Desire Me If You Can [Novel] - Chapter 67

A sudden, unsettling feeling jolted Dane awake. He immediately sat up and scanned the room, his senses on high alert. He strained his ears, but there was no sound.
…Was it just a hallucination?
Nothing seemed to have changed visually. Yet, the eerie sensation persisted. Dane reached out and turned on the lamp on the side table. After confirming that he was alone in the room, he slowly stepped out of bed and began walking around the room. He touched each wall and examined the furniture, and after thoroughly checking, he exhaled a relieved sigh. It must have been a hallucination…
Just as he thought that and was about to return to the bed, something caught his eye. The thick blackout curtains were drawn tightly over the window. He stood there for a moment, glaring at them, before suddenly pulling the open.
curtains
“Ha.”
An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. There was nothing outside the window. The sight of the dark wall blocking the view left him speechless for a moment. Immediately, he tore the curtain off, wrapped his hand around it, and shattered the window with a sharp crack. He swore under his breath as a sharp pain spread through his hand, and he clenched it. Carefully avoiding stepping on the broken glass, he reached out to touch the outside of the window, and once again, he was certain-roughly, he could feel it was definitely a rock wall.
What is this…?
The situation made no sense. Frowning, Dane stood still for a moment, something clicking in his mind. Could it be…?
Dane dashed out of the room in a panic. The small lights on the walls made it easy enough to make out objects, but the place was still too dark.
Hasn’t it gotten light by now? Could it still be night? It must still be night…
He forced himself to deny the uneasy feeling creeping up inside him, running through the house. Eventually, Dane found himself standing dumbfounded in the middle of the living room. The entire house was like that. The villa, which had once been above ground, now felt as if it had sunk into the earth, with all the surroundings blocked off.
This fucking bastard…
Dane was utterly stunned, but there was only one person who could explain this situation. His anger rising, Dane shouted.
“Grayson Miller!”
With a crash, Dane threw the door open and barged in, letting out a stunned sigh. The cause of this ridiculous situation was lying there, shamelessly, with a sleep mask on, sound asleep.
This damn bastard.
Dane couldn’t hold back, striding over to snatch the sleep mask off Grayson’s face.
“Wake up, now!”
“Ah…”
At Dane’s shout, Grayson, who had been lying with his eyes closed, slowly stirred, groaning reluctantly.
… What a joke. He must’ve been pretending to sleep.
Dane gritted his teeth, waiting for Grayson to get up, but he didn’t budge from the bed. Instead, Grayson remained lying there, eyes still closed, and started humming as if in a lullaby.
“You need to kiss me to wake up.”
Instead of kissing him, Dane slapped Grayson’s cheek with all his might. Startled, Grayson cupped his cheek with one hand and blinked, and Dane roughly grabbed him by the collar, yanking him up and dragging him toward the living room.
With a thud, Dane threw Grayson onto the sofa and stood, arms crossed, staring down at him.
“Now, talk.”
Grayson, with his swollen face turned away, said nothing. Anyone could tell he was radiating the message, I’m in a really bad mood, but Dane didn’t care. The fact that he was wearing a cute pajama set with a puppy design only made Dane angrier. Where did he even get that?
Since it was a villa, he figured there would be a few extra sets of clothes around.
After mentally accepting this, Dane glared at Grayson.
“What the hell is going on? What are you scheming? Can’t you just speak up? Speak up, damn it!”
Just as Dane raised his hand to hit Grayson again, he hesitated.
Ashley Miller might’ve abused his son.
Of course, it was probably another of Grayson’s disgusting lies. But even so, Dane found it hard to raise his hand. He had hit him multiple times and yelled at him, but now that the thought had crossed his mind, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Eventually, Dane reluctantly sat on the opposite sofa, trying to calm his tone.
“Explain what’s going on.”
He struggled to remain calm, but it wasn’t easy. Grayson finally spoke, his voice full of bitterness.
“I told you already.”
“What?”
Grayson’s smug face made Dane unconsciously clench his fists. Grayson rolled his eyes at Dane, then smiled slyly.
“I told you, this villa was built by my father to imprison Daddy.”
“So?”
The word imprisonment was strangely unsettling.
“Are you saying you imprisoned me? Does that even make sense?”
Dane couldn’t believe what he was hearing and pointed out the flaws in Grayson’s logic.
“Joshua will be here soon. Do you think it’s possible to keep this a secret? That guy’s an expert at searching. Would he not find this place?”
As Dane spoke, he found it laughable. He pointed his finger at Grayson and continued.
“Also, I’m pretty sure you’ve forgotten, but the tracker in your body gives away your location. And you’re trying to imprison me? Here? You think it’s possible?”
 Grayson laughed lightly as he leaned back on the sofa, but his smile was faint.
“You won’t find it.”
Dane didn’t respond immediately. He sank deeper into the sofa, keeping some distance between them, and finally spoke.
“… What did you say?”
“No one will find it.”
Grayson spoke with the same slow tone, grinning widely. Only then did Dane finally push himself off the back of the sofa.
“What does that mean? Explain it so I can understand.”
Dane’s voice was rough, teeth gritted in anger. Grayson, still unbothered, continued.
“This villa was built by my father to imprison Daddy.”
“I know you said that already.”
Dane was getting fed up with the repetition. As he scowled, Grayson smiled again.
“That means no one can find it.”
Dane went silent. Grayson added, his voice still calm.
“If this villa is hidden underground, interference signals automatically activate, so no communication can get through. Even if you follow my tracker, it’s impossible to find.”
The unbelievable words left Dane stunned. He had never imagined such a thing. They had turned this seemingly normal villa into some kind of prison? Why?
Why would someone imprison their own partner in the first place?
None of it made sense. But he couldn’t afford to dwell on it. The immediate problem was in front of him. Grayson’s words still had a hole in them.
Chase Miller must know about this too. If so, it would be easy to find…
“He doesn’t know.”
It was as if Grayson had read Dane’s thoughts. When Dane looked at him, Grayson shook his head in mock disappointment, sighing.
“If you had shown more interest in your family earlier, you would’ve known about the secret devices.”
Dane’s face grew pale. Slowly, the reality of the situation sank in. Could it be true? Did that bastard really imprison
me? No one can find me, really?
“Impossible, that’s a lie…”
“It’s true.”
Grayson easily shattered Dane’s last shred of hope, grinning widely as he did so.
“You can’t leave here, not until I let you out.”
Dane stared at him, completely dazed. Grayson let out a low chuckle.
“Shut up, bring the mansion back to the surface right now!”
Dane yelled, standing up furiously. It was an absurd request. Just the two of us here? Is he trying to drive me
crazy? It was an impossible demand.
“Don’t you hate being here with me?”
“Of course I do!”
Dane grabbed Grayson by the collar, lifting him roughly.
“Bring the mansion up now! Do it right now! Otherwise, I’ll kill you!”
It was, of course, an empty threat. Grayson knew well that if he killed him, he’d be trapped in this nonsensical
space forever. But Dane just couldn’t hold back anymore.
With a sigh, Grayson finally spoke.
“If you really hate it that much, I guess I can’t help it.”
What? Just like that?
Dane froze, and Grayson easily detached his hand, turning away. Grayson must have known Dane wouldn’t be able to kill him, but the fact that he was so compliant raised Dane’s suspicions. What was he thinking?
Dane stared at Grayson’s retreating figure  across the living room. As Grayson opened a drawer in the display cabinet, he pulled out a remote control. If he pressed that button…! Just as the red button caught Dane’s eye, Grayson lifted his thumb to press it, and for a brief moment, Dane allowed himself to hope. But then…
“Oops.”
Grayson deliberately dropped the remote to the floor. When Dane froze at the clear intent behind the action, Grayson stepped on the remote with his heel, crushing it underfoot. With a nasty crunch, the remote shattered into pieces. Dane stood there, too shocked to say anything. Grayson, seeing his stunned expression, spoke
casually.
“Uh-oh, looks like it broke.”
Grayson grinned at Dane with an almost teasing expression.
“Let’s make the best of it, Dane Striker. It’s just the two of us here.”
The words sent a chill down Dane’s spine, and Grayson’s smile only grew wider.