What is father saying?
I couldn’t comprehend all the crazy things that my father was spouting. I stared at Anthony as I wondered why he wasn’t denying anything that my father was saying.
“I will make sure that your father finds out about this disgraceful and disrespectful attitude of yours!” he yelled threateningly.
“You still haven’t answered my question. I guess it doesn’t matter what you say anyways. Zain...” Anthony said while sounding bored.
With a flick of the fingers of his free hand, Anthony waved over a man whose name must have been Zain. I watched as Anthony opened his hand as if waiting to receive something.
“Yes, Master...” Zain said softly as he came to stand close to Anthony.
With a polite bow of his head, Zain placed a handgun into Anthony’s outstretched hand. It felt like time froze for all of us as we all undoubtedly saw the dangerous object that Anthony now held in his hand.
Why is Anthony holding a gun?
The expression of shock displayed on my parents’ face must have mirrored my own. My body froze stiff in place as my mouth hung open in shock. It was one thing for the bodyguards to carry guns and weapons, but it was a completely different matter altogether for their employers to hold one. My heart raced fast and hard in my chest as a heavy silence enveloped the atmosphere in the room.
“You seem used to using violence. Luckily, so am I...” Anthony said before his lips curved into a smile that never reached his cold blue eyes.
In one smooth motion, Anthony pointed the point directly at my father’s temple.
I never imagined that Anthony could do something so violent, and I never knew that he was comfortable with handling a gun. All color drained from my father’s face and for a moment, I wasn’t sure whether it would be my father or my mother who would faint first from shock. The scariest thing was that I could tell that Anthony wasn’t joking or messing around.
“Anthony...” I whispered his name, but I didn’t dare move a muscle.
“Stay behind me,” he advised sternly without looking my way.
It wasn’t my safety that I was worried about. Although my parents and I didn’t see eye to eye that didn’t mean that I wanted their brains blown to bits at the hand of my husband. Everything just felt so unreal, and my body refused to move.
“My Lady. You need to move this way,” a soft low voice spoke close to me.
Zain gestured with his hand for me to follow him. Too lost to think about anything for myself, I found myself taking a few steps away from where Anthony still held a gun to my father’s head.
When I stood where Zain had indicated, Anthony suddenly let go of my father’s hand before shoving him away. The force made my father stumble to the floor and my mother was by his side right away. By that time, she was openly crying and wailing.
“What do you think you’re doing? You savage! Anthony would never do something as crazy as this,” my father yelled as he held up his hand in front of himself protectively.
“I’m not my brother and you know that well enough. I have no idea why you’re so surprised,” Anthony replied while sounding very amused.
“You...” my father growled but he never said anything more.
“This is my place, and this is my world. The moment you step in here, you have to play by my rules. I am the law in this place...” he stated emotionlessly.
I could see my parents’ lips quiver in fear and their faces were as white as sheets. My mother whimpered and sobbed while my father looked like he was ready to bow down and beg for his life to be spared. It was frankly a very interesting sight to behold.
“Zain, escort my precious mother and father-in-law out before you have to clean up a big mess on the floor,” Anthony said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Yes, Sir! Please let me escort you out. Please follow me this way, quickly...” Zain quickly said as he pulled my father up to his feet.
I watched as he ushered my angry, confused, and extremely frightened parents out of the living room. Even though I wasn’t sure what had taken place, I was absolutely glad that it was over for now. The door closed behind them, and silence seemed to swallow up the entire room.
“Leave...” Anthony said before waving his hand to dismiss all the other bodyguards in the room.
Everyone left through the closest door to where they were stationed, and I soon found myself left alone in the large living room with only Anthony and my muddled up thoughts as company. I wasn’t sure that I fully understood what had just taken place. So many unexpected things happened one after another since the moment that I opened my eyes this morning.
Anthony’s unusual mood swing and aggressive behavior. The visit from my parents and the various things that they said about Anthony that I couldn’t make sense of. My father kept on saying that Anthony wouldn’t say this or wouldn’t do that. My eyes narrowed as I recalled fragments of the conversation that had just transpired. Although it felt impossible, I couldn’t help but arrive at that one conclusion.
“You’re not Anthony, are you?” I asked as I felt a hollow void well up in the pit of my stomach.
The sound of hard metal scraping against the coffee table as he put down the gun reminded me that I could be dealing with someone extremely dangerous. When he turned to look at me, it felt like his blue eyes had frozen over. That was when I was absolutely certain that the man standing right in front of me could never be Anthony.
Why didn’t I notice that sooner?
“Who are you?” I asked so softly that my voice was barely above a whisper.
--To be continued...