It was our wedding day, a day I looked forward to since my crazy ass proposed to her when I was twelve.
I just never imagined having to watch our backs and pray to God in his high heavens that nothing would happen.
“Tristan,” comes Alyssa’s soft voice from behind me.
I turn to face her and give her my best smile.
My angel smiles back at me. Those bright brown eyes look back at me with the same love they always show me, and her raven hair frames her beautiful heart shaped face.
“Hey,” I rasp out and walk toward her.
Cupping her face, I recall our vows we took earlier, and I take a moment to feel the special thing she does for me. She tames the beast. She soothes the raging animal inside me that’s always threatening to break out. It’s a combo of emotion that roils within. Primal and raw. It wants to come out and kill. Kill any motherfucker responsible for this situation.
Really though, it’s just one person who deserves the wrath of what I feel, and that’s her father.
“You aren’t going to stay out here all night, are you?” she asks.
“No, I just want to make sure we’re okay. You… you’re okay.”
The twinkle dulls in her eyes and she presses her lips together.
Swallowing hard she forces a smile. “I’m sorry about this.”
“Don’t.” It’s not her fault. She’s a victim of greed and the darkness that can happen in our world. What’s happening is the sort of thing that the innocent get caught in when evil is at work. I talk like I’m a good man, like I’m not evil myself for being a mobster. But it’s truth. Truth is truth. In our world when people don’t get what they want. they take other things, like those you love.
“We’ll be on the island tomorrow. We’ll be able to stay there and no one will bother us. We’ll stay for as long as we need to.”
“It’s not good to cage something wild. It’s not right,” she says. It’s a saying she’s said to me many times. It was the first thing she said to me when we met many years ago as I attempted to cage a wild bird I’d tended to when it was injured.
I smile at her. “Bellezza, are you talking about me or you? When last I checked we were both as wild as the other.”
She chuckles at that, laughter which fills me with hope. When she schools her features, and the seriousness returns to her face, I get my answer. “You. I’m talking about you. The island is beautiful, and I can’t believe you actually got it, but a man like you isn’t meant to stay on an island. Kept away from everyone else, family and friends.”
“It’s our paradise. The castle for the princess. A refuge from harm. I will keep you safe Alyssa, no matter what,” I vow, and I sound like earlier when I pledged my life to her. “You hear me?”
She nods her head. “I do.”
“I got the island for us to make our home. Just like I promised.” I did promise that. She was ten, but she remembers. At the time I was dirt poor, and we were both living in Stormy Creek. A place known to house the poor and unfortunate.
When I release her, she stands on the tips of her toes and plants a kiss on my chin.
“You did promise. Can I have my husband to myself now please?”
“You may. Head upstairs and I’ll grab the champagne.”
“Don’t keep me waiting.”
“I don’t plan to,” I assure her.
She smiles and I feel at ease. I watch her and try to push away my fears as she saunters away.
Everyone is on high alert, the place is secured, my father and brothers are on the streets looking for the devils. I can take tonight. Take the next few hours as reprieve. A rejuvenation so I can be ready for tomorrow.
I just hate feeling like I’m being watched constantly by that devil Mortimer Viggo. Him and his bunch of assholes. It was him who ordered the hit on my girl and sent his animal Vlad to do his bidding.
Closing my eyes briefly I remove the stress from my mind and make my way into the kitchen. I had champagne and some other things delivered earlier in my attempt to garner some part of the celebration.
I grab the basket everything was delivered in. It’s one of those massive arrangements with an assortment of cake and wine.