My father sold me to the Mafia King-Chapter 76 - 77/Not Like the Others

Chapter 77:

Carlos’s Point of View

I tightened my grip with excessive force on the golden handle of my cane until I felt the coldness of the metal piercing my palm,

and a rigid expression formed on my face as I said in a calm tone, cloaked in an underlying threat:

"I see that you wish for my death."

She didn’t flinch; instead, she tilted her lips slightly to form a cold smile and replied icily:

"Never, Mr. Carlos... don’t misunderstand the matter."

Her eyes were shining with a lethal defiance, a vast greenness resembling mysterious meadows, to the point that for a moment I felt a slight dizziness as if I would lose myself in the depths of that gaze.

I averted my eyes from her with a great effort and shifted my sight toward Robert, who was watching the scene in a suspicious silence, and said to him while trying to regain my dignity:

"I wasn’t wrong when I described her as crazy."

A faint smile formed on Robert’s lips, and he exhaled his cigarette smoke slowly as he replied:

"You weren’t wrong, my friend."

At that moment, Julie turned her entire body toward Robert, fixed her sharp gaze in his eyes, and said in a powerful tone that made the air in the room turn stiff:

"After these words, Mr. Robert... I doubt that you can take respect, even if it is by force."

Robert’s body stiffened suddenly, and his hand, which was toyed with the lighter over the desk, stopped.

Robert said in a low voice carrying a chilling metallic tone:

"Don’t worry about me, Julie, because I will take it regardless of the method."

Julie remained watching the contours of his face with firmness, her green eyes never wavering from his, before he broke the intensity of the silence, saying:

"Now... go and bring us two cups of coffee."

My eyes dilated in shock, and I felt my body stiffen in the chair;

I couldn’t explain the reason for involving Julie in such tasks, nor the reason for her repeated and noticeable presence in his private office.

Julie raised her eyebrow, tilting her head slightly as she asked in a tone dripping with sarcasm:

"And from where do I bring the coffee, Mr. Robert? Would you be so kind as to explain to me?"

Robert pointed with the tip of his cigarette toward the exit without looking at her, and replied bluntly:

"There is a guard at the door; ask him and he will show you where."

At that moment, I could no longer endure the confusion gnawing at my head, so I leaned my body toward Robert and asked him in an audible voice:

"What is the reason for having Julie bring us coffee, Robert?"

But Julie was the one who took over the response; she turned toward me, a bitter smile forming on her lips as she said:

"I will tell you... your dear friend decided to make me his maid, I mean his personal assistant."

The blood froze in my veins, and I felt my hand gripping my golden cane with a force that almost crushed the handle.

I couldn’t believe that Robert, who hates having assistants around him and surrounds himself only with men,

chooses Julie that girl he bought with money to be a mere commodity in his club to place her in this position close to him.

Julie moved toward the door with steady steps, but Robert’s voice stopped her before she touched the handle:

"Bring it without sugar."

Julie turned to him, giving him a final, long look that was enough to burn everything in its path, then went out and closed the door behind her with a force that echoed throughout the room.

I clamped my palm over the head of my golden cane as I leaned my body toward him, piercing the smoke cloud separating us, and asked him in a wavering voice:

"Can you explain why Julie has become your personal assistant?"

Robert didn’t flinch; instead, he raised his eyes with a provocative slowness and replied coldly as he leaned his back against his chair:

"Carlos... you know that I don’t explain my private matters to anyone."

I felt a vein pulsing in my forehead, so I said sharply, making my tone of voice rise slightly:

"But you know that I wanted her! I told you clearly that I wanted to buy her, Robert... so she is considered among my private matters as well."

He stopped moving completely and shot me a look as piercing as a blade, saying:

"I didn’t give you any promises, Carlos, and you know very well that she would never agree to be sold like a piece of furniture."

He puffed his cigarette smoke into the air, watching the gray wisps vanish before continuing:

"You saw for yourself what she did to the waiter... she smashed his head with a wine bottle without even blinking."

I struck the end of my cane against the floor with force and said while trying to restrain my anger:

"But I was planning to make her surrender to me, Robert... I was going to break that pride."

A short, mocking laugh escaped his chest, and he shook his head like someone pitying my state, saying:

"Julie surrendering? You’re dreaming, Carlos."

The ego ignited within me, so I straightened my posture and said in a sharp tone filled with confidence:

"Why? Don’t you see how women dream that I would give them just one look?"

He fixed his gaze in my eyes, and the intensity of his voice faded to become deeper as he replied:

"I know this... but not her. She is never like them."

At that moment, I felt something strange creeping through his tone; there was a hidden appreciation, or perhaps a concealed possessiveness behind his words.

I narrowed my eyes while examining the hard features of his face, and asked him directly:

"Robert... answer me honestly, do you see Julie differently?"

Robert’s smile widened, and he burst out laughing loudly, the sound echoing throughout the luxury office, then said as he wiped the corner of his eye with his hand:

"What’s wrong with you, Carlos? Have you started to go senile at this age?"

I clamped my fingers over the grip of my golden cane with even more force,

leaning my body toward his desk as if I were cornering him with my words, and said in a low voice charged with suspicion:

"Robert... you never employ personal assistants, and you don’t let the girls you rent step over the threshold of your office... and this girl has broken two of your most sacred rules. How do you explain this?"

A heavy silence loomed over the place, and Robert remained fixed in his spot, watching the burning tip of his cigarette as if he had no immediate answer.

Then he took a long drag and exhaled slowly as he said:

"I will admit... she is different. She didn’t submit despite all my attempts to break her, and despite her young age, she possesses a strong will."

His words fell on my ears like the impact of lead; his tone stirred a forest of suspicions inside my chest,

and I began to realize with certainty that Julie interests him just as much as she did me.

For the first time, I felt the heat of jealousy stinging my pride and boiling in my blood, so I said sharply:

"Is that why she is no longer a commodity now?"

Robert raised his gaze toward me, and a rigid expression that conveyed nothing formed on his face as he replied:

"She paid the price for saving herself; I didn’t give her anything for free, Carlos."

I narrowed my eyes, trying to read what was behind his masks, and asked him with an anxious inquiry:

"And what is the price?"

Robert returned to lean back against his leather chair, which emitted a slight creak, shot me a mysterious look, then said coldly:

"Let’s say it’s a high price."