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All of a sudden, the world started screaming. The guests and family members recoiled as the intruders descended upon the ceremony, hiding in the pews because there was nowhere else to go. After an initial moment of shock, I realized they were members of the cartel. Clad in dark suits and armed to the teeth, they infiltrated the church just as quickly as they had appeared.
The opera music was silenced by the sound of gunfire and shouts, mingling with the horrified screams of the guests. Bullets pierced through the stained-glass windows, casting shards of colorful light across the chaos as they scattered onto the floor.
Connor lurched forward towards me, grasping my arm tightly and pulling me behind a pillar, shielding me from danger as heassessed the situation. Out of nowhere, Caden appeared by our sides. Both men crouched beside me, guns ready in their hands.
Amidst the confusion and violence, a figure emerged from the shadows, stepping forward with an air of commanding authority. I knew his face. He was the leader of the cartel, a man whose reputation for ruthless power preceded him.
Eduardo Ramirez.
His cold, calculating eyes scanned the church with a predator’s intensity. As he advanced, the frenzy of the gunfire seemed to subside, the sudden violence giving way to an eerie hush.
I hated it.
“Seems my invite to the Murphy-Kozlov wedding was lost in the mail,” Eduardo mused, and I gritted my teeth.
We had taken every possible precaution to keep the ceremony under wraps. Invitations had been hand delivered to every guest. The venue had been booked under a false name, as had the catering, the flowers, my dress, everything. Yet somehow, the cartel had found out anyway.
“Your invitation wasn’t lost,” my father answered. Before I could react, he strode forward to meet the cartel leader head on.
The tension in the church was palpable, and I heard a collective intake of breath as the two powerful figures faced each other. My own heart hammered in my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to pull my father away from whatever this was.
I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and it wouldn’t go away.
“Your alliance is a threat. We cannot allow it to proceed,” Ramirez hissed, his eyes narrowing.
In a flash, my father lunged at the cartel leader. Ramirez moved with a calculated precision, avoiding his punching blow with ease.
They circled each other like predators, neither willing to yield. My father unleashed a ferocious right hook, and Eduardo narrowly evaded it by stepping to the side. Without even a moment’s hesitation, Eduardo delivered a punishing kick to my father’s midsection, causing him to stagger back and crash into one of the church pillars.
My father momentarily faltered, and Eduardo seized the moment of opportunity. Reaching down to his belt, he deftly produced a gleaming knife from a concealed sheath. The cold steel glinted ominously in the dim church light, and I sucked in a petrified breath.
“Don’t! Watch out!” I cried out, and Connor swiftly pulled me into his arms and pressed a hand over my mouth, silencing me immediately. I struggled for a brief second, stilling as the events quickly spiraled out of control.
In a horrifying display of brutality, Eduardo twisted, feinting one way as my father moved another way to avoid him, only to spin right into his clutches. Eduardo grabbed my father, wrapping one arm around his waist while wrenching the blade of his knife across his throat with the other. His throat split open, and blood poured down the front of his suit.
Without missing a beat, Eduardo thrust my father forward, and he stumbled, barely catching himself from falling to the floor.
A strangled scream emerged from my throat, and I couldn’t make it stop. Connor’s hand only muffled it a little bit.
The church filled with an anguished silence as my father staggered back and forth, clutching at his wound and trying to hold it closed. His blood flowed freely down the front of him, staining the collar of his crisp white shirt underneath his suit. I clapped my hand over my mouth to stifle another scream as he fell to his knees. Unable to watch him die, I closed my eyes and heard his body slump to the ground.
With a wound like that, he’d bleed out in less than a minute.
When I finally managed to open my eyes again, my gaze locked on my father’s still form, a pool of blood spreading beneath him.
He didn’t get back up. I knew he wouldn’t.
The trio of Murphy brothers, Kieran, Cormac, and Aidan advanced to the forefront of the church as Eduardo laughed, his maliciously crooked smirk chilling to the bone. Shane Kavanagh joined them, his expression furious.
I knew what they were doing. They needed to address Eduardo’s bold audacity. They couldn’t appear weak in the face of so many onlookers. The air was charged with tension, and I held my breath as tears coursed down my cheeks. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to beat right out of my chest.
A dreadful feeling gnawed at the pit of my belly. It was as if the world had turned dark and was crumbling around us.
Kieran, the eldest of the Murphy siblings and standing kingpin of the family, spoke with a deep and commanding voice, his eyes fixed on Eduardo. “You’ve made a grave mistake today. Roman’s death will not go unanswered.”
“You’ve stepped onto our turf and murdered our people in cold blood. If you wanted a war, you’ve got one,” Cormac added, his tone cool and calculated.
Aidan, his features a mix of anger and grief, issued a warning, “We will come for you.”
