Chapt. 6 - Suspense Wedding

"I can take out anyone who gets in my way, but why not you? I must be crazy." -Mike-

***

"Mike! What's going on? Ah!" The sound of gunshots instantly overcame Angie with panic. Mike immediately rushed towards her, shielding her from the bullets so she could duck and hide behind the balcony railing.

"Stay like this and don't move, okay?" Mike got up, firing a shot that hit several people below. He ducked back down and saw Angie covering her ears as she babbled.

The girl's body was shaking violently, her face as white as chalk. Immediately, Mike took off his coat to cover his wife's head.

"Move slowly and enter the room! Lock the door, and don't open it no matter what. Do you understand?" Mike ordered while maintaining eye contact with the girl, whom he could read, and was terrified. "Angie, answer me! Do you understand what I just said?"

Angie shook her head hard. She was reluctant to do as Mike said. No one knew what made her so desperate, but she wanted to stay there to ensure her husband was okay.

What? Who the hell was Mike? Why did she care so much?

"No, Mike! You'll come with me to hide, or I'll stay here," Angie replied with a blank stare. She didn't realize she had said that sentence.

"You have no right to order me around, Angie. Do you hear me?!"

"I don't want to be a widow that fast, Mike. Do you understand?!" Angie snapped back, but her face was already deathly pale with a pair of dark eyeballs that looked glazed over. "Fuck what kind of devil you are, but I'll stay here if you don't go with me!"

Mike felt belittled by Angie's words. However, he was tired of glaring at the girl, who wasn't bothered by the horrified look he had on his face from earlier. After all, it seemed like he needed a lifetime to hibernate, tired of dealing with a strange girl like Angie.

"Mike, you and Angie go in now! Let us deal with them!" said the mother, coming out of the room after hearing the commotion, shaking out her dress, and taking a gun from the holster attached to her thigh.

Seeing that, Angie's mouth dropped open. She blinked in awe before another popping sound brought her to her senses.

"Angie, go in with Mike!" the father-in-law ordered. But Mike didn't want to go anywhere. He wasn't born yesterday, and he couldn't take on an opposing army that, to him, was nothing compared to his abilities.

"What's going on, Dad?" asked Mike, peering down. The sound of gunfire made their conversation seem drowned out by the noise.

"I think the deal between us and them has fallen through."

"What does that mean? Didn't everything go smoothly because I took care of everything myself?"

"I don't know. A few days ago, they called and threatened to come with troops. Apparently, they have guts."

Another groan sounded, and Zack, the father, and Vivian, the mother, got up and opened fire.

"Mike, bring Angie in right now!" Vivian again ordered, aiming at the opposing troops. Unable to argue, Mike reluctantly complied and ducked Angie into the room.

The firefight continued as Mike and Angie arrived at the room. He came back out and helped his parents face the seemingly endless enemy.

"Damn it! How many people did he send to this place, and how did he know where we were?" Mike grumbled.

"It doesn't matter now. Anyway, you need to go in and keep Angie inside!"

"No, Mom. I'll be here to help you guys."

"Mike, this is an order!" Vivian didn't mince her words, glaring at her son, who quickly left while tightening his jaw. His chest rumbled with anger.

It was Angie who had caused him to be treated like a child. His mom and dad typically wouldn't mind if he wanted to help solve the problem, as they believed he was capable. It was much different this time, and Mike couldn't take the change for granted.

In the room, he looked sarcastically at Angie, curled up on the bed, hugging her knees and covering her ears.

"Will you stop bothering me?" said Mike, getting up and peering out the window. He saw his mother jumping down from the balcony like a hero in his favorite action movie. That made Mike admire her so much that he hoped his future wife would be like her.

Unfortunately, what he got was a burden girl.

Hearing Mike's words, Angie, who had been looking down, lifted her face and returned Mike's sardonic gaze.

"You're asking me? What about me? When are you going to stop putting me in danger?"

The question hit Mike hard. However, he didn't do anything about it, knowing that threatening death would eventually get old and boring. He wanted a new game with this captive—a captive in the guise of a wife—and he seemed to like that nickname.

***

Mike paced the room, waiting for news about his parents.

He couldn't stop blaming himself, as well as Angie, for his absence in the shootout a few hours ago; his father had received a hot lead shot that hit several parts of his body.

Mike's breath hitched, his chest burning with rage. However, he could only curse, stare at Angie with a piercing gaze, and curse at their enemy.

"Bastards! I won't let you wander around in peace!" he muttered, which was cut short when the door opened and her mother walked in, sitting on the sofa. Her face looked tired, but there was no hiding the relief on it. "How is it, Mom? Is he okay?"

"Was he ever not okay, Mike? I'm just now worried that those bastards are going to be destroyed. My son will hunt them down to the ends of the earth for hurting the people he loves. Right?" Vivian gave a warm smile. "Get some rest. We'll rest, too, and tomorrow, we'll head back home. It's not safe anywhere except our home."

Vivian turned her gaze to her daughter-in-law and stroked her arm before getting up and leaving.

After her mother-in-law left, Angie shifted her seat to be closer to Mike. There were many things she didn't know about the family that was a member of the most dangerous black organization and the most prominent business owner in Eastonville.

She wondered what exactly they did.?

"Mike, what happened? Is your dad going to be okay?" asked Angie with a worried look on her face without any pretense. What if what her father-in-law was going through happened to Mike? Of course, she would panic even though Mike was not the man she loved.

Mike rubbed his face and adjusted his messy hair. He just nodded in response to his wife's question.

"Go to sleep. You must be exhausted."

"What about you?"

"I'll keep watch." Mike grabbed the blanket and spread it over Angie, who was still sitting. "Sleep. You'll be very chatty and troublesome if you're still awake. Just let me calm down for a while, okay?"

Angie spluttered. Chatty, he said? "You don't even know me yet, but you have the nerve to call me chatty."

"Fuck off. I don't need to know your character. We're just pretending, remember. So don't expect much."

Angie knew that. She didn't need to be reminded—she already knew their marriage was just a pretense. If the in-laws asked for what they couldn't give—an offspring—what would they do if their relationship was still this rigid?

"Mike, can I ask you something?" asked Angie, who had been sitting back up. Mike didn't answer. He just turned to her, signaling he was ready to answer any question. "What exactly is this business you guys are doing? Why deal with such danger?"

"Why ask? If you think being my wife gives you the right to know, then you're wrong."

Angie snorted loudly at her husband's blunt reply. "I'm just making sure. We just got married. What if you died because of that dangerous business?"

Mike didn't answer but only glanced cynically in response to Angie's words.

He turned his head, got up, and walked towards the bed. Again, this brought a sense of dread to Angie's heart. She feared that Mike would do something to her, so she pulled the blanket up to her chest.

The girl was still wearing her wedding dress and was reluctant to change. Today's events had drained her strength and sanity enough that after getting Mike's answer, she would sleep soundly and wake up at noon.

"You want to know what kind of business we do? We sell drugs and narcotics, as well as firearms. So, prepare yourself mentally for being my wife. If you're asking if I'm going to touch you tonight, the answer is no. I have no interest in you. So, don't worry or get your hopes up."