Page 78 of Covert
He gets three words out before muffled male shouting filters in through the closed wooden doors. Suddenly, the heavy wooden doors fling open, momentarily blinding the congregation with the sunlight outside.
Diesel and Scar are the first through the doors, followed by Maddox, Beckett, and Axel. A strangled sound comes out of Diesel as he stumbles into the room and sees me about to marry someone else. I wince.
'Hey, baby,' I mouth. The look of absolute heartbreak on his face is replaced quickly with anger.
An army of big, burly bikers filters in through the doors and surrounds the audience. Tino and my father push to standing, pulling out their weapons, but they're surrounded and don't know who to point at. All of the bikers are armed, and I gather my skirt, reaching underneath the heavy fabric to retrieve my own weapon, pointing it directly at my father's head.
"What the fuck is this?" my dad hisses, weapon finally trained onto me, realizing that I'm the ringmaster.
"This is my army," I say proudly.
"What have you done? You stupid bitch!" he shouts, droplets of spit flying out of his mouth. His face is red with anger.
Calmly, cooly, I explain the situation to my father. "There's no way you're leaving here alive. If you shoot me, you'll have an army of armed killers on you in a second. You let me go; I'll make your death painless."
"Not a fucking chance, Princess," he curses, disgust dripping from his tone. "My men will kill yours."
"What men?"
My dad finally looks around at the audience. 'His men' have remained seated, watching us curiously. Not one has made a move to protect him or attack any of the bikers except Tino, whose hand wavers. He's starting to realize his loyalty might mean the death of it.
While my father's gaze was trained on me, Scar crept up behind him. He's quiet for such a big guy. In a brutal kick, Scar takes Dad's knees out. In the fall, Dad's grip on his weapon falters, and Scar kicks it away, glaring at Tino threateningly.
"Thanks, big guy," I say, gathering my skirts and stepping down from the dais.
He smiles down at me warmly and steps back, allowing me full access to my father. I walk around to the front of him.
"This is a house of God," the priest shouts from behind me.
"I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed…" I quote back to the priest; years of Catholic school coming in handy.
Finally, I turn my attention to the audience, both the Ricci and Vitale mafia families.
"The Ricci family is now run by my brother. Anyone who threatens me or my family will have to answer to my army. Is that understood?" A murmur ensues, but the message is received.
"You fucking..." A loud crack echoes through the church, and my father's eyes widen in surprise and then fear, before they go dark, and his body falls forward onto the ground.
I raise my gun at Giovanni. "Are we going to have a problem here?" Eyes wide, he raises his hands in surrender. Patricide is usually frowned upon in the families, but considering I didn't do it for power or control, having Angelo take over is perfect.
"I didn't want to marry you anyway," he mumbles, backing up a step or two.
Coup complete, I rush to my guys, wrapping my arms around them in a group hug. Being surrounded by them, their warmth, their muscles, their scents
"I'm free!" I squeal, almost unable to believe it. It was always the plan, but there were so many things that could have gone wrong.
"Oh!" I say, pulling out of the group just barely as Natalie runs past me and into her brother's arms. My chest squeezes in on itself, watching the pair reunite. Maddox sighs with his entire body as he embraces his sister.
"I-I-I didn't believe it," Maddox chokes out when the pair parts. Diesel wraps his arms around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder, bringing my back to his front as we watch the emotional reunion as if he knew I needed the grounding. I'm nervous about Axel's reaction to her, whether I'll be replaced, now that his first love is back.
Axel is next to hug Natalie, and a piece of me heals when he pulls away. He's not looking at her like he looks at me. He's looking at her like a friend would, not a lover.
Even Beckett walks up, and I stare in amazement as he bends at the waist to hug Natalie, too. I knew they were friends growing up, but I didn't know if his comfort with touch extended past our relationship.
"I like the dress, pretty girl," Diesel croons in my ear.
I spin. "Ew. Get me out of this thing."
Angelo walks up, then, shaking the guys' hands, and I make introductions with my guys and the MC crew. I peek behind him to see Matteo and Damiano dragging our father's lifeless body out a side door.
