Chapter 4 Nothing to lose.

I don't remember exactly when I fell asleep but I woke up on the sofa in my living room with a deadly headache, I just had to take a nice shower and relax a bit, when I looked in the bathroom mirror I felt a bit sad, I was a wreck, a bit more than that actually, I felt tired physically and mentally.

I was just wearing a towel when I heard a knock on my door, I had some idea who it might be, but I still hoped that God would be merciful to me, I looked in the peephole and saw Anthony standing at the door in a smart suit, he was waiting anxiously for me to open the door. For a moment I thought I'd just pretend there was no one home, but I heard him say, "I know you're home, my men told me you didn't even go out today".

Fucking stalker.

I opened the door a little reluctantly, he looked me up and down and asked if I was disturbing anything.

"I think it's pretty obvious really."

"I can come in and wait for you to get dressed if you prefer."

I knew he wouldn't take no for an answer and simply opened the door to let him in. He sat down on the sofa and started looking around as if trying to understand how a person could live in such a small place.

"Wait right there, I'm going to put some clothes on."

I went to my room and quickly got dressed in the first outfit I saw in front of me, when I came back into the living room Anthony was standing looking at a picture frame I had on a chest of drawers, it was the only photo I had of my family, you could see in this photo that I was a bit bruised, it really was a shitty childhood.

"I told you to sit tight."

"I just saw the photo and got curious."

"Following me isn't enough now you want to research my childhood?"

"I'm not that invasive, don't think so badly of me."

"Just tell me what you want here."

"What do you mean what I want here? I was serious about my proposal."

"And I told you just yesterday that it was crazy."

"You researched me, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Then you know that everything I said is true."

"Yes, I do, but that doesn't mean I can trust you."

Anthony stood up a little and pulled a gun from his waistband. I was startled and stepped back for a moment, he looked at me calmly and put the gun on the table, next to it he put a box of bullets, it was a chrome gun, it was in good condition which made me think that he had just bought it.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Take it, it's properly loaded. You can keep it, it's yours now."

"Why the hell would I accept that?"

"You can keep it as long as you're with me, if you feel there's anything wrong you'll be able to defend yourself. You'll feel safer and I'll have a good reason not to push the boundaries."

"And how will I know if this thing really works?"

Anthony picked up the gun and quickly shot it into the ground, the noise was deafening, I covered my ears but I still felt like I was going to go deaf.

The gun was back on the table in a matter of seconds, I picked it up and held it, I didn't even want to be with that thing in my hands, but the fright and the fact that I thought he might shoot again made me pick it up as a kind of instinct.

"There, now you know it's real, that it works and that it's now yours. So what do you say?"

"What the fuck."

"You've got nothing left to lose, if you get tired you can just leave and go back to some club, there's nothing really stopping you."

He was right, it was crazy, I didn't know what would happen, I simply had nothing left to lose. Going with him might be dangerous, but I had a way to defend myself, he gave me a way to defend myself, he might really be telling the truth, but I knew that deep down what he wanted was to buy me, for me to be his alone, for him to have rights over me like property.

"I don't want to be your property."

"I'm not asking you to. All I'm asking is that you be mine, that you don't let any other man touch you, I just want you to be mine, but you'll be free to come and go as you please."

"So that's it? No worries, no problems or having to think about money?"

"That's it."

"Wouldn't you feel bad if you thought I was going with you for your money?"

"I'm offering it to you at the end of the day. Even if I don't like it, I'm the one who suggested it."

I had no reason to refuse if those were the terms.

"All right then, I'll go with you, but if you do anything suspicious I can just shoot you."

"That's the idea."

He got up from the sofa again, came towards me and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, I thought he was going to kiss me but he didn't. "Pack your things and I'll go.

"Pack your things and make sure you have your passport ready, we're going out tonight."

"O-okay."

Anthony left, I just watched as he walked through the door and closed it behind him, I sat down on the floor, I breathed as deeply as I could, I couldn't believe that I had actually accepted this madness, I looked at my hand and the gun was still there, I could see my reflection in its chrome barrel which was still warm from the shot Anthony had fired, I looked around and saw a mark left by the bullet on the wall, I dropped the gun on the floor and put my face between my hands, there was no turning back now, I had to face it, I had nothing to lose just like Anthony had said.