Chapter 4

Alex’s POV

My father comes to stand next to me as I wait for Melanie to arrive. He was already dressed up in a tuxedo and his usual disheveled hair is styled back elegantly with hair mousse. His beard was also trimmed down. I’ve never seen him this fashionable before, he was always dressed casually, even when we have business meetings.

The sight of him taking care of himself for my wedding brought a wave of pride to course through me for being his son.

Despite our cruel dangerous lifestyle, we were born and raised in a very close loving home. We enjoyed our childhood until it was time for us to grow up and play with guns instead of race cars. My father wasn’t the strict heartless leader people talk about around the town. Inside our house, he was the typical caring father who makes time to play with his children and gives his wife the love and devotion she deserves.

He was everything I wanted to grow up to become. Both as a leader and as the head of a family.

I checked him out as I said teasingly “Oooh! You look dashing dad! You are taking my spotlight here, people will think you’re me”

And we did look alike in appearance. Although he was crossing the age of 49, he looked younger right now. We both have the same black hair and beard color, and we both have the same grey eyes. Only April and I got my dad’s grey eye color. While my brothers Jacob and Lucas got my mom’s brown eye color and ash blond hair.

He laughed as he smacked me on the shoulder and said “Well, if you wear your tux and fix that monstrosity of a beard, I think we can pass you off as the groom”

I absently played with my medium length full beard. He was right, it was a little longer than my usual short beard, but…

“Oh no Melanie said she likes my beard that way, so I’m sticking to it”

He laughed under his breath and raised his hands in surrender “If Melanie likes it that way, there is nothing I can do then”

His face gets a little serious as he asks “So you are really ready for this? No last minute cold feet? Because once you’re married, you will become responsible for her safety as well. You will need to sort out your priorities. It’s a huge responsibility especially within our current position, I want you to be aware of everything, son. Because one day, I won’t be around to advise you or tell you what to do. One day, this will all fall on you. You will have to make extremely tough decisions. Decisions that might put you in the middle between your responsibility to your family, your clan, your town and between our business. It even might come down to choosing between your own happiness and this town’s safety. This town is a part of our family too, as much as we helped its people stay safe and have a dependable income, they in return protect us and stand up for us. They put their own lives in danger just to keep us safe in return. They are considered a part of our family too, I want you to promise me that you will put them first above everyone else”

His words leave a sour taste at the back of my throat. It made me realize what a huge burden my father has been carrying on his own since taking the leadership after my grandfather.

Currently, we were being pressured into accepting a drug smuggling deal with one of the most powerful drug lords who reside in Canada, a deal that my father was very adamant on refusing despite how much power and influence that drug lord can wield against us.

We were more on alert than we have ever been. The mountain roads that lead in and out of town, in and out of the border were being patrolled around the clock. We were preparing for an attack from that man at any second. Because if we kept refusing his offer, he will eventually take matters into his own hands and try to take control over the town himself.

That was something we were all willing to die before letting it happen.

Drugs were among the things we will never allow to pass through our borders. No matter the cost.

As I thought about what he said to me about one day taking responsibility of his position as the leader of the clan, I noticed that he didn’t mention uncle Stefan. He was his younger brother and the rightful person to take over his position after him. He probably meant that after my uncle, I would be the ideal candidate to take over.

I put on a firm confident face, despite my wariness, and say determinedly “I will not disappoint you dad. This town and all of its people will not be harmed as long as we are around. As for last minute cold feet, never. Melanie is my one and only, and so am I to her”

He pats my shoulder gently as he says “I love you Alex. And I am so proud of the man you turned out to be. Seeing you on that aisle in a few hours is going to bring me so much joy, you and Melanie are a great couple, I hope your lives are always filled with happiness together”

I give him a tight hug as I say “I love you too dad. Thanks for always supporting me with all of my decisions”

We observe as the people responsible for converting our enormous front yard into a suitable place for a wedding, begin to place the chairs next to each other in preparation.

“So where is uncle Stefan, did you call him?” I asked dad.

“Yes, I spoke with him half an hour ago, he’s on his way here with his son, David”

Uncle Stefan lives in Canada. He has been living there for the past twenty years. His son David; my cousin, lived with him and helped him with the family business too. I never met David before, because uncle Stefan always leaves him in charge of things in Canada when coming here for a visit. They were responsible for distributing and shipping the smuggled products from his side of the border.

He and my father both inherited the family business from my grandfather, who inherited it from his own father.

Our whole family was involved in that line, even though it was no longer needed to keep this town prospering, it was kind of our legacy to carry it over to the next generation.

Just then, Melanie’s car appears at the gate.

The guys guarding the gate, open up the sliding door to let her car in.

I walk over to where she parks, and open the door for her.

“You kept me waiting a long time for you Mrs. Snow” I said gently as I cupped her face and gave her a brief kiss.

She smiled and said lovingly “And you’ll still have to wait a few more hours until I get ready, before we begin the rest of our lives together Mr. Snow”

I furrowed my eyebrows and said with a small pout “I was thinking about getting ready together, you know to help each other with our clothes and stuff”

She smiled at my attempt to spend a little more time with her before the ceremony and said “As much as I would love that, it’s considered bad luck. You know how much I believe in these things. Therefore, you will have to patiently wait for me until I walk down that aisle in my breathtaking wedding dress, my love”

Before I could argue with her logic on bad luck, her sister Mia; whom I was meeting for the first time because she lives in London, came over to our side and said firmly “I have to agree with Mel on this, Alex. You better let her go now, because we still have tons of things to do”

I extend my hand to her and shake it.

“It’s nice to finally meet you Mia. I’m glad you were able to join us here. Melanie talked so much about you”

She was sort of against our marriage because she believed Melanie was rushing into things too soon, but in the end she respected her decision and wanted to support her on her special day.

Her father also displayed his worries before giving us his blessing. His main concern was the safety of his little girl in my town, given its dangerous activities.

However, Mel and I were able to convince them both that we were madly in love and nothing can come between us, not even an impending risk of being taken down by a powerful drug lord.

***

The front yard was buzzing with a huge amount of people coming in to witness our wedding.

My father, mother, and I were standing at the gate, greeting the guests that were still arriving to our house.

My uncle and cousin, arrived half an hour ago, already dressed and prepared.

Uncle Stefan and David looked alike, with blond buzz cut hair and light grey eyes.

David turned out to be Lucas’s age, 21 years old. He seemed nervous and shy about meeting us, which felt weird. If I were him, I’d be ecstatic about meeting my relatives for the first time. I didn’t have time to be a good cousin and hang out with him to break the ice between us as I was obliged to greet the guests at the gate. But I hoped Lucas, who was closer to his age, would be able to give him a warm greeting and welcome him into the family.

I checked my watch nervously, counting down the minutes until I get to see Mel in white.

There was thirty minutes remaining until the clock hit 3:30, which is the time we should start the ceremony at.

I was already dressed in my black tuxedo and my hair; usually left in a messy Quiff, was styled in a rather formal Quiff this time to suit the ceremony, my full beard remained as it is per Mel’s request.

The only thing on my mind was getting to that moment where I tell her my vows in front of everyone, say the words ‘I do’, and kiss her beautiful lips as my wife for the first time.

Time seemed to be passing slowly just to piss me off and make me more anxious than I already was.

I was never that anxious when conducting our usual business. Or when crossing the border to deliver or collect the smuggled products. Which was a lot more dangerous than getting married.

Why was this simple wedding ceremony making me feel this way then? I had no freaking idea.

A flash of red light catches my attention somewhere in the distance, just above the hill overlooking our house.

My mind seemed to freeze for a few seconds as it tried to comprehend why the red light; which my gut automatically recognized it as a laser pointer from a rifle, was being directed at us.

I looked down at myself and didn’t see anything. I then looked over to my father, and my eyes were about to pop out of their sockets, as I saw the red point aimed at his chest.

Do you know when you’re watching a very important scene in a movie, and the whole chaos that erupts from that scene unfolds in very slow motion, showing every single detail and every single move that happens?

Yeah, that didn’t happen in this case.

One second… no, not even one second. One nanosecond passed before that bullet brought my whole entire body, my whole entire life, and my whole entire world to an end. One bullet took my heart out of my chest and tore it to a thousand pieces.

I didn’t even have time to blink, let alone take that bullet for him.

I didn’t even have time to open my mouth, let alone push him out of the way.

I.didn’t.have.any.fucking.time.

Time was passing by slowly as I waited to get married, but time was a merciless son of a bitch when it came to saving him from being taken from me by a betraying bullet.

There was no sound when the bullet penetrated his chest and came out the other side. No sound of the gunshot, and no sound coming out of my dad, as he simply closed his eyes and never opened them again. Before he collapsed to the ground, I was able to catch him in my arms and sit on the ground holding his already lifeless body.

The whole thing merely took no longer than two seconds, before chaos spiraled out of control everywhere around me.

It was probably shock, but I found myself calm despite the disaster that crashed on us just moments before the happiest day of my life. The happiest day that turned into my worst nightmare.

Mom was the first one to notice after me. She crouched down next to us and started sobbing loudly.

I laid him down gently on the ground, ran over to the guards further down the gate, and held out my hand for a gun.

“Follow me to the hill overlooking our house, someone bring the car around over there, FAST” I screamed my instructions at them, then sprinted towards where I saw that light coming from.

I heard running footsteps behind me as I kept moving towards that hill at my top speed.

That man is going to be captured, alive. He is going to pay for this.

Just as I arrived to the spot he was aiming from; which was empty, I caught sight of him running down the opposite side.

I motioned for the men who followed me to surround him from all sides, as I followed behind him.

Just as I started gaining speed over him and inching closer, I aimed my gun and pulled the trigger.

I was extremely talented with my aiming. I was the best at this and my gunshot always hit its target.

My bullet lodged into the back of his thigh, causing him to scream and tumble down, rolling over a couple of times before coming to a complete stop.

I didn’t give him time to recover, as I crouched over him, gripped him tightly by the collars of his shirt and hissed furiously “Who are you? And why did you shoot him?”

He wasn’t from this town for sure. I knew every man in this town, knew their names and even their houses.

He struggled to speak as he kept screaming about his damn leg. My patience was wearing thin at that point, I held my gun to his other thigh and threatened him in a deadly voice “Unless you want another bullet in your other leg, I suggest you start talking… now!”

He said between his ragged panting “I’ll tell you everything, but give me your word, you will spare my life in return. I am only a mere servant for him, I was forced into it”

“You have my word. I will not kill you, now start talking or I might change my mind”

He took his fucking time, until I was on the verge of pulling the trigger.

“Lord Z. It was lord Z’s order to take down Isaac Snow”

It didn’t surprise me really, with his determination to make a deal with us to smuggle his drugs into the border, his refusal to take no for an answer, and his influence over many people that we heard about.

But we were expecting a take over, not a fucking assassination!

“What’s his name? I want a fucking name!” I shout at him while still grabbing him by the collars of his shirt viciously.

He pales as he answers shakily “No one knows his real name. Only his trusted people know it, and they never share it with us. We are nobody to them”

I could hear the sound of the sirens approaching, but it was too late. He was already dead before his body hit the ground.

I looked down at the man who killed my father, deep in thought. Something wasn’t right, there was something missing.

“How did you sneak into the town? All the roads are being watched thoroughly”

He hesitated before answering “It was Patrick Walker. He helped me sneak in across the border from the road his men were supposed to be guarding”

And that’s the missing piece falling into place.

Someone helped that motherfucker from inside our town. Someone had dared to betray our beliefs, our trust, and our loyalty.

Patrick Walker, you’re a dead man walking.