Javier
Chapter 16
Javier
O nce my gorgeous girl is dressed in her wedding dress and Abuela Stella has finished her hair and makeup, we ride to the church. Charlotte looks so beautiful that I can hardly take my eyes off her. My hands burn to touch every soft inch of her, and my cock is so hard the son of a bitch hurts. I groan low in my chest, barely able to control myself.
The two most important women in the world to me are in this vehicle, so this time, I take a heavily armed convoy of guards with us as we hurry towards the church. I’m not taking any chances with my bride’s safety, today of all days.
“I’ll stay with Charlotte,” Abuela tells me as we pull up outside the church.
A tight feeling envelops my chest, but I dismiss it. It’s important that Charlotte isn’t alone when she meets up with her father, and I know I can trust Abuela with her life.
I turn to my guard. “Salvatore, protect my girls. If that motherfucker raises one finger to either of them, I want him dead.”
“Yes, Jefe.” Salvatore has really stepped up after seeing what happens to anyone who disrespects my woman.
After helping Charlotte and Abuela from the car, I enter the church to wait with the priest. The instant my wife leaves my sight, my palms start to sweat. Every minute feels like an hour. My foot taps impatiently on the ground as I wait for Charlotte and her father to arrive. He better not try anything stupid, and this wedding better go off without a hitch.
After what seems hours have elapsed and there is no sign of Charlotte, I finally take my phone out of my pocket to call Sal. I know I’m in church, but fuck it, she’s taking too long, and I need to know she’s okay.
No answer. “Fuck,” I step towards the priest. “I need to go check on my wife. Can you keep the guests occupied and notify them she’s on her way?”
Walking through the church, I exit the doors to check on Charlotte. That’s when I see a corpse on the ground in a puddle of blood.
Charlotte's desperate cries of "Javier" fill the air as her father roughly drags her toward me on the steps of the church. Eric and Tillie drag my Abuela along with them, her feet shuffling on the ground. Without thinking, my hand goes to my inside pocket, feeling the cold metal of my gun.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Detective Emory warns, clicking his safety off and aiming his weapon at my wife’s head. “One wrong move and I’ll kill her.”
With a huff, I slowly withdraw my hand from the jacket, keeping my eyes firmly on Charlotte’s father.
“Consuelos, it’s over. You are going to stay here while Eric walks my daughter down to the priest and marries her. I need his father in my pocket.”
My eyes lock with Charlotte’s, and my heart breaks when I see the terror in them. My wife is scared, and I’ve failed to protect her. The thought of losing her or Abuela sends chills down my spine. My heart is pounding as sweat coats my forehead.
I let out a loud, rumbling belly laugh. “Do you really believe that Eric will survive long enough to reach the priest, considering he is taking my wife with him?”
Listening to what Emory says next, I realize he didn’t catch my use of the word wife.
“Of course he will, because I’m going to keep you waiting right here at gunpoint until she’s said her vows. Once they are legally married, there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
“Emory, your daughter is already my wife, and I’ve worn the blood of her innocence on my dick on our wedding night.”
Detective Emory scowls. “You sick fuck. You better not have married the bitch. I don’t give a fuck who fucks her but marrying her?”
“We had a ceremony for just the two of us, yesterday, and we consummated our marriage last night.”
That’s when Eric pulls a gun out of his hip pocket and directs it at me. “You married my fiancée? You fucking gangster piece of shit.”
Looking at Eric’s side piece, I see her facial expression change. She’s not happy that Eric is bothered by another man marrying Charlotte.
Directing my attention back to the detective, I tell him, “It’s over, Emory. I’ve got more men on their way. Let my grandmother and wife go. We’re family now. Don’t make me kill you.”
“No,” Eric yells. “Char, we can have it annulled. You’re still mine.”
“I don’t want to annul my marriage, Eric. I don’t want to marry you.” Charlotte’s face looks beautiful as tears cascade down her cheeks.
She is mine, and I’m going to kill anyone who tries to take her from me.
“You can’t very well annul a marriage that has been consummated, Eric, and I took my wife’s pussy last night to make sure you have no way to contest the marriage. She’s mine. You and Emory need to back the fuck away.”
Eric’s face turns into pure rage as he raises a gun, which he aims not at me but at Detective Emory. “You promised her to me goddammit.”
The detective releases Charlotte and raises his hands in surrender, caught off guard by Eric’s change of heart.
Just when I think Eric’s going to pull the trigger, Tillie shocks me by raising her own gun and shooting Eric in the head. His body collapses to the floor with a loud thumping sound.
Tillie’s eyes go wide.
“Tillie, you dumb bitch. You killed him,” the detective barks.
That’s when it clicks. Tillie wasn’t just fucking Eric. She was keeping him in line for her real love—Emory. Tillie’s best friend was fucking her father. He must have talked her into sleeping with Eric. It seems Detective Emory has been holding all the cards—or so he thinks.
Emory swings his gun back in the direction of my girls. “You fucking bitch. Char. You’ve fucked everything up. Why couldn’t you just keep your goddamn legs closed? How dare you fucking marry him? Where is the evidence I asked for, you dumb cunt?”
Charlotte is no longer scared; by the look on her face, I can tell she’s pissed. Her whole demeanor changes when her father turns his gun towards Abuela.
“You are fucking Tillie,” Charlotte says as all the puzzle pieces come together. “You knew about her and Eric this whole time and were sleeping with her too?” One of Charlotte’s brows rises as she realizes her best friend has been having sex with her father as well as her fiancé.
“Of course I knew,” he says, a sly smile playing on his lips. “I encouraged her to make sure your boyfriend was satisfied so he wouldn’t lose interest in you, knowing you were not willing to fuck him. You didn’t hesitate to do what the gangster asked, did you? You disgust me, Charlotte. You are no different from your whore mother.”
I hear Charlotte gasp and know this situation is going to deteriorate further. While Emory is distracted, I pull my gun.
In one swift motion, I aim my gun at the detective’s back. Time slows down as the air crackles with tension. Charlotte’s eyes widen in disbelief, her trembling hands clutching her chest.
Emory’s voice fades into the background, drowned out by the pounding of my heart. I’ve killed many men so that’s not the part that makes me nervous. I just hope my wife will forgive me after this is over. If she tries to leave me, I’ll tie her to the bed and fuck her until she agrees to stay.
How dare this stupid half-ass cop put my grandmother and wife in danger and hold them at gunpoint. You don’t fuck with what belongs to me.
I squeeze the trigger; a thunderous boom reverberates through the churchyard. At first, it’s like time stands still. Then, time resumes its normal pace, and a mixture of screams and shattering glass fills the air.
The detective’s grip on his gun loosens, his body crumpling to the floor.
Charlotte’s gasp turns into a scream, her voice echoing through the chaos. I grab Charlotte’s hand, pulling her towards the church doors, away from the carnage.
“Abuela take Charlotte and go wait for me inside.”
The scent of gunpowder lingers, a haunting reminder that Tillie is still armed. It’s only a matter of time before she acts out of revenge or desperation.
Screaming at a high pitch shrill, Tillie looks down at Emory’s body. “You killed him. How could you?”
Inching closer, I say, “He was going to hurt Charlotte, and I won’t allow anyone to do that.”
As Tillie realizes my tone and seriousness, she looks up and sees my gun aimed at her head. She reaches out, trying to put her hands on my chest. “Please don’t shoot me. I will do anything. Anything!”
The woman is offering herself to a third man. She’s nothing but a whore.
“Don’t think about it, slut. You have nothing that interests me.”
“What is it about Charlotte that everyone loves so much? What does she have that I don’t?”
“Morals, class, a gentle and good soul. She’s everything you aren’t.” With that, the sound of the gun goes off and the last person who is a threat to my wife lies dead on the floor.
Putting my gun away, I know the wedding guests have heard the loud gunshots, but they are all associates of the Cartel, so this isn’t anything new to them. I take my cell phone out and call my soldiers to come clean up all the blood and dead bodies. Church isn’t exactly where I wanted to have a pile of dead bodies, but shit happens.
Once I fix my suit and get Abuela Stella and Charlotte back inside, I instruct Stella to let the priest know we are coming.
I bring my wife, who has tears streaming down her face, into my arms and hold her tightly. “Baby, I’m so sorry. Please don’t hate me.”
Sniffles come from my wife as she cries into my shirt. “I don’t blame you for keeping me and Stella safe. They were going to kill me if I didn’t betray you. I’m truly alone now. I’m sad that I won’t have my father, but he wasn’t the man I needed him to be either.”
Kissing her on the forehead, I’m reminded we have a church full of guests waiting. Grabbing her chin and locking gazes with her, I realize I’m prepared to beg if I need to. “I know we’re already married, but will you do me the honor of being my wife again? This time of your own free will? You will never be alone again, sweet girl.”
Amidst more sniffles and tears, my wife’s face breaks out in a warm smile. “Yes, Javier. I will marry you.”
My heart swells, and I can feel it beating against my chest as if to break free from its confines. I always knew I would marry in an arranged marriage to serve the Cartel, but I never expected to love my wife. This woman has become my everything.