Desire Me If You Can [Novel] - Chapter 44

Once Dane heard that the child was safely on the way to the hospital, he let out a deep sigh of relief. As everyone else who had heard the news rejoiced, excitedly sharing their feelings, Wilkins suddenly shouted.
“That’s it, Miller!”
At those words, everyone suddenly remembered what they had forgotten-the reason they had come here in the first place. For a moment, they blinked, stunned. Wilkins, seeing his subordinates’ blank faces, sighed in frustration and harshly pressed them.
“You’ve all been looking for Miller! Has anyone found anything? Any leads?”
The sun was already setting. At Wilkins’s urgent question, no one could answer. Naturally. No one knew where Grayson was, except for one person.
This damn bastard is still making trouble.
Stopping, Dane recalled the forgotten memory and swallowed his curse, rushing back to the house from earlier.
The sound of thick raindrops hitting the ground was deafening. Grayson sat on the basement floor, humming an aimless tune. It was something he used to do when he was a child.
Killing time like this was nothing new for him. He would daydream, sing, or even sleep, and eventually, the locked door would open, and his time of liberation would come. This time, it would be the same. He just had to endure the boring wait.
Humming a tune out of key and leaning against  the wall, Grayson heard the clinking sound of a key turning in the lock, mixed with the sound of rain. Someone was entering the house.
Was it Santiano’s father?
Grayson thought as he remained seated. Soon, the door would open. The person would walk around the house and eventually come to this room.
His predictions were mostly right. He heard the sound of footsteps getting closer and farther, as if going between the kitchen and the front door.
When would the door open?
Grayson sat, whistling softly. To the person waiting, time always feels endlessly long. He knew this well. Whether he was left alone in the basement or when all his brothers found their fates and he was left alone, Grayson thought the same thing: Waiting always feels far longer than it actually is, and that’s why people get impatient. In reality, time doesn’t pass that quickly. So, he thought, I can wait as long as it takes.
Look at me now.
The sound of footsteps grew closer again. Finally, the key was inserted into the basement door, and Grayson stopped whistling, a slight smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
The man had gone in and out less than a hundred times.
The old lock creaked as it opened, and finally, the basement door that led into the living room opened. “… What’s this?”
The man, expecting to find his son, was taken aback when he saw a strange man standing in the basement. His eyes darted around the dark room, but nothing changed. Once he realized his son wasn’t here, he quickly focused his gaze back on Grayson.
“Who… who are you? Where is my son?”
His voice was shaky, probably because of the tension, and it came out unnaturally high. Grayson slowly stood up. The man, shocked by his towering height, swallowed nervously and took a step back.
“Wait, stay right there! Don’t come any closer!”
“I’m Grayson Miller.”
Grayson politely introduced himself with a smile. The smile he used when introducing himself was the same every time-something he had learned through years of practice, and it never failed.
It was a smile that made everyone feel at ease and made him appear charming, but this time, it didn’t work. The man, more frightened, took another step back, pale as a ghost.
“You… stop! Don’t come any closer!”
The man shouted, now in full panic, and pulled out a gun from his waist, pointing it at Grayson. The smile disappeared from Grayson’s face. The bloodshot eyes and trembling barrel of the gun seemed to confirm that the man was serious.
Shit, I didn’t expect this.
Grayson slowly crossed his arms in a gesture of surrender. A tense silence fell between them.
Outside the house, there was an old truck that Dane hadn’t seen earlier. It seemed that Santiano’s father had returned. In the short time it took for him to process everything, Dane’s mind raced with thoughts.
Has Miller already left? There might be no one left there now. Should I just go back? With the domestic violence report filed, the police should take care of the rest. I probably don’t need to go. But what if Miller’s still there? What if he’s in some sort of standoff with the father? But wouldn’t he just find a way out? No, what if it’s the father I need to worry about? Damn it! Useless bastard, causing all this trouble. If I catch him, I’ll beat him senseless. The front door wasn’t locked. Holding his breath, Dane entered. A chilling tension filled the air. There was no sound, but instinctively, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, as if sensing danger.
“I thought people usually leave guns at home, but carrying it on you? You’re a dangerous man.”
Dane froze at the sudden voice. He recognized it immediately-the voice of the man he had come to find. No way, it can’t be.
Dane denied reality. He wanted nothing more than to pretend he hadn’t heard and back away quietly, but unfortunately, he had inadvertently found the source of the danger. As he turned to leave, he saw the man’s back, aiming the gun at the basement, just a few steps from the front door.
Shit.
In a genuinely frustrating moment, Dane rubbed his forehead. Moments later, he heard the man’s coarse voice. Standing across from him was another man who clearly shouldn’t have been there. No one would want their worst premonition to come true. But now, in front of Dane, the worst possible scenario was unfolding.
Shooting Grayson Miller with a gun was something that existed only in Dane’s imagination, but now it was happening right in front of him, and it left him feeling conflicted. The reason he hadn’t done it in reality was because dealing with the aftermath was too much trouble. But to have to deal with the consequences of someone else’s mess was absurd.
He had to finish this situation before things got ugly. Just as he was about to make a move, the man shouted. “Shut up, you bastard! Where is my son? Where is Santiano? Give him back!”
“I’m trying to tell you.”
In stark contrast to the man’s angry shouting, Grayson’s voice remained calm. He continued, speaking in his usual, smile-filled tone.
“Your son got punished and was put in the basement. But something happened, and he’s not here anymore. It’s just me now. Don’t get mad that he left halfway. I’m the one who stayed behind. So, he’s already been punished, right? Isn’t that enough? We just need to fill up the numbers, right?”
The words were nonsense, of course. And Dane wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“What the hell are you talking about, you fucking bastard…”