My father sold me to the Mafia King-Chapter 81 - 82/Danger and safety in the same body

Chapter 82:

Robert’s Point of View

Julie raised her hands in the air with a gesture of disapproval, and words rushed sharply from between her lips:

"Really? My new job? And what is this great job?"

She had barely finished her sentence when the silence of the room was shattered by the sound of claws hitting the wooden floor rapidly;

Axel was running impulsively, not stopping until he surrounded her feet with his massive body.

A thunderous scream erupted from her throat, and she lost her balance to the point that she tripped on thin air and was on the verge of hitting the ground.

In the blink of an eye, my arm extended to encircle her waist, catching her before she fell.

She clung to my jacket with trembling fingers like a drowning woman, then quickly maneuvered her body to hide behind me,

pressing against my back so tightly that I felt her racing heartbeat thumping against my spine.

She whispered from behind me in a voice choked with terror:

"What is this?"

Axel jumped toward me with excitement, so I extended my hand to caress his face and pat his head.

Then I turned my head slightly toward her and asked in a tone cloaked in amusement:

"Are you afraid of dogs, Julie?"

She answered while still clinging to my jacket with all her might, refusing to loosen her grip:

"He’s huge! He lunged at me... he was going to bite me!"

I couldn’t suppress a light laugh that came from deep within me as I looked at her terrified state, and I said:

"He’s a Doberman, Julie... and a Doberman doesn’t bite its owners."

Then I directed my gaze at Axel and ordered him in a definitive voice:

"Sit!"

The dog responded immediately and settled in his place quietly.

I turned my gaze back to her and said:

"You can let go of my jacket now, it’s completely wrinkled... he won’t do anything to you."

She replied in a tone full of suspicion while cautiously peeking from behind my shoulder:

"No... he attacked me; he was definitely going to hurt me!"

I shook my head helplessly and said while contemplating Axel, who was watching her with an unusual curiosity:

"He is not harmful at all, and usually, he doesn’t approach strangers or touch anyone... I don’t know how he dared to do that with you."

She averted her gaze toward the dog, then threw me a venomous look and said:

"He’s your dog... surely he resembles you in his nature."

My fist clenched so hard that my knuckles turned white, and I felt a slight wave of anger sweep through my chest,

so I said in a low, threatening tone:

"Are you insulting me now, Julie?"

She didn’t hesitate; instead, she lifted her chin in defiance despite her body’s trembling and replied:

"It is the truth."

I drew a cold smile on my lips and said, gesturing to her position of clinging to me:

"And if I am a monster as you claim, why are you seeking refuge behind my back with all this panic?"

Suddenly, she became self-aware and released my jacket quickly as if she had touched burning embers,

then stepped back, trying to regain her lost dignity, and said in a voice she tried to make confident:

"I... I am not seeking refuge in you, it was just a reaction."

I said in a commanding tone as I watched her confusion:

"Fine... step forward now, and stand right here in front of me."

She took her steps with clear tension, her eyes never leaving Axel, who sat quietly watching her intelligently.

She stood before me, fending off the attack of my gaze with her question:

"Yes? What is my new job?"

I extended my hand and pointed my index finger toward Axel, saying with utter seriousness:

"This is your job."

Her features froze for a second, then her eyes widened in complete shock, and she said while pointing her finger at the dog:

"What? What am I going to do? Am I going to take care of your dog?"

I shook my head calmly and answered:

"Yes... exactly."

Expressions of mockery mixed with shock formed on her face, and she screamed in a tone in which she lost control of her nerves:

"You have certainly lost your mind completely!"

A heavy silence prevailed in the room; Julie was shifting her gaze between me and Axel as if trying to grasp the magnitude of the predicament,

then she stepped back and shook her head slowly, saying:

"I cannot do this... I’m sorry."

I fixed my gaze on her eyes, relaxing my shoulders with a lethal coldness, and said:

"I am not asking for your opinion, Julie... I am commanding you."

She startled in her place, straightening her posture with clear rebellion while the words rushed from between her lips:

"You won’t be able to force me to do something I don’t want!"

I drew a cold smile and stepped toward her slowly until I felt her panting breath fanning my face, and I said in a steady voice:

"I gave you a chance to save yourself, and you are the one who accepted my deal of your own free will."

She shook her hands with an agitation that made her body tremble, and shouted in my face:

"I sent someone to prison because of it! Isn’t that a sufficient price?"

I leaned my head toward her ear and lowered my voice to a whisper that carried an omen of doom:

"You should have realized from the beginning... that was just a gateway to a new hell, Julie."

She couldn’t endure my words; she rushed toward me with fast, violent steps, and gripped the lapels of my jacket with both hands,

pulling me toward her with sudden force, her green eyes burning with a rage that almost scorched me as she screamed:

"Did you mock me? Were you playing with me all this time?"

I spotted Axel springing from his place in the blink of an eye; his powerful body muscles tensed,

and he leaped toward Julie in a swift offensive movement to pull her away from me, for he cannot stand anyone touching me in such a crude manner.

Before his claws reached her, I encircled her waist with my arm and pulled her toward me with a force that made her collide with my solid chest,

then I turned my body to make my back a barrier between her and the raging dog, and I shouted in a commanding tone that shook the corners of the room:

"Axel! Back to your place!"

The dog retreated immediately and complied with the order, but Julie was in another world of terror.

I felt her small fingers piercing the fabric of my shirt,

clinging to it desperately as if she were trying to enter between my ribs, while she buried her face completely in my chest.

Her body was trembling violently under my hands,

and her panting, rapid breaths were striking my skin through the shirt in a troubled rhythm that signaled the extent of her dread.

I loosened my grip slightly around her waist and said in a calm, firm tone, devoid of any mockery this time:

"Calm down... it’s over."