My father sold me to the Mafia King

Chapter 394

Julie’s point of view

My pupils dilated in sheer surprise. I was utterly stunned to see such desperation in his eyes; he had never once dared to ask for something like this before. Out of the sheer shock that paralyzed my tongue, I found myself nodding in silent, unconscious consent.

His rough fingers extended with excruciating slowness, weaving with exquisite softness through the strands of my brown hair cascading over my shoulder. He let his eyelids heavy-drop, whispering in a dazed tone: ”For years, I’ve wished to caress your hair like this... Every single day, I would close my eyes and imagine myself doing this with raw passion.”

A warm smile played on his lips. Looking into my eyes with hope, he continued: ”I imagine that you are my wife, that we live in one house together... and maybe we have a little girl who looks just like you, or a son... or two.”

My body locked in a quiet panic. I was profoundly shocked by the sheer scale of his delusions and the complete life he had woven with me in his mind, despite the fact that I had never once given him a single signal, hint, or encouraging move. How had he allowed his mind to sail so boldly? I stammered, attempting to put a stop to it:

”Mike... I...”

He cut me off with overwhelming eagerness, his fingers slowly sliding down to lightly trace the skin of my cheek with a breathless touch: ”I’ve pictured you sleeping peacefully like an angel, while I quietly move around the kitchen preparing your breakfast with love.”

His fingers came to a halt on my chin. Staring at me with bitter regret, he rasped in pain: ”The biggest, most cursed problem... is that I never once imagined that you could ever be in the hands of another man. Especially Jake.”

I decisively pulled my face away from his palm, my breath coming in quick succession:

”Mike... I am not with Jake in any way. I told you this.”

He sighed heavily, staring down at his empty hand in defeat:

”But you are simply not with me either, for fuck’s sake.”

Desperately trying to steer the suffocating conversation elsewhere, I quickly pushed myself up, saying with feigned nervousness:

”You left the front door wide open because we were so worked up... I’ll go close it quickly.”

I hadn’t even taken a single step before his massive hand clamped firmly around my wrist, pinning me in place with overwhelming force and completely preventing me from rising. He anchored his blazing eyes into mine, whispering breathlessly:

”Stay here by my side, please, Julie... don’t go.”

I blew out a sharp, frustrated breath. Glancing down at his grip, I rasped with a sharp edge:

”What exactly do you want from me right now, Mike?!”

He tightened his grip with a surging wave of raw emotion, crying out, his voice thick with unshed tears:

”I want you to actually love me! I just want you to look at me with passion, just once!”

My features hardened into a cold mask. In my entire life, I had only ever dealt with such an overwhelming confession of love once before when Carlos confessed his feelings to me in the past. I never imagined another man would stand before me, hurling all this agonizing pain and emotional resentment at my face.

I spoke in a tense, harsh tone to end this farce:

”Mike... for the love of God, stop this nonsense right now!”

He threw his body forward in a frantic rush, his voice dropping to a hiss dripping with heartbreak: ”I love you, Julie! I love you in a way I could never possibly describe to you in words!”

To hell with this entire situation; I seriously didn’t know how to handle confessions of love, nor did I have any experience dealing with these emotionally volatile moments. Mike pressed on, his breath coming in rapid gasps, his eyes bloodshot: ”Julie... I love you! Why don’t you have a single answer to what I’m saying, for heaven’s sake?! I adore you...”

Before he could utter another syllable or let me catch my breath, the front door burst open with violent suddenness. Steve strode in with wide, military steps, freezing in his tracks the instant he saw Mike in such a shocking, compromising proximity to me, catching the last words of his fiery confession. A terrifying harshness claimed my brother’s face, his features tightening with deep hostility as he roared, a booming shout that rattled the entire living room:

”Mike!”

Mike flinched in sudden panic, releasing my wrist in a flash as he scrambled backward away from the sofa, his voice breathless and dry:

”Steve.”

Steve advanced two steps with terrifying, military precision, folding his arms rigidly over his chest. He roared in blind fury: ”Why the hell are you confessing your love to my sister in such a sleazy way behind my back, Mike?! Where the fuck did you get this kind of audacity?!”

Mike’s jaw worked in tension as he tried to piece together his shattered composure, muttering: ”Steve... I was going to talk to you first about this, to actually ask for your blessing.”

Steve clenched his teeth hard, shouting in raw betrayal: ”But you’re talking to my sister and sneaking around with her instead of coming to me, for god’s sake!”

I quickly intervened to cool down the high-voltage atmosphere, saying in a firm tone: ”Steve... calm down, he didn’t say or do anything that crossed the line. Absolutely not.”

Steve whipped his head toward me, his glare dripping with strictness as he raised a warning finger: ”Julie! Shut up and stay out of this mess!”

He turned back to Mike, his words heavy with finality and anger: ”You know the rules of friendship perfectly well... A friend’s sister is completely off-limits. You stabbed me in the back with this cheap stunt!”

Mike shook his head regretfully, muttering: ”You know me, Steve... You know perfectly well that I would never hurt Julie in any way.”

Steve shot back in a dry, cutting tone: ”I certainly know that... but your complete lack of respect for me as a man, and hitting on my sister behind my back, is testing my absolute limits!”

Mike sighed in deep sorrow, his voice low: ”You know exactly how much I respect you and value our friendship, Steve.”