you on Monday." Liv gave him a little grin and closed the door of the Maserati. His icy irises watched her walking up to the house until she was out of sight.
Seto let out a sigh and rubbed his temples. "I can't believe I did that."
AN: I hope I didn't mess up with the interactions between them here. xD But I somehow love that "Mr" and "Miss" thing here haha. Hope you enjoyed it anyways.
