Imperfectly Beautiful (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #3)

Dads and Dances

-MARIA-

Everything seemed to move in slow motion and in double-time all at once whilst I watched the butlers rush up the double staircase to stop Tony and Antonio from causing any further damage.

My heart raced in my chest and tears flooded my eyes as I gazed out at the dumbfounded crowd once again and took in the astonished faces of all of the guests just before I turned back to my fiancé who had a busted lip, a bloodied nose, and a nasty cut forming underneath his left eye.

Antonio clutched onto the metal railing and pulled himself up before spitting out a mouthful of blood that undoubtedly landed on my pristine white marble floors, "Now, there's no need for security, gentlemen," he told the butlers as they reached for him and he tried to fix the now-wrinkled and tattered white dress shirt that I'd given him as a loan from Tony. "My son and I were just having a good old fashioned rumble for the viewing pleasure of all of our fine guests."

His loud voice carried through the house in a debonair tone that was beyond unsettling.

"I want him out of my house, now," Tony seethed in a whisper as he peered down the staircase. It seemed it was the first time he'd realized that his rage of violence and profanity-laden rant had been overheard by everyone we knew and he squeezed his eyes shut before turning back to the butler. "Get him out of here."

One of the butlers, a muscular man with auburn hair cropped into a military-style buzz cut gave a nod and turned to Tony's dad, "Mr. Holloway would like for you to go—"

"But you see, I am the Mr. Holloway," Antonio appeared unphased as he looked down into the crowd below and flashed a near-perfect smile. "All of these people are here because of me. Aren't you all enjoying yourselves tonight?" he called out to a still-puzzled crowd. "No need to let a little scuffle put a damper on all the holiday cheer and ruin Marisa's hard work. Can we get a round of applause for her? Didn't she do an incredible job? I was telling her earlier this is the best Holloway Holiday Soiree ever and to top it all off, she looks absolutely stunning tonight. She deserves a grand welcoming entrance."

He began to clap despite the confused looks that were passed below before some of his employees from Holloway Tech Corp began to follow their CEO's lead and sporadically clap.

I felt sick.

"Keep my wife's name out of your mouth," Tony gave him a menacing glare.

"I thought Marisa was your fiancée?" Antonio responded.

I was pretty sure Tony was going to punch him all over again, but I couldn't stay to watch. I'd never been in such a disturbing position in my entire life and to say I was overwhelmed didn't come close to putting my raging emotions into words. Without thinking twice, I turned on my heel and fled back in the direction of my bedroom, ignoring the disturbed hallway plants and my ruined vanity table in the pathway to my bathroom.

Even the sight of Antonio's white jacket and shirt that were still flung on my sink stayed in the peripheral view as I forced my big, puffy gown to fit through the narrow door to the bathroom, just before I landed in the heaps of my skirt and clutched onto the toilet.

Tears burned my eyes as my stomach churned and my throat heaved as I replayed the sudden, unexpected surge of violence. I'd witnessed minor altercations before—I'd even seen Tony get in fights occasionally on the football field in high school and once or twice when we'd had a night out and a guy had gotten handsy with me against my wishes, but the amount of animosity between him and his father affected me in a deeper way that I couldn't put into words. Never in a million years had disagreements in my family ever come anywhere close to violence. Sure, we had arguments where we raised our voices and sometimes hurtful words were tossed back and forth, but even that was at a minimum and we always were quick to apologize and remind each other that we needed to discuss things in a loving and productive manner. The turmoil between the Holloway men was unfathomable to me.