“Leo!” Helen screamed, finally dropping her iPad. She leaped up from the armchair, her face pale with horror. She rushed forward, her hands hovering uselessly over her son. “What are you doing to my son?! Are you crazy?! I’m calling the police! I’m pressing charges!”
Arthur slowly turned his head toward her. He didn’t raise his hands. He simply squared his massive shoulders and locked his dead eyes onto hers.
“SIT. DOWN.”
Arthur roared. The command didn’t just echo off the walls; it seemed to suck the oxygen out of the room. It was the “Command Voice”—a tone perfected over decades of breaking raw recruits and leading men into gunfire. It carried the absolute, unquestionable authority of a four-star General.
Helen froze mid-step. The sheer terror radiating from the man in front of her short-circuited her brain. The wealthy, entitled socialite vanished, replaced by primal fear. She collapsed back onto the sofa, her hands shaking, her mouth opening and closing without sound.
Arthur turned his attention back to the target.