Married Into The Mafia *Undergoing Re-editing*

Insecurities

THIS CHAPTER AND THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS ARE INCOMPLETE AND UNDER MAJOR EDITING! IF YOU HAVE DECIDED TO KEEP READING UNTIL THIS POINT, I RECOMMEND STOPPING OR THE STORY WILL NOT MAKE SENSE!

--Ashton--

I heard a gunshot. And, for the next few moments, my ear rang with the shrill intensity of it. A bullet to the head would end you before you could even feel the pain of it.  

I assumed that was what had happened, for I felt no pain. My vision was gone and my ears heard nothing. Was I already dead? 

But I was still breathing despite it. I took in a breath and felt my heart patter in my chest. I was...alive. I was still alive?

"Mr King." 

 My eyes snapped open at the sound of my name. A voice too real to be from the fleeting memories of a dying brain. It felt close and clear, reassuring me that I truly was still alive. 

The light in the room, as dim as it was, rushed back into my eyes. They struck wide in astonishment, no longer looking down the barrel of Alex's gun. In fact, Alex was not even in my line of sight anymore. In his place was an unfamiliar man, lowering the aim of his gun. I quickly followed its trajectory until something piqued my notice from the edges of my gaze. 

Down by my feet. Sprawled out and lifeless, was a corpse. A bullet wound on the back of his head dribbled with a stream of fresh blood. 

I tightened my jaw in the grim realisation of who it had been. Alex...

I see. Perhaps, it had always been impossible that one of us would leave this room alive today, my friend. In another life, let us meet again under different circumstances. 

"Mr King," the stranger called again, now standing directly in front of me. I took a quick scan of his features - east Asian. "It's good to see that we made it just in time." I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Dressed dapper and with a slight accent in some words and phrases - Chinese? Though this man had just saved me right now, I had no idea who he was, how he got here or what his intentions were. I would not be thankful so soon.

"Who are you?" I droned unpleasantly even as he began work on the leather straps pinning down my wrists. He mentioned a 'we' as well, so I assumed that he had others he was working with in here right now. I shook my hand to release the tension that had been bundled at my wrist once it was released. The man quickly moved on to the other one as he explained the situation. 

"We're here to help you, Mr King. We've already detained this facility and we will be moving you to a safe location afterwards." As soon as my other hand was freed, I made a swift acquisition of the handgun he had holstered at his hip. The man stiffened once I had it pointed at him, stepping back with his hands raised in surrender. 

"That didn't answer my question. I can see what you're doing but I'm not going to trust you unless I know who the hell you are," I muttered in a hostile approach as I stood up from the chair. 

"My name is Kevin," he stated, raising one of my eyebrows. 

"Just Kevin?" I snapped back. 

"If you want my actual name, you'll have a hard time pronouncing it, sir-"

"Just get to the point," I urged him along. 

I took in a deep breath and let it all go before slowly lowering his arms. "I'm just going to roll down my collar," he warned in precaution as he pinched onto the black collar of his skin-tight turtle neck. I nodded for him to continue but kept the gun steady just in case he tried something. Kevin drew the collar down, revealing a few inches of bare skin before the edges of an inking began to peek out under the folds. I squinted my eyes to peer in closer as he tugged the shirt even further apart to display the tattoo that was wrapping around his clavicle.