“I’m really trying not to enjoy this, but I can’t help it.”
“NO! PLEASE!” she pleaded as her head met the water again. I could tell that she was beginning to lose consciousness. Her struggles slowly dwindled to nothing, and the air bubbles all but ceased.
Pulling her out, I threw her on the ground kicked her once in the stomach as I turned and grabbed the largest knife from the stand. I mounted her and pressed the sharp blade into her neck.
“Hi, Olivia,” I whispered pressing the knife into her white skin even harder. Her eyes rolled back and I slapped her hard across the face keep her awake. Her blood dripped from the side of her head from where I’d smashed it with a dish.
“Melody, whatever it is you—”
I pulled onto her hair tighter, her head lifting up. “You helped Avian, and caused my husband to be sent to jail all in the hopes of stealing our lives and our son. That was your deal, right? You stupid, incompetent, naïve, little bitch.”
“Mel—”
“That was the deal, wasn’t it?!” Taking the knife, I stabbed her in the thigh.
“MELODY!” she screamed as her hands rushed to her thigh when I pulled the knife out.
“Say the truth for once, Olivia. I already know it, but I need to hear it from you,” I said, as I pressed the bloody knife into her neck once more. “SAY IT!”
The tears fell from her face as she began to sob.
“I don’t have time for this shit,” I muttered as I pulled the knife back
“I—I…did it,” her voice broke. “I made the deal. He contacted me after my father won the election. He promised me that Neal and I would take over. He wanted you gone, but he still needed the drug trade going and that—”
“And what?” I hissed.
“Ethan. He promised me that I would get Ethan.”
“You—”
“Melody,” Liam stopped me from craving her face up.
“Get up,” he said to her when I let go.
She didn’t move.
“You have five seconds starting now. Five…four…three…two—” Before he got to one, she got to her feet, and the moment she did, I punched her square in the jaw. She stumbled backwards, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I punched her repeatedly, and her body fell to the ground, I would have gone further, but I felt Liam’s arms as they wrapped around me and pulled me back.
“Take her away for now, and make sure she doesn’t do anything foolish,” he said to both Monte and Kain.
I hadn’t even noticed when they’d entered.
She was out cold, with blood dripping from her face as I took a deep breath.
“What happened to calm?” Liam questioned me from behind.
Turning to him, I glared. “I was calm! She’s alive, isn't she? For five months, I couldn’t hold him. For five months, I ran around watching from computer cafes and cell phones while she held him. While she read to him and tucked him in! While she was his mother, not me! I can handle everything, but not Ethan. Don’t fuck with my child.”
“I’ll handle her,” he stated as he put his hand on the sides of my face and forced me to look at him and breathe.
I nodded. “Have Monte patch up her fucking face, and give her a damn Xanax. She’ll bloody well need it to make it through the rest of the day. After all, we wouldn’t want Avian to miss his puppet. I’m going to sit with Ethan.”
Goddamn I hated her.
LIAM
Reaching up, I cracked the smelling salts open under her nose, causing her to wake up. She sat up quickly, and for a moment I saw relief in her eyes until she noticed the zip ties around her wrists. She pulled against them as if they would simply break.
“You’re going to leave marks if you keep at it,” I said, as I rolled up my sleeves and took a seat in front of her.
“I want to speak to Neal.”
“Your wants are no longer any concern of mine.”
“You can’t do this!” she shrieked at me. “I’m the President’s daughter! I’m your brother’s wife! You can’t do this to me.”
“And yet, here I am. Funnily enough, it’s because of those two things that you’re not dead. Yet.”
Her eyes glazed over with tears. “I want to talk to Neal.”
“Neal knows where you are, if he wanted to talk to you, he would’ve been here,” I replied as Monte came in with a bag, a rag, and a bowl of water.
“Neal—Neal knows I’m here?” she whispered.
“Neal’s the reason you’re here, he was the one who got us the proof that you are nothing but a lying, manipulative bitch. Though Melody and I have known that fact for a while.”
She began to shake and I wanted to roll my damn eyes at the dramatics of it all.
“I—I…No. I…But I…I don’t understand. No! None of this makes sense, this is not how it was supposed to happen. No, I don’t understand, everything was fine.”
“Just because you have deluded yourself into believing that, does not make it true. Welcome to reality, Olivia, and it’s going to hurt like a bitch.”
“Liam—”
“No. No. No. It’s Mr. Callahan to you, Ms. Colemen. Only family calls me Liam, and that no longer applies to you.”
“I’m still your brother’s wife.”
“Is that so? Where’s your ring?” Her head dropped to the empty spot on her finger. Her entire body hunched over as she let loose a dry sob.
I held the ring up for her to see. “This is a family heirloom, and once again, you are not family. Instead, you will be given another ring to wear while out in public. As you said, you are the President’s daughter, and you are also our connection to Avian, we cannot kill you outright. Though I’m sure Mel is just itching to rip your head off.”
She didn’t seem to be listening to any of the words coming out of my mouth, so I gave her the bottle of water at my feet, along with two pills. She looked down at them and then back at me.
“I just said I wasn’t going to kill you. Be smart, Olivia, you’re going to need your strength for this afternoon’s award ceremony. I heard there is going to be strawberry shortcake, your favorite.” I smiled at her, as I waited for her to take them.
“I’m not going to be paraded around like—”
“Again, Olivia, it’s not up to you. Maybe you do not understand, so I will explain it just this once. You went against this family. I always knew that in some way you would come after us, but I, for some reason, thought it was your morality that would be your motivator. But no, you were reaching for the crown and you failed. You fucking failed, Olivia, and in the worst way possible.
“You may have been able to get away with it while Mel and I were both gone, but you should have known better. You were sloppy, prideful, and just plain ignorant. You are not good enough. You failed. And failure comes with consequences. It means you have no rights, no dreams, and no hopes. You’re nobody. You’re nothing but a pawn on my chessboard. So when I say you are going to fix yourself up; wear that pretty dress, come to the White House, and smile with your daddy, the President, that means you have no choice in the matter. Now take the fucking pills.”
I pulled out a knife, and cut the zip ties around her wrists, allowing her to take the pills and drink them down.
“Avian is going to know something is wrong.”
I laughed. “You think he’s your friend? For the sake of your life, you better make sure he doesn’t. You’re a loose end. The man drove his own daughter to the brink of insanity. One of us is going to kill you, the only difference is that I can promise you that you won’t be dumped in some river or buried in a shallow grave only to be eaten by rats. You can still be buried on the Callahan cemetery plot. So start thinking about what you want your headstone to say.”
She broke out into a fit of laughter. She laughed as though she had finally lost it, so I calmly waited, which only seemed to add to her amusement.
“Look at the big, bad Liam. You’ve come a long way from being shoved into lockers. Neal used to
tell me the shit people used to do to his ‘crippled little brother’ and I always thought it was funny. You’ve worked so hard to be a badass just because you were bullied and they made your life difficult. Oh boo hoo, poor Liam, poor baby, you lost your twin sister and your mommy didn’t want you either? Oh dear God, how did you handle it?” She laughed some more. “You know what’s even funnier? The fact that you went from being everyone’s little bitch to being just Mel’s. You’re pitiful, motherfucker.”
I took a deep breath and leaned forward as I stared at her. I have to admit that it was something I’d learned from Mel, and it tended to scare the shit out of people.
“What are you expecting me to do? Puff out my chest and tell you how manly I am? Maybe if I was a weaker, less confident man, I would get myself worked up, but unfortunately for you, I am not.”
“I—”
“Here’s your second lesson of the day, and pay attention because the third one might kill you. You can throw as many jabs at me as you want, Olivia Colemen, but I am not Mel, I will not go into a fit of rage and kill you. It’s cute that you tried, and I know that you’d rather just die now and get it over with. But for your sins, there is a penance. That also means that you will not be taking your own life. One, because you love yourself too much, and two, because we will have eyes on you at all times. There are no pants in Mel’s and my relationship, we both prefer to be naked. Now fix yourself. Monte will be in here to make sure everything goes well, if you need something, ask him. He might not give it to you, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, right?”
Rising to my feet, I rolled my sleeves down as I headed towards the door of the basement bedroom.
“Can you please send for Neal?”
Opening the door, I turn back to her. “What did my wife tell you about that word, Ms. Colemen? Please, is what you say to people who give a damn. And if you haven’t noticed, I do not.”
“Was I that obvious?” she whispered.
I didn’t answer her. Monte walked in, and I stepped out allowing the door to close as I made my way upstairs.
When I did, I found my father reading through the file. He glanced up at me with an ice-cold stare.
“I’m handling it,” I told him, as I set the damn thing on fire and dropped it into the nearby sink.
“Have you spoken to Neal?”
“Neal was the one who brought me the file.”
“He did?” He sounded shocked.
Facing him, I nodded. “He did. Tonight you’re going to take him out. He’s accepted it, but he hasn’t dealt with it, and I don’t want him losing his mind once she’s gone. After all, he still loves her.”
“How long do you plan on keeping her alive?”
I shrugged as I took her ring out of my pocket and placed it on the counter in front of him. “Until she’s no longer useful. Mel and I have had our suspicions for a while, and it all happened quickly. I’m sure Olivia was just as shocked. One moment she’s shopping, and the next she’s a prisoner.”
“Reality is a bitch,” he said with a grin.
That’s where I learned it from.
I wondered if Ethan and I would ever have a conversation like this.
“Get your tuxedo ready, Dad. Your son’s getting an award.”
He snickered as I patted him on the shoulder before I headed to my room to get ready.
Upon walking in, I froze, Mel sat at the foot the bed rubbing lotion onto her legs. All she was wearing was another damn towel. Locking the door, I watched her.
“How did it go—?”
I couldn’t allow her to finish. Instead, I pulled her up and I kissed her hard as I unwrapped the towel and allowed it to drop to the ground. I cupped her ass, as I pressed myself against her, and soon our tongues were battling each other.
“On all fours,” I demanded once we broke apart.
Her eyes glazed over and a grin crossed her face as she obeyed. I stared at her as ass for a moment, my hands twitching. I could see her muscles tensing up; she knew what was coming.
SMACK.
Her ass jiggled, as I left behind a red handprint. She shivered as I landed four more slaps on her plump ass.
“Ahh!” she moaned loudly, as her body began to shake. I could see how badly she wanted me, and I wanted her to know that the feeling was mutual. I was so hard it felt as though I was going to burst through my pants. I couldn’t take it any longer, I pulled them off quickly, not caring that I’d broken the zipper.
I kissed her ass as I traveled up her spine. Then, I pressed myself behind her, and took her breasts into my hands as I pulled us both to our knees on the bed.
“Liam—” She moaned once again as I pulled on her nipple with one hand, whilst allowing my other to travel down her stomach.
“When was the last time we did this?” I whispered into her ear as I gently bit it.
Her hands worked their way into my hair. “Two days ago.”
“Two days? You’re slacking, wife.” I pulled her hair back, while I cupped her pussy at the same time.
Her lips parted as she moved with my hand. “I’ve been busy, husband.”
I grinned and she bit her lip as one of my fingers entered her.
“You should never be too busy for this.”
“Fuck.” she moaned. And as I quickened my pace, she rocked herself against my hand while I pulled on her hair to keep her steady. She was at my mercy, and her eyes rolled back as she came on my fingers. Pulling them out, I held them to her lips.
“Taste yourself.”
She did and I moaned as her soft, pink tongue licked my fingers clean. When she took them into her mouth and began to gently suck and swirl her tongue along the length of them, I moaned once more as I released her.
“You’re playing with me, wife,” I whispered.
She grinned and grabbed a hold of me as she began to jerk me off. “Now I’m playing with you.”
Grabbing her wrist I stopped her. It took all the strength within me, but I stopped her.
“No,” I moaned again as I took her lips with my own. Damn she tasted so sweet.
Leaning back, she rested on her back as I trailed kisses from her lips to her neck.
She wrapped her legs around my waist. I could feel her nails running down my back, and as I took her nipple into my mouth, I watched her. Her back was arched, and her eyes were closed. I rubbed against her entrance.
“Liam—damn it, Liam, I need you.”
“Then you shall have me,” I whispered into her ear before I slammed into her.
“Fuck!”
Grabbing both of her arms, I pinned them over her head with one hand, while I lifted her thigh with the other.
“Liam.”
Watching her beg with each thrust gave me the will to hold out instead of just slamming myself repeatedly into her.
“Open your eyes.”
She did and I stared into them, watching as pleasure consumed her. She could only take so much more of this.
Right on cue, she broke free of my hand and pulled me to her lips.
“Mel,” I moaned into her mouth.
Using that to her advantage, she flipped us both over, straddled my waist, and pressed her hands against my chest. Then she pushed herself up before slamming back down.
“Jesus fuck, baby,” I gasped out.
She grinned, but didn’t stop as my hands went to her waist and held her in place. She rode me hard and fast, and there was no way I would’ve been able to last much longer. My hands traveled up her body until I was cupping her breasts. Sitting up, I kissed and bit them both.
When she slowed, I flipped us over once more, and I took her thighs into my hands before fucking her harder.
“Liam. Fuck. Ahh!” Her voice shook.
I kissed her neck as she came; and moments later I followed her in my own sweet release.
“Fuck, I love you.” I drew in a deep breath, and pulled out as I fell beside her.
She ran her hands through her hair, and took a few deep breat
hs before she sat up. Leaning over, she kissed me deeply and we stared at each other. I smiled into the kiss before she broke away.
“I love you too.”
I never got tired of hearing that.
TWENTY-TWO
“In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.”
—Charles de Gaulle
MELODY
“Ladies and gentlemen, today I stand before you humbled, astonished, and proud,” the President spoke from the podium, as he raised his hand and gestured towards Liam and me. “And it is because of this man and this woman. Over the years, I have been asked by both nationals and foreigners alike, ‘What does it mean to be American?’ What do you stand for? How far are you willing to go?’ The answer to those questions is in this very room.”
“He’s laying it on thick,” Liam whispered to me.
I kept a straight face for the cameras and leaned into him as Ethan grabbed my pearls. “I know, I wrote it.”
I heard him chuckle, but paid no mind.
President Colemen stood straighter as he read the next lines. “When Melody Callahan saw a threat, not only to our country, but to our way of life, she didn’t just report it. She went above and beyond all expectations, asking only one simply question: What can I do?
“With no regard to her own wellbeing and only hours after giving birth to her son, Ethan, she gave the United States government an opportunity to not only gather information, but to strike swiftly. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine the pain she must have felt not knowing when she would be reunited with her family. I asked her not once, but twice, if she understood the consequences of her actions, and she told me she never wanted to turn on the television and see another building burn, or parents weeping, or our great nation mourn, ever again. If she can sacrifice what she thought was a little, for a greater good, to help fight the war on terror, she can handle her heartache.”
Liam turned to me with a grin, and clapped along with all those in attendance. I took Ethan’s little hand and waved along with him, smiling at the crowd.