Chapter 2

John's P.O.V.

I just arrived to the Reception and so far it isn't as bad as I thought it would have been. I missed the wedding ceremony because I'm still trying to look for Nexus but I showed up right?

"Boss over here!" I heard Cody call to me. I walked over to him, Ted and Randy who were talking to Ted's sister and her husband.

"Hey guys. Sorry I'm late but congrats." I apologized.

"Thanks and don't worry about it. At least you came." She said

"Hey Boss, I want you to meet two friends of ours." Ted said motioning to himself and his sister (Sarah) as he motioned for two people to come over. "Boss this is Nick Nemeth and his girlfriend…"

"Maria?" I asked cutting Ted off.

"John? Oh My Gosh" she said as she hugged me and I hugged her in return. Wow, I haven't seen her in years. We dated back in high school and if she hadn't moved senior year, I think we would be married. Which means Alexis would have never been born, Which means she would have never been killed by the hands of Nexus. I shook those thoughts out of my head as I released Maria.

"How have you been?" we asked each other at the same time and then laughed. Hearing her laugh just now made my smile even more.

"I'm good," she said

"So I assume you two know each other?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, we dated in high school." Maria said smiling at me.

"Wait, this is the John that you…?" Sarah paused mid sentence as Maria nodded. "Oh" she said a she looked at me up and down and then back at Maria. I looked at her confused, she just looked at me smiling until we heard someone clear his throat.

"Ni I'm Nick Nemeth, Maria's boyfriend." He said stretching his hand out to me, which I took and shook.

"Nice to meet you" I said noticing how he tried to tighten his grip on my hand and then let go.

"So, thanks for inviting me guys but I gotta go. My shift starts in 20 minutes, I have to g get ready. See you later babe." He said to Sarah, her new husband and Maria. "It was nice to meet you John. Bye" he said as he walked out to his car.

"Okay, well we're going to take our sits. Thanks for coming guys" Sarah said as her and her new husband went to their table.

"Boss if you need us, we'll be over here." Cody said as, Ted, and Randy sat at a table.

"Boss huh?" Maria asked.

"Um… yeah." I said rubbing the back of my neck. "Do you want to get a drink and catch up?" I asked hoping she would say yes.

"Yeah" she said as she led the way to the bar. We sat there the whole time just reminiscing on old times and catching up with our lives in the present or more like her life. I am trying to avoid talking about me. "So how do you go from captain of the high school football team to a mobster?" she asked.

"Uh… well when my dad died, one of his dying wishes was for me to take his place in the so called 'family' business. So I did." I responded.

"Interesting. So are you married? Do you have kids?" she asked

I sighed. "I was and I did."

"What do you mean?"

"My… wife died 4 years ago from breast cancer and I had a daughter but… she uh…" I couldn't find myself to continue. It's still hard to talk about, especially since it's my all my fault.

"John?" she said concerned as she moved her seat closer to mine.

"Her name was Alexis and uh… she… died last year and it's all my fault." I said looking down.

"Oh John, I'm sorry." She said rubbing my back, comforting me. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened? Why do you say it's your fault?" she asked. Before I got a chance to answer, Cody interrupted us.

"Hey Boss, can I talk to you…now" he said with urgency in his voice.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." I said to Maria as I got up from my seat.

"It's ok, maybe we can hang out or something" she said.

"Yeah, that would be great." I said as she took out a piece of paper and pen out of her purse and wrote down her phone number. "Here this is my cell. Call me or text me which one you think is better."

"Ok, thanks. I'll make sure I do that. It was great seeing you again Ria." I said as I hugged her.

"It was great seeing you too John." She said returning the hug. We said our goodbyes as I went over to Cody.

"What's up?"

"I think the Nexus is here," he said looking around

"Where?" I said looking around frantically

"I don't know but Randy got a call from Daniel saying that one of their members are near by. He said

"Ok where are Ted and Randy?"

"They're looking for him now."

"Ok, I want you to do the same but make sure you do it quietly. I don't want to alarm anyone." He nodded as he walked off. I started waling around to see if I saw anything suspicious. I looked at Ted and then at Randy, both shaking their head knowing I was asking them if they saw anything without actually asking them. I looked around for Cody but I couldn't see him anywhere. I pulled out my cell phone and called him but he didn't answer. That's when I started to worry. I walked over the Ted and Randy and told them that I couldn't see Cody. Not a minute later, we heard gunshots. We ran to the direction we heard it come from as everyone started screaming and running to his or her cars.

We continued running until we saw a brunette woman holding a cloth in her hand, putting pressure on, what I assumed to be Cody's gunshot wound.

"What happened?" I asked as I kneeled down beside Cody.

"I don't know. One minute a guy is harassing me, the next this guy is running after him saying he was part of…"

"Nexus?" Ted finished

"Yeah" she replied.

"Randy call an ambulance." I told him as I tried to see if Cody was conscious. "Hey Cody can you hear me? Cody?" I say trying to get him to respond. He just moaned in pain.

"John, they said they are 25 minutes away." Randy said.

"That's too late, he is going to be dead by then. Can one of you get me a knife and alcohol?" The brunette said

"Why?" I asked

"I'm going to get the bullet out." She responded

"Do you know what you're doing?" I asked

"I'm a doctor"

"Okay then Ted go get what she asked for." I told him as I tried to keep Cody awake.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" Sarah asked as she, her husband and Maria came over.

"I don't know, but an ambulance is on that way." I said as Ted came back and gave the brunette what she needed. We all just stood there as she slowly but surely got the bullet out. Five minutes later the ambulance finally came and but Cody on the stretcher and took him to the hospital as we followed close behind.

"They have no idea who they are up against" Randy said. "I can't wait to get my hands on them."

"Get in line" I said as we waited in the waiting room of the hospital.

"Who is here for Cody Rhodes?" a nurse asked

"We are"

"Well, he is doing fine. The bullet didn't do much damage, but he will have to stay here for a few days so we can analyze him. He was lucky that Doctor James was there. You can see him if you like, he is in room 325" She said, and then walked away.

We all went in and saw him.