chapter 4
1171 Words
Marcus woke up and could not find Aceline in the room, apparently he had overslept, he knew she might be emotional enough to go back into the town which might get her killed, he hated the fact that he is going to be babysitting now, he is sure Don Paulo would get her easily as she rode directly to him herself, he wore dark pants and his favorite jacket. He opened a secret iron door in the wall beside the bed, he picked his favorite rifle, a customized golden Winchester, diamond encrusted Double revolver and a pen knife, these were the least of his expensive ammunitions but were his favorites, he had purchased dozens of limited edition customized ammunitions on one of his traveling trips years ago, he has the money, ammunitions was his only way of spending extravagantly, he took Grundy, his fastest horse and raced at full gait hoping he won't be too late, A few meters away from his farmhouse he saw horse trails going directly into the town.
“What a child” he thought
He was a few meters away from the town square when he saw them. Alteast ten men with Aceline in-between, then he saw Don Paulo, the devil himself behind one of his men.
“What a chicken” he thought
He stationed himself like he is in the shooting range then aimed towards them, if he could get a good shot from here, he would scare them to at least loosen their security around her, it felt like a stupid plan for any other person but not him, he is not afraid of Don Paulo, they have not even met. He was still trying to pick who to shoot when he saw one of the men walking towards Aceline, he aimed his Winchester and fired at him, he saw the man hold his neck and fall on his stomach, he saw Don Paulo and the rest of his men run for cover but one dragged Aceline with him, he was upset his plan didn't work work so he must improvise now.
He walked nonchalantly to where the man he had shot lay and said.
“I hope I am not late for the party?”
Don Paulo signals his men to regroup and he stays behind one of his men, Marcus wondered how the chicken of a man could terrorize a whole county. He had heard about Don Paulo a few times he had been to the bar but he would never interfere in anyone's business if he had no reason to.
Don Paulo was afraid of him for some reasons, Don Paulo knew Marcus and his grandfather, he walked like an old man that he is, legs shaking, he stretched out his hand for a handshake.
“You must be Pickett's grandson, Marcus?”
Marcus frowned and wondered how he knew his grandfather but that is not the priority now.
“Yes and you are Don Paulo, the county old tout”
Juan unholstered his revolver and pointed it at Marcus
“You don't get to talk to my boss that way, you cunt” he shouted at Marcus
“Hold your dog Don paulo” Marcus smirked
Juan was so furious now and looked to his boss for permission to kill Marcus but to his surprise he was told to stand down, he holstered his revolver and turned away from the smiling Marcus.
“You are a dog after all” Marcus said again
“I know your grandfather, he was a humble billionaire, I suppose you own his wealth now, so you are a billionaire” Don Paulo said, his eyes fixed on Marcus golden Winchester”
“I am here for the girl” Marcus replied
“What value is she to you? I paid her price to her father already, she is supposed to be wedded to me already”
“Alright let's make a deal” Marcus said
Aceline was shocked, she could not fathom what Marcus was doing or who he thinks he is to trade with Don Marcus, she never asked for his help and neither will she let anyone be killed on her account.
“Marcus please don't do this, you will only get yourself killed” She was sobbing now
“Shut up, you wench” Juan shouted at her
“And What is your deal, Mister?” Don Paulo asked Marcus
“I get to duel with your best man, I win, she is mine, I lost, you know what to do, Deal?” He stretched out his hand
Before Don Paulo could speak, Juan had already received the handshake.
“Boss, I will take it from here, I have always wanted to kill him right from the day he hid her in his farmhouse, you know I have never lost a draw”
Don Paulo nodded and signaled for the rest of his men to retreat apart from Juan who stood right in front of Marcus, hand on his revolver.
“You know these diamond babies have never lost a draw, but they are rusty, I might as well oil them with your blood” Marcus said
“If money could buy marksmanship then every rich men would not care to hire a hitman” Juan trolled
Aceline was so scared, what if Marcus lost? Then she will have to live all her life mourning everyone who has died because of her, she will be the sad wife of an old rich murderer, she would rather kill herself right on the spot. She was being held by one of Don Paulo's men, the moment Marcus lost she would kill herself right on the spot or atleast kill Don Paulo.
One of the men measured the distance between Juan and Marcus and positioned himself to give the call, they stood glaring at each other, a nano second mistake could lead to any one of them lying dead on the floor.
Aceline thought about Marcus being a billionaire for a second, his life is not as simple as it might look, he has customized guns which are so rare that no one have them in the whole county, and he brags with confidence, even at the feared Don Paulo, she noticed some hidden form of arrogance of a Spoiled rich man in him which gave her chills, Marcus was cool and gentle when she had met him in his farmhouse, what if he was hiding his true nature? What if he is a more dangerous man than Don Paulo?
She believes he's hiding behind his looks, he has secrets he doesn't want people to know, Don Paulo seems to respect this man, Who is Marcus Pickett? There are things probably only Don Paulo and the Sheriff knows about this man that others don't. The questions kept ringing in her ears until she heard a gun take off, she saw both men upright and in some seconds there was blood on the sand.
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