Chapter 1
Michaela
Everything was happening so fast, to the point I didn’t even have time to think. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind that came down to tonight. A night I’ll never forget. Everything had been absolutely perfect up until that point. I was enjoying the fireworks alongside my guests, when Crimson rushed up to me and whispered, “We need to leave.” From the look on his face, I could tell something was going on.
Honestly, I was concerned, and wanted to ask questions. But I didn’t. It had only been a few hours since I said I do, and I wasn’t about to start an argument with my husband. So, I motioned for my girls to follow me upstairs so I could change.
“As soon as I take this dress off, I’m heading straight to the bathroom.”
“We’ll have you out of this dress in a few minutes,” Chantez replied. “Then you can head back downstairs to wow your guests.”
Despite the pandemic, my wedding went off perfectly without a hitch. Honestly, it was better than I had ever imagined. Only twenty-five guests, but that was more than enough for me. Really, all I needed was him.
“We’re getting ready to leave,” I replied.
“I thought you guys were leaving in the morning,” Sherilyn, asked.
“I bet he has another surprise for you,” Taryn, chimed in.
The three of them were discussing the surprise Crimson may or may not had for me, while I waited for them to help me out of my dress. Maybe he did have another surprise for me, and that’s why he was in a hurry to leave. I don’t know, all I wanted was to get out of my dress.
“I bet it’s a new car,” Taryn said as she unzipped my dress.
“Or an island off the coast,” Chantez laughed.
I didn’t have time to follow them up because the moment the dress hit the floor, I headed straight to the bathroom. They were still chatting about the surprise, while I looked at pictures on Instagram that had our hashtag #LucasInLove.
“You alright in there,” Chantez yelled.
“Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Ok, I want to touch your hair up before we head back downstairs.”
My bestie was my own personal glam team by herself. She made sure every strain was in place before I made my third dress change of the night, courtesy of my daddy. I was still busy going through pictures on Instagram, while my sisters were taking selfies, when someone banged on the door.
“Hold your horses,” Taryn snapped as she walked over to the door. “Who is it?”
“Mr. Lucas wants to know how much longer.”
Taryn looked at me, as I shrugged my shoulders. “Tell them 10 minutes more minutes,” Chantez told her.
Taryn cracked the door just enough to poke her head out. “We’ll be ready down in 10 minutes,” she said before closing the door.
The fact Crimson sent someone to check to see how much longer before I was back downstairs. At that point, I knew something was definitely going on. Instead of letting Chantez finish her touch up, I told her I was good, before putting on my third dress of the evening. Which was much more comfortable than the first two.
“You look gorgeous as usual,” Sherilyn stated.
“Thank you. I really appreciate everything you all have done for me over the last few weeks.” I told them.
“Don’t go getting mushy on us, and ruin our make-up,” Taryn said.
When we finally made it downstairs the guests were already waiting out front to see us off. The night was ending earlier as originally planned. I overheard Crimson’s mom say, midnight cocktails would be waiting for everyone back at the hotel. The Lucas family was definitely rolling out the red carpet for their eldest son.
As I stood out front waiting for my chariot to take us off in the night, I looked around for Crimson. “Where’s Crimson,” I whispered to Chantez. She shrugged her shoulders. I was about to get snappy when he walked up behind me and put his hands around my waist.
“You look absolutely beautiful,” he whispered.
With my king by my side, we made our way through our guest who were cheering us on as we climbed into his Lamborghini truck. Before getting in, my dad kissed me on the cheek. “Take care of my baby girl,” I heard him tell Crimson’s.
“You have my word,” Crimson told him.
“You have my word,” Crimson replied. The two of them had created a bond. I think my dad was simply happy to finally have a son.
As soon as the car pulled off, I turned my attention to my husband. The fact he had accelerated our exit and we were leaving out through a tunnel had me concerned. A lot had been going lately outside the wedding planning. “Baby you ok?”
“Yeah, why you ask?”
“No reason.” Instead of cross-examining him like he was on the witness stand, I settled back in my seat and bobbed my head to the music. It was my wedding night, and it was nothing that could ruin it. At least, I thought until a mile down the road, we came to a complete stop. Our wedding had been held on the outskirts of Atlanta, at a mansion setting on 28 acres. We were on an old country backroad as my granny would call it. There’s no red light, no stop sign for miles. Nothing. So, I couldn’t understand why we came to a complete stop.
“What’s going on? I bet it’s a deer,” I stated.
“Boss,” Boxer said as he turned the lights off.
Crimson looked stress. “Stay in the car.”
Confused, I tried to ask what was going on before he and Boxer hopped out the car. I tried to open the door, but they had locked me in. I turned around to see a car behind us. A few seconds later I heard voices. I recognized Cavalier’s voice, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I leaned forward to see if I could see what was happening. Nothing. Just then the car door opened and one of Crimson’s guys jumped in.
“What’s going on?”
“Mrs. Lucas, I’m not sure I was just told to get you out of here.”
“I’m not leaving here without Crimson,” I snapped.
“I’m sorry, but.” Before he could finish, I threatened to shoot him. I know that was a little extreme, but I wasn’t lying. I found one of Crimson’s gun in the floor compartment of the car. With the gun pointed at the driver, I watched as he removed his hands from the steering wheel.
“I need to get out.” I reached for the door when he pulled his gun on me.
“I can’t le t you do that.”
Shocked to say the least, but I knew he wasn’t’ going to shoot me. But I wasn’t taking any chances. I sat back in the seat and lowered my gun. As we sat there, I could feel a panic attack coming on. “Breathe in and breathe out,” I could hear my therapist instructing me to.
“Mrs. Lucas, are you ok?”
I continued to let out deep breaths to help keep myself calm. It was helping until I heard gunfire erupt. “Crimson,” I screamed. It was my wedding night, and I couldn’t lose my husband before our life began together. I immediately started praying. Dear God, protect Crimson by any means necessary. Hopefully, God would send the angels from Africa that Paula White had been asking for.
I leaned forward to see if I could see anything. “Can you see anything,” I snapped.
“No mam.”
We were sitting in $350,000 bullet proof vehicle safe, while my husband was being shot at. I couldn’t breathe. I was screaming for him to get back in the car, like he could hear me. “Do something,” I snapped. I wasn’t sure what he could do.
All of sudden I noticed headlights coming up from the side out the wooded arear. The roar of motorcycles made my heart skip a beat because I didn’t know if they were friend or foe. The gunfire seemed more rapid at that point. Then as quickly as it started, it stopped. I sat there waiting for Crimson to come back to the car, to let me know he was good. Nothing. I could wait any longer. “Open my damn door,” I snapped. I cocked the gun back to let him know I was serious. Without hesitation he hopped and opened my door.
As soon as the door opened, I hear yelling. I was standing there trying to focus through all the chaos. “Crimson.” I started screaming his name.
“Michaela get back in the car.” Cavalier snapped. But I wasn’t listening. I stepped over a body looking down to me sure it wasn’t Crimson. “Michaela get back in the car,” he snapped a second time.
I didn’t listen. I pushed my way through the men standing in the middle of road. I turned my flashlight on my phone to get a better look of things. The lights that had been blinding me earlier had been shot out “Crimson.” My heart leaped for joy when I saw him kneeling down. It didn’t last long when I realized I was standing in something wet. I looked down to see my feet covered in blood. It was no way my life was ending less than 24 hours of getting started.
