Page 15 of Obsessive Love (The King #1)

Chapter Fourteen

Kaleb

I toss my buzzing phone onto the passenger seat of my car and turn the music up to maximum volume as I cruise down the back roads towards the wedding venue, ignoring another one of my father's calls. I thought he would've given up by now, but after calling me ten times, he then started messaging me, telling me I had to show my face so that we looked like a united family and all that bullshit.

After waiting for a text to tell me the ceremony was ending, I finally decided to drive over here and make an appearance. I didn't want to attend the ceremony because I knew for sure I wouldn't have been able to sit there and watch my brother marry Sophia. I would've caused absolute mayhem as soon as they started saying their vows.

Even if I thought I could've managed to get through it, I knew I couldn't go because if Sophia had seen me and learnt who I was, I'm certain she wouldn't have gone through with the wedding. As much as that would've made me happy, it would've caused a whole heap of trouble that neither family can afford at this current time, and it would've fucked up mine and Jericho's long-term plans as well.

So instead, I sat in an empty parking lot a few streets away, ignoring my father's threats and waiting for someone to notify me that the ceremony was over.

Now, as I turn onto the street leading to the wedding venue, I'm debating on turning back around and staying away for the reception. I'm not a people person, so it's bad enough I'm going to have to sit there and socialise, but the fact I'm also going to be expected to seem somewhat happy about the event taking place is downright laughable.

This whole thing makes me miserable. Sophia shouldn't have to marry someone she doesn't want to just because the American mafia thugs are trying to infiltrate London and take control of everything we do here. She should've been able to continue pursuing her dreams. I should've been able to stick to my original plan and meet her in a better way where she would've met me and slowly fallen in love with me.

Instead, we met because of a deceiving plan I had come up with on the spot after finding out she was marrying my brother. Our relationship is going to start off with her most likely hating me and not wanting anything to do with me.

Luckily, I know that her opinion of me will begin to change after some time, but this isn't how I wanted everything to happen.

As I get to the open gates of the wedding venue, I see guards running around outside, heading to the reception hall with their guns drawn. I turn down the music in my car and as soon as I hear the faint sound of gunshots and screams in the distance, I stop the car, throw my door open, and start sprinting towards the hall.

Sophia is in there.

She's the only thing on my mind as I charge towards the chaos, weaving between the screaming women and the shouting guards, desperate to find her.

As I rip open one of the doors that leads into the hallway outside of the reception hall, a hulking body comes crashing into me, almost knocking me on my arse. I push past the man, not caring who he is or what weapon he may have on him, and I run down the corridor, pushing through the doors to the hall and planting myself right in the middle of the mayhem.

I take a quick look around. Dominic and Jaylen are fighting with five men dressed as waiters, wrestling for guns and glass that's strewn across the floor around them. Percy, another member of the King's organisation that I know of, is crouched behind a flipped table, shooting at another load of waiters who are shooting back.

I turn to see Charlie, a man who works closely with me and Jericho, a few feet away from me as he swings a metal pole at some guy's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Charlie!" I shout, gaining his attention. "What the fuck is going on and where are Jericho and Sophia?"

"Americans must've caught wind. They came in as waiters and servers, and then, in seconds, everyone was shooting and fighting. There's a shit ton of people outside, but I think your brother's still over there," he says, pointing to the other side of the room. I see the head table flipped on its side, and I watch my brother roll out from behind it to a table close by.

Panic soars inside of me as I picture Sophia curled up behind the table, terrified and alone, probably believing that she's going to die within the next few minutes.

I draw my gun from my waistband and charge forward, aiming at the three men standing in the centre of the room shooting at the table that's covering her. I shoot one of them, hitting him straight in the chest and I watch as he drops to the floor, his gun falling from his hand and sliding away from him.

One down, two to go.

The remaining two stop shooting at the table and turn to face me, before I can get a shot off, one of them raises his gun, aiming it at me and pulling the trigger. As the bullet grazes against my forearm, I chuckle at his bad aim and stare him dead in the eye as I raise my gun and shoot him between the eyes.

"Kaleb!" Jericho roars, diving out from the table beside me and tackling me down to the floor as multiple bullets whizz over our heads. "Jesus Christ. Pay attention you stupid fucker!"

He shakes his head as I push him off of me and we both scan the room, seeing a few more Americans in the room, all of them unarmed and fighting with people from our organisation, minus the one that just tried to shoot at us and is now running for the hills.

"Sophia's behind the head table. Go, get her out of here safely. I'll try and keep one of these fuckers alive so that we can find out some information." I nod and we slap each other on the shoulder before standing up and heading in opposite directions.

My eyes zone in on the flipped-over table that's chipped from all the bullets that have been hitting it, and my heart thumps powerfully in my chest as fear seeps into my bones, hoping and praying that Sophia is still alive and unharmed behind it.

I run over and lift the table, spying Sophia immediately with a pool of silky white surrounding her. I reach out to grab her, but instantly jump back and hold my hands up in surrender as she jumps up from the floor wielding a knife and points it directly at me.

"Woah, dolcezza . Put the weapon down."

Her glistening blue eyes meet mine and I watch in fascination as they widen in surprise at the same time as her jaw drops and the colour drains from her face.

She begins to stutter, trying to ask me a question as she looks around the room with panicked eyes. I take that as my chance to lunge forward and snatch the knife out of her hand, cutting my palm in the process. I throw it across the room and then effortlessly lift her, draping her over my shoulder and ignoring her shouts of confusion and anger as I walk us outside of the reception hall.