Chapter 3 Under The Boss's Eyes

• "You can't dance without music. So go ahead. Pick the songs you like." The boss thrust his tablet at me, leaving me no choice but to approach and take it. While thinking, can I secretly use it to search for striptease tutorials since I know absolutely nothing about it?
• Should I take off all my clothes? I mean, they're called strippers because they dance without clothes, right? But... How could I, who can't even dance, do it in front of a man with nothing on?
• "Is something wrong?"His voice pulled me out of my reverie, making me realize that I had made him wait too long while I was busy thinking about what I would do.
• "You... Do you really want me to dance for you here in your room?" I asked this stupid question to buy time while I thought of something more reasonable to get out of this situation.
• He raised an eyebrow, which worried me because it seemed like my question had offended him.
• "Do you doubt that I won't be able to resist doing anything other than enjoying your dance just because you're doing it in my room?" he asked, making me widen my eyes.
• As if to reassure me, he lifted the corner of his left lip slightly to form a slight smirk. "For now, I just want to see how well you dance. That way, I can judge if I have something useful in my house or not."
• "What will you do if my dancing is not good enough to satisfy you?" I asked.
• He tilted his head, as if he was thinking about his answer, before he replied, "Well, I could kick you out, have my men lock you in the basement, or shoot you in the head. Depends on how bad it is. So make sure you do your best to have a long career in my house, Sweetie."
• I furrowed my brow. I didn't want to build a career as a f*ck*ng stripper by giving him my best performance, but I couldn't endanger myself by giving a bad performance either.
• "Or you can choose to remain silent. I wouldn't mind normalizing you and making you into a beautiful statue to decorate my room," he said, still in his calm tone that made me shiver. How could he convey the idea of making me into a statue with such a calm tone and expression?
• I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping it would calm me down. "What happened today still leaves me in a state of shock. I'm afraid I won't be able to give my best performance."
• "What happened to make you so shocked that you can't dance?" he asked in wonder, which made me wonder even more.
• "I saw people being attacked and dying in front of my eyes. Of course I was so shocked!" I said, unable to hide the horror in my voice as the incident at the club came back to me.
• "Why would you be shocked by the deaths of people you don't know?" he asked, making me feel like he was some kind of combination of psychopath and sociopath. "They were all bad people anyway, so there's no reason to be sad about their deaths."
• "But–“
• "The point is, you can't dance for me now." He interrupted me, and I immediately fell silent. That's right. Instead of arguing about what he did to the people in the club, I should be thinking about my own fate—which is probably to meet those people soon because I can't dance.
• "Take it easy and get a good night's sleep. You can invite me to the disco room when you're ready to dance for me," he said, making me stare in disbelief.
• "You're... Are you really going to let me go without dancing tonight?" I asked, just to make sure, because the glasses guy who had deceived me was making me have trust issues with the people here.
• "We still have plenty of time, so there's no rush," he replied as he held out his hand. I gave him a confused look before blinking and quickly handing the tablet back to him when I realized that was what he wanted–not something else like asking me to climb on his bed.
• "Theo will take you to your room," he said, making me look back at the glasses guy still standing at the door waving at me.
• "I can go by myself!" I refused, clearly indicating that I wanted nothing to do with this liar.
• "This house is quite huge, and there are so many hallways and doors that you'll get confused. Although it's quite entertaining to watch you spin around and check door after door to find my room, I don't want you to get any more tired. You need a good rest to dance well," the boss explained, causing me to open my mouth in disbelief.
• Oh, of course! How could I think that the mansion where Aeturnus's boss lived didn't have CCTV in every corner? He must have been using his tablet to watch me all the time, and just like that d*mn guy named Theo, he must have thought of me as his stupid toy.
• ***
• "It really is in every corner," I muttered as I walked back to my room, looking at the CCTV mounted on the corner of the ceiling. I immediately turned my face away as the lights flickered, making me uncomfortable at the thought that the boss was watching me from his tablet.
• "Other than the boss, only Dean and I are free to roam this house. The maids will clean up while the boss is away, and there's a button in the kitchen to call a chef to cook for you 24/7. You are free to roam around and do whatever you want in this house, including trying to escape. But outside the gate, this house is heavily guarded by the members of Aeturnus. So you might only be able to run as far as the gate," Theo explained, which made me snort at him.
• "Your boss doesn't have any other captives?" I asked, not caring about the mockery at the end of his sentence.
• "Of course, there are many. They are kept in special rooms, dark and cramped, and are punished regularly as a consequence of their actions. But unfortunately, they are not placed in this house, so you won't have a partner to run away with," Theo said, which made me squint at him as he teased me again.
• "I won't run away! Are you happy?" I insisted, which made him nod.
• "That's a wise decision. You have no idea how bad things are out there," he said, making me snort, thinking he was talking about the Aeturnus members standing guard.
• "Are you going straight to bed?" he asked after we reached the front of my room.
• "Of course, I'm going straight to bed! Do you think I'm going to run away?" I grumbled. Even though I wanted to get out of here, I wouldn't be rash and try to escape because I already knew there was no way I could fool the CCTV and the guards out there.
• But Theo chuckled and shook his head. "If it were me, I would have practiced dancing all night instead of sleeping. You can't always buy time not to dance. My boss is not so patient."
• I was stunned again. Was my every move so suspicious that he could read my intentions? Did the boss also know I was just making excuses not to dance?
• "Is there CCTV in my room too?" I asked before entering my room.
• "Do you think my boss is a pervert? He wouldn't put CCTV in a private room, so there's no shame in practicing dancing here," Theo replied, which made me frown–I was annoyed that he always thought about what I wanted to do as he pleased.
• I went into my room and walked towards the bed. But when I passed the mirror, I turned around to look at myself for a longer time. I looked at my body, touching my boobs and *ss, while thinking, am I not s*xy enough for the boss?
• In all the books I've read in the dark romance genre–which I had to read in secret, or my dad would take me for an exorcism if he knew his innocent daughter was reading them–where a mobster is the main character, they're always portrayed the same way when it comes to the female protagonist; pushy, perverted, and never satisfied about her.
• I didn't expect Aeturnus' boss to force me into his bed and r*p* me, but the way he let me go so easily made me feel a little insulted. Was I not as s*xy as the protagonists in the novel to arouse him? Was I not his taste? Had those writers lied about mobsters being perverts?
• "The hell with whether he's a pervert or not! Why am I worrying like it's something disappointing?" I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought.
• I climbed onto my bed, thinking about closing out this long day with some sleep, when my phone ringing made me jump.
• I grabbed my phone, which I'd hidden under my pillow, and my eyes widened when I saw my dad's contact listed there. I tried to answer it, but unfortunately, my phone screen was broken from the fall when I ran out of the club so I couldn't answer it.
• "Oh, come on! Don't do this to me!" I was on the verge of tears, so desperate that it seemed like my phone screen was completely broken.
• Until finally it stopped ringing because I didn't answer it.
• I bit my lower lip. The tears gathering in my eyes blurred my vision, but I quickly wiped them away when I heard an incoming text notification.
• When I saw the text my dad had sent on my phone's lock screen, my whole body instantly shivered as I realized that I wouldn't be able to leave this place anytime soon.
• 'Sweetheart, are you okay? The situation here is not good, so you can't come home for a while. Daddy will go into hiding, and you won't be able to contact me for a while. You have to hide, too. When it's safe, I promise to come get you. Just wait until I come.'