Chapter Three - A Marriage Of Convenience

Anthony's point of view

She wasn't a great beauty or had any particular features that attracted me to her but damn had she given me one of thebest sex of my life.

I watched as she got up from that bed, her waist so dainty it made me want to drag her back into bed so we could continue what we stopped.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked shyly. She was close to the window that overlooked the grounds and the gates.

I watched her as she arched her body into various positions, twisted and turnedher body to catch the early rays of the sun.

"You look quite beautiful my dear and damn you really know how to work a man up. It's quite adorable" I told her.

She laughed, her head thrown back. She was staring at me now and had that twinkle in her eyes.

"And who told you I want to come a second time, you were not that good" She teased me.

"You know that's a lie" I teased back

"I'll never tell you the truth" She said and as if she got a voice whispering to her, she winked at me.

"Perhaps we can try another method ....." I started but my phone interrupted the rest of my sentence.

My mother's face flashed on the screen and I groaned without meaning to. I allowed it to ring till the end so I can claim I never saw the call, must have gotten lost from the numerous calls I got in a day.

The phone started ringing again and it was still her. Normally, she doesn't call me more than once and if I don't pick up, she calls my person assistant and threatens to fire them if I didn't take her call.

"I think your mom is trying to reach you urgently, perhaps you could do yourself a favour and pick up the call"

She gave me a smile that could rival a seductress while spread across my stomach. She drew patterns on them now and stared at me with those beautiful doe eyes to get my attention.

"Why don't we forget all about this and start something new" I raised her chin and pressed my lips to her. She was as hungry for me as I was for her.

The damned phone rang out again and I contemplated throwing the phone over the balcony but then she did something I did not expect, she answered the call.

"Hello, please Anthony and I are....."

"Give my son the phone now" I heard mom say. Her voice sounded calm and distant, she didn't care who picked up the phone and mom always cared.

I took the phone from her and placed it on my ears "Hey mom, what's up?" I started.

"Anthony, send whatever harlot you have with you right now away and come to the house this instant" Mom commanded, her voice giving no room for argument but I would always find a way.

"Mom, I'm a little busy and I have a job I normally go to, my schedule is pretty full"

"Your assistant has cleared the schedule, now leave the girl and come to me. Now."

She hung up on me. Whatever it is they wanted to tell me better be worth going through all this troubles.

The girl was dressed by the time I turned towards her direction, I hadn't even realized she had gotten up. She held her bag in one hand and blew a kiss my way. At the door, she finally said something.

"And if you decide you want it again, you know where to find me"

She left leaving me alone again, with my thoughts and my raging displeasure of setting a foot in my parent's mansion. The only good thing about me going there would be the fact that I would see Victor again.

I missed the little rascal. And it was his birthday soon.

I started my activities of the day. And deep down, I knew I would never find her again.

****

"Listen to me Josephine, I don't care who the man is or what he is working for, do not give him any information about anything." I said calmly into the phone.

We were almost at my family's house and I could feel all my patience, all my calm evaporated from my body. I was becoming more erratic and annoyed and honestly I blamed my mother. She had a way of unravelling me.

I chuckled. She had a way of unravelling anyone.

She was a doctor and a medical director, she owned chains of hospital in the states and was married to a renowned actor and model who owned a clothing brand. They were powerful enough to change the way people viewed things and they were also powerful enough to bury whatever they did not want.

Mom loved to remind me about all my failures in the light of her many accomplishments.

The house would look magnificent to a new eye but I couldn't care less, I walked in with the air of someone ready to bolt out at a minute's inconvenience.

"Tony"

The big oaf tackled me from behind but even startled, I was stronger than him which made me able to stand my ground. The laugh escaped from my lips before I knew what was happening and I was holding his head under my armpit. I ruffled his hair before letting him go.

"Ready for school I suppose" I said when I got a good look at him.

Victor, dressed in one of the most expensive private school in the states uniform stared back at me. He was tall and lanky for a fourteen years old turning fifteen soon and quite intelligent in the sciences too, the guy would lock himself in his science lab and spend hours on various projects which he normally accomplished.

Gifted.

"I'm ready but I don't want to go to school today" He complained.

I raised an eyebrow at that "Why?" I asked.

"I don't want to play the piano, I'm dreadful at the piano"

"I could see how that would be a problem but it would take an effort to fool a doctor, a great ton of effort" I feigned pondering about it, with the pose and everything before I gave out a dramatic sigh "Okay, I'll show you" I finally said after a dramatic pause.

He fist bumped into the air and let out a shout of show. The devil.

And then the devil herself showed up, at the top of the stairs already dressed in her office clothes and sipping whatever concoction was brewed for her. Coffee, probably coffee.

"I hope you're not planning to tell me you're sick boy, you will go to school especially after showing such blatant display of strength"

Victor cursed under his breath but he had enough brain cells to sulk away to school, he would do what he needed to do another day and we won't do it in such a public place.

Mother was on the last stair now and she would move no further, it was my turn to meet her now.

"Anthony, would you not give your mother a hug" She said.

I rolled my eyes "I think I'm too old to be giving out hugs Mom, tell me what was so important please so I may leave" I said curtly.

A sharp intake of breath and a pleasant smile but she did not argue, she simply took it in stride and walked towards the kitchen giving no indication if she wanted me to follow her or not.

I followed her anyway.

"Don't you just love that our son is all grown up and feels he can do anything he wants to do" She said to someone in the kitchen.

My father.

He chuckled, the easy going chuckle of his that always calmed me down.

"Would you leave the boy alone Liz" He said, his voice cheery.

I walked into the kitchen now and gave him my own good natured grin. I was still excited to see my father.

"Hey Dad, what's popping?" I asked.

He turned his head "The same old things, acting, modeling and the occasional singing. Did you see the premier of my new movie?"He asked.

I nodded "It was quite beautiful, an autobiography but still, you acted the man's character so well, I was pretty sure you were him reincarnated"

Dad let out a laugh at that "Your mother hated it and thought it was a waste of my talents"

"Well it wouldn't be Elizabeth Thorn if she didn't hate everything everyone close to her did"

I knew I had drawn the line because the tension suddenly grew thicker in the room but I could care less. Let she cut me from my inheritance for all I care.

"May we sit down" Mom finally said when no one said anything after sometime.

I took a seat far away from everyone but still close enough to hear what they had to say. Mom didn't waste time in starting the topic of discussion.

"As we all know here,my son Anthony who is twenty five has said he would not marry and have a child and is set to get a vasectomy in a few months from now....."

"How do you know about that?" I asked.

It wasn't a question I needed to ask anyway, I knew how she did it. Even in hospitals that didn't belong to her, she found a way to monitor my entire life.

"On second thought, don't answer that"

She continued "I cannot and would not accept that, I need a grandchild. Someone to play with. I need a grandchild like every mother"

I reclined into the chair "I do not need to know what you can and cannot accept mother, I am a twenty five years old man as you said and I can make decisions concerning my reproductive health without you knowing or doing anything about it" I said as calmly as I could manage which I knew was not very calm.

Dad was about to say something but mom cut him off.

"I understand I wasn't the best mother but please understand where I'm coming from" She cried out.

I scoffed at that.

Five minutes and no one uttered a single word. Five minutes and I just kept on checking my phone for any update on anything.

A text from an unknown number appeared and I clicked on it.

"Hey Thorn in my flesh"

Nothing more came with the text but I already knew who it was from. Only one person called me that.

"Okay okay" Mom started again when she has calmed down "I understand what you're trying to say but I want us to reach a compromise, you get married for two years and have a child and I won't say anything to you again, I'll get off your back completely"

I choked down a laugh "I should get married and have a child for two years?" I asked with my eyebrows raised "You're joking right?, You're joking"

Dad stared down at the table and mom would look at nothing else but me, she had gone back to the woman from the hospital, the owner of hospitals.

"I'm sorry but I'm not interested in all of this"

"It'll be with Vanessa Ives" Mom blurted out the words suddenly.

A double take. What.

"Vanessa Ives would be your wife for two years and have a child and I'll give her some things in return, she won't do anything to harm you"

"It would be a marriage of convenience"

I did not understand what was happening anymore and I did not even want to pretend to understand. I stood up from the chair and headed out without another word.

I was almost out the door when I heard the voice that could stop me from doing anything.

Victor was at a corner of the room watching me with those big brown eyes of his.

"You're getting married to Vanessa, my sister"