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."
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: My father sold me to the Mafia King