The Mafia King's Bride

The Code

"It is a gun," Pearly muttered, trying very hard to mask her turbulent emotions and failing, miserably.

Ever intuitive, Everest noticed and glanced down at the gun with a confused frown. "Do you not like it?" He asked, slowly with a look that made it clear how ridiculous her not liking the gun sounded to him.

"It's a deadly weapon you had painted in my favourite colour to help me get used to it, so no, I don't hate it." She revealed as she carefully raised the gun out of the box and he brightened up.

she thought to herself.

"I'm glad you like it. Predator and I will be taking turns to teach you how to use and care for a gun. And, if you're up for it, we could also teach you enough moves to defend yours in a hand-to-hand combat situation."

The redhead nodded, mutely, a tad overwhelmed by everything that was happening but she did not want to appear foolish to him.

Guns were rare among normal citizens in Aurora despite what outsiders thought and the closest she had ever been to the weapon in all her twenty-four years of living was right at that moment.

How ironic it was that the place she had fled to for safety would be the place that gave her her first gun

"I know it is not the most ideal situation," Everest began with an uncomfortable tightness of his posture that let her know she had spoken her thoughts out loud, "but possessing the ability to hurt someone is the only way to survive this, no matter how gruesome it may seem."

She shuffled in place, the gun still held loosely in her right hand that was resting on her thigh. "I appreciate everything you've done for me. And I know it may seem like I'm ungrateful, but I'm not. I just..."

"You're scared," he offered when she struggled to articulate her words and she nodded, thankfully.

"I would be too if I had the McCarthy code coming for me so there is nothing to be ashamed of." The grey-eyed man comforted with a soft stroke of her back with his large palm.

Pearl was too overcome with confusion to acknowledge the touch that would have usually left her a bashful mess.

"What's the McCarthy code?" She asked, causing him to frown and muttered something under his breath.

"Were you not told a guideline of sorts about the McCarthy clan before your wedding?"

She shook her head with a rueful laugh and placed the gun back in the box, "they were too busy trying to stop me from jumping out the window."

He clicked his tongue and stared ahead, his hand that had not yet left her back tightening, slightly around her waist.

"Every clan has their code, which is basically a set of rules or guidelines that are strictly followed. A clan's code decides what activities they can or can not involve themselves in, the day-to-day life of every member and what should be done in any and every circumstance that comes up."

"So it is like a bible for the clan?" She summed up, beginning to get the gist of it.

"Yes, except the code can be rewritten by the leader of the clan whenever they want, which brings us to McCarthy's code." He snarled the name like it brought him physical pain to say it and Pearl wondered how deep their rivalry ran.

"McCarthy's code is, expectedly, unforgiving when it comes to traitors and according to it, you are the worst kind of traitor."

"Me?" She pointed at herself with a brow raised in disbelief. "But I had not even been with them long enough to learn anything useful to tell you so how can I be a traitor?

"Well, you are the lawfully wedded wife to Leonard McCarthy, the head of the clan, who willingly escaped with his and the clan's greatest enemy. You have no proof that you were taken against your will and with the added fact that you were against the marriage from the very beginning, the code finds you guilty and deserving of punishment."

"And how will the code punish me when..."

"If," he interrupted, sharply with a disturbed look in his eyes.

"If they catch me," she corrected with a gentle squeeze of his knee that was returned with a gentle squeeze of her waist.

"From the intel, my men have gathered," he hesitated, his intense eyes studying her face, "it's not something I want to see happen to you."

"Will they torture me?" She whispered, feeling oddly calm with their eyes connected in such a heated way.

"Worse. But I promise I will not let things come to that," he swore as his eyes broke away from her gaze and trailed down her face.

It took everything in Pearl to stop her tongue from wetting her lips. His face drew closer to her's and her eyes slid shut, her lips slightly puckering in preparation.

A softness pressed against her cheek, and she blinked her eyes open just as he pulled back, slightly.

They were now close enough for him to see the almost invisible freckles dusting her cheeks and she was close enough to see the beginnings of a beard sprouting from his chin.

"Everything is happening too fast," he whispered in a low voice that sounded almost like a growl but did not pull away. "I think we should slow down for both your safety and my sanity."

"Okay," she whispered, wanting more than anything to close the distance between them and do what he had not been brave enough to do.

An insistent knock on his door brought them back into the world and after a few seconds of consideration, he got up and left to answer it while Pearl tried to recover from the moment.

"Everest!" Greeted the familiar voice of the woman who had tried to murder her less than a day ago.

"Good morning, Sofia," he greeted but did not invite her in, to Pearl's relief.

"May I come in?" She questioned and Pearl's hand trailed over to the box and fished out the gun, not caring if it was loaded.

"Not right now, Sofia," he refused with a sigh, the muscles in his back rippling as he stretched, tiredly. "The room's a mess and I'm hoping to get a little more rest today after yesterday."

"I could join you~"

Pearl rolled her eyes at the offer, wishing the other woman could see her gag at the desperation.

Everest laughed in amusement but did not relent and was eventually able to get rid of her.

"She's persistent," Pearl commented, neutrally when he returned back to her.

"She's always been that way," he shrugged then yawned, loudly which made her think that it had not been a complete lie when he said he wanted to get more sleep.

"How long has she been in love with you?" She asked and he turned to stare at her like she was crazy.

"In love with me? Why would Sofia be in love with me?" He asked with an incredulous expression and Pearl wondered if he had looked in a mirror recently.

"You don't even know who she is so your claim has no evidence."

Pearl hesitated, wondering if it was right to potentially tear apart childhood friends but remembered that Predator had encouraged her to talk to Everet and she trusted him not to mislead her.

"She made her feelings towards you very clear when she confronted me last night."

His expression grew grim and he looked her over with probing eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Barely," she said with a shrug, "but after everything, I've been through, being called a cheap wh*re and nearly getting stabbed to death with a dagger is the least of my worries." She sighed and noticed how tired and wrecked she felt.

"I am sorry about Sofia's behaviour. I will see to it that you never have to be in the same room as her again."

"Thank you," she responded with a weak smile that drew his attention to her under-eye bags and unhealthy paleness.

"Would you like to join me?" He pointed at the bed and she made a confused sound at the back of her throat. "Knowing Sofia, she's probably still lurking out there so you should sleep with me, in bed," he added, quickly with a panicked wave of his hand that made her smile.

She bounced on the spot she was sitting to test the softness of the bed and when she received satisfactory results, placed the gun back into the box, set it down on the nightstand and rolled to the other side of the bed.

Without saying a word, Everest shut the thick curtains and turned off the lights. He got into bed and dutifully tucked her under the duvet then gingerly laid down beside her.

They stayed in comfortable silence for a while after getting in bed, the warmth of someone lying beside them, an enriching feeling that both had gone far too long without.

Finally, after some tossing and turning, sleep came.