“Great. Now they can focus on fixing their relationship,” she muttered, as she sat up against the headboard.
This was not good.
“Coraline…” I said slowly. She was up to something, I could see it in her beautiful, deep brown eyes.
“Look, Liam is pissed at her for not coming to him—”
“As he should be,” I cut her off quickly.
“What? You’re on his side? Didn’t you just say everything makes sense?”
Oh shit. Here we go.
“Yes, I did. It makes sense, but it would have made more sense to work together as a family. She went rogue.”
Her eyes widened and I knew I was in for it. Why did I even open my fucking mouth?
“She didn’t go rogue, she was kidnapped by her psychotic mother, who, need I remind you, she did not even know was alive.”
“And I understand that. But if she managed to spy on Ethan, then she could have at least sent out an S.O.S to me. Liam spent five months in jail.”
“Oh boo hoo,” she frowned, crossing her arms under her ample chest and I couldn’t stop my eyes from looking at her breasts. “Weren’t you the one who told me he was basically running the joint anyways?”
The joint?
“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was locked up, strip searched, verbally abused, and worst of all, kept away from his son. Mel at least saw Ethan. Liam was denied photos.”
“He could have seen Ethan if he asked, but no—”
“He didn’t want his son to have to visit his him in jail, and if the tables were reversed, I wouldn’t either. That is no place for a child, let alone a Callahan.”
“Some might argue that this house is no place for a child,” she muttered, grabbing her book off the bedside table.
Gritting my teeth together, I got up from the bed and pulled my tie off. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. I’m not saying Mel is completely right, because she’s not, but neither is Liam. Everything happened so fast, and they did what they both do best, they relied on themselves. It’s like default mode to them.”
Throwing my shirt to the side, I stretched out only to find her staring at me once again, I winked at her, causing her to snap out of it.
“It’s okay, just say it: I’m sexy and you know it.”
Rolling her eyes she nodded. “Fine. I am sexy, and you do know it. I called this look ‘long day chic.’”
“That’s not what I meant,” I pouted and she laughed.
“Have you ever not been on Liam’s side?”
“I have. It was dark and terrifying and I’m not going back there,” I tried to say seriously to which she only laughed at me more.
“I will never understand this undying loyalty you have to him. Don’t get me wrong, Liam’s great when he’s not being an ass, but still...” She leaned into her pillows a bit more.
I thought about the best way I could explain it. “He’s just ‘the one.’ Not in a religious, demi-god sort of way, even though I wouldn’t put it past him to think of himself like that. Since we were kids he always had a plan, and even if things didn’t work out the way he had planned, he still managed to come out on top. Like this whole jail thing, everyone who spoke badly about him, not only owe him an apology but they’ve also tarnished their reputations. He always comes out on top. You have to respect a man like that.”
“Yeah,” she sighed and I watched her chest rise and fall. She would’ve looked miraculous if it weren’t for that damn shirt.
“As much as I respect Liam, I would prefer his face not being on your chest anymore,” I motioned to her shirt.
The free Liam Campaign could now finally be put to rest. She glanced down and shrugged before pulling it off and throwing it at me, revealing the yellow bra she had on underneath. I almost moaned at the sight of her. Bright colors always looked amazing against her skin.
“Is it later yet?” I wanted to rip everything off her body right now.
She smirked and signaled for me to come over with her finger. Crawling back on the bed, I kissed up her stomach as her legs wrapped around me.
“Not yet,” she whispered once I got to her lips.
“For the love of God, Coraline.” I wanted to hear her scream and feel her writhe underneath me as I slammed into her. I wanted my fucking wife, and I wanted her now. Why did she have to torture me?
Kissing my nose, she ran her hand up my back. “You’re going to talk to Liam—”
“Coraline…”
She silenced my protests with a kiss. “And I’m going to talk to Mel. You’re right, they are both hardheaded and they need to vent, just not at each other. You help him see it from her perseverative, and I’ll help her see it from his. He listens to you.”
“Can’t Sedric do it?” I muttered, as I cupped her breast.
“You want me to seduce your uncle into talking to Liam?” The grin on her face was so large I might have actually smiled in return.
“You’re not seducing me,” I whispered only inches from her face.
“Oh really?”
“I’m seducing you.” My lips came closer to hers, and just as she was preparing to kiss me, I kissed the side of her neck as I slid my hand between her thighs. She moaned. “You see, I’m going to have you tonight, baby, but my question to you is: do you want one orgasm, or do you want lose track?”
I slid another finger inside of her as she rocked against my hand.
“Fuck, Declan,” she hissed and moaned.
There was my hell raiser. “Oh, what about no more cursing?”
Pulling her bra down, I took her nipple into my mouth and bit and sucked hard and fast before letting go.
“But if it’s a fuck you want, it’s a fuck you’ll get.” I’d planned to do so much more than that. She was already so wet, and her pussy was dying for more. However, I stopped before she came and pulled my hand away causing her to whimper.
“Do you feel seduced yet, baby? Because you sure look like you do.”
Taking a deep breath she licked her lips. “What do you want, Declan?”
“A lot of things. I want to make you scream. I want fuck you so hard this bed breaks, and then I want to make love to you so thoroughly, so passionately, that my scent is imprinted on you for days.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she gasped, as her eyes glazed over…her payback would be as sinful as it was beautiful.
But now, I wanted our previous conversation completely over.
“I’ll talk to Liam, but you have to promise me even though you’re on her side, you’ll make her see it from Liam’s perspective. Melody doesn’t need a cheerleader, she needs a reality check. Got it?”
She frowned and nodded. “Fine. But do you need a cheerleader? It would be a shame to let such a good costume go to waste.”
God bless her.
SEVEN
“You’ll tell yourself anything you have to,
to pretend that you’re still the one in control.”
—Jodi Picoult
MELODY
This morning, true to form, Ethan woke up at three, screaming as if his head was on fire…and it was the greatest sound in the world. Liam and I jumped up off the floor and ran to him, but he didn’t want us, he wanted his music. Liam was confused when I told him, but pressed play anyway. With seconds, Ethan began to calm down and I fed him his applesauce until he fell back to sleep.
Liam and I didn’t speak other than that. Once Ethan went down, he looked like he wanted to go to bed but thought better of it and sat back against the opposite wall. He looked tired, but because he was an egotistical asshole, he wouldn’t close his eyes until he thought I was asleep. And because I was stupid, I allowed him to think so. I hated him and I hated that he made me feel so vulnerable.
I needed a moment to clear my head and to shower. Evelyn had kept our room untouched like a time capsule. My shoes, makeup, clothing, everything was in the same place, including a note left to me by Adriana. I knew if our room ha
dn’t been touched then neither had hers and I’d been correct. I thought I would feel better after being in her room, but all I wanted to do was to get back to Ethan. Her glasses were still on the bedside table, her bed was still unmade, and the bat Antonio had given her after they’d gone to see the Chicago Cubs, rested by the dresser. Antonio had come to me privately and asked for the weekend off. Adriana was pissed, hating the fact that he’d spoken to me behind her back. However, I told her to go. I didn’t know how it turned out, I really didn’t care to ask. She looked happy enough. Now Antonio was dead, and so was she. But at least he’d died with honor and loyalty. At least he hadn’t betrayed me.
Walking over to the dresser, I grabbed the bat, and the first thing I swung at was her mirror. Swinging it with as much force as possible, I watched it shattered before I moved on to the lamp. I swung at it so hard it flew off the table before it splintered into a million pieces. It sparked once before going dark.
I unleashed my anger at Adriana on her belongings. After that, I didn’t care what it was, I just wanted it in pieces; the chairs, glass table. I swung at it all. Everything in this room was Adriana, it was all a lie…the Adrianna I’d known was a lie.
“Ma’am?” I heard someone call out.
I glanced back to see Fedel standing in the doorway. Stopping mid-swing, I threw the bat onto the ground before fully turning to the door. Fedel, Monte, and Liam all stood there, staring at me and the destruction that I’d caused.
Maybe they thought I’d lost it…Maybe I had.
“I want to talk to everyone close to the family in the basement,” I spoke directly to Liam. This wasn’t up for debate.
He said nothing to me, but he addressed Fedel and Monte. “You heard her,” he said to them, and within seconds, they were gone. Calling over a maid, he pointed into the room. “Have everything in here cleared out. I don’t want to see any of it ever again.”
“Yes, sir.” She nodded before turning.
“My father is with Ethan.”
“He came in as I left and told me to wash up,” I told him.
“And you listened?”
“I’d planned on taking a shower anyway.”
With a nod, he turned away and part of me wanted to reach out and punch him square across the face…or kiss him. I felt as if he was continually pulling at parts of me.
“I’ll meet you down there.”
“Fine.”
We went our separate ways and I was fine with that. I was fine. I had to be fine.
The walk back to Ethan’s room felt too long, I wanted to run to him. The fact that he had been away from me for so long had left me nervous. It was like I needed him near me all the time.
“Olivia, maybe…” Sedric stopped whatever he was about to say once I came in.
She turned to me with Ethan in her arms. He was holding on to her hair, laughing in her arms, babbling away completely oblivious as to what was going on around him.
“He likes his back rubbed in the mornings,” she told me before returning her attention to him.
“I’ll go check in on Liam. But I hope you and I can speak later, Mel,” Sedric said to me, but I wasn’t paying attention to him. All I could do was nod in response to whatever he’d said. When Olivia kissed Ethan’s forehead, I tried not to snatch him from her. Instead I reached out for him and she backed away.
“Mel, it’s fine. You can’t smother him,” she snapped at me.
“Olivia, give me my son or I swear to God I will torch you alive.” Holding on to Ethan, I lifted him from her. He cried, trying to reach for her again.
“You’re so fucking selfish! You can’t just take him. He doesn’t know you!”
“That’s the thing, he’s mine to take, Olivia, he is my son! My blood! Not yours. So I won’t tell you again, Olivia. Leave. Get out of my face before I bash yours in.”
Ethan was still reaching for her. However, I walked him to the window out of her reach. I knew that if she reached for him again, I’d have to repaint the nursery after I got through with her.
She sighed deeply as I rocked Ethan in my arms. He calmed down but still didn’t look pleased.
“Look, Mel, I’m not trying to replace you. I know I can’t. I’m just trying to appeal to your better nature—”
“That’s just it…my nature doesn’t get any better. So why are you still in front of me?”
The door opened and Coraline walked in holding on to a pair of small earmuffs. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No,” Olivia sneered before she stomped out of the room.
How could she even dream of taking care of a child if she was still behaving like one?
“What was that about?” Coraline asked, eyes wide.
“What is it, Coraline?” I ignored her question opting instead to kiss the side of Ethan’s head.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
Of course she did.
Everyone wanted to talk or yell at me, but I was done listening.
“Mel, you know you can trust me right? I would never do anything to hurt you…”
“Coraline, please just spit it out.”
She sighed, walked up to Ethan and placed the earmuffs over his ears before looking me straight in the eyes.
“You are a bitch.”
“Excuse me?” I stood straighter, my body tensing while I glared at her.
She crossed arms and held her head high. “Liam is an ass, and you are a bitch. But you’re both still human and under the armor you both wear every fucking day, you love each other.”
“Coraline—”
“No. No. I’m still speaking and you’re going to listen. If you want to kick the recent cancer survivor’s ass afterward, that’s your choice.” She held her finger up at me and I fought the urge to break it. Who the fuck did she think she was?
“Mel, just tell him you’re sorry,” she added and I turned away, and pressed my nose against Ethan and inhaled. “I know you love him and he loves you. You have both gone through hell together and apart, but at least when you’re both together, you can find comfort in each other. When you love someone, you just have to let them win sometimes. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It doesn’t mean that you are any less of the woman he fell in love with. He would walk through fire for you…while you were gone, he told Evelyn to show Ethan pictures of you. He wouldn’t let any of us doubt you. If you truly love him give him this and move on, Mel, or you will lose him permanently. I’m sure you all will still have plenty of fights in the future.”
Handing Ethan to her, I straightened my jacket. “Bring him down to the basement. I have work to do and I don’t want him too far from me.”
Kissing his head once more, I took off the earmuffs and threw it into the corner of the room as I left. It was only when I exited the room that I took a deep breath. Placing my hand over my chest, I tried to calm down, but my heart kept pounding against my rib cage.
What was wrong with me?
LIAM
What was wrong with her?
What the fuck was wrong with me?
“Liam, have you heard a word I just said?” Declan questioned me, as he leaned against the wooden door.
“No,” I sighed as I pulled my shirt on. Five months of seeing their faces on a limited basis suddenly didn’t seem so bad anymore.
“Speaking as your cousin, you are an idiot.”
Tell me something I didn’t know.
“Declan—”
“I know what happened to her,” he cut me off and I froze, only for a moment before turning to him.
“What?”
Pushing himself off the wall, he stood before me with purpose. “Mel. I know what happened to her. Coraline overheard you both arguing. No, she did not mean to spy on you, and yes, she did tell me everything. No one else knows, and you are still an idiot.”
“Coraline needs to mind her own fucking business. Her loyalty should be to Melody and I, not you. Husband or not.”
“When the parents fight, childr
en find people to talk to. So, pin your anger on Coraline, we will have problems, but it’s your prerogative. You can add it to your list of fuck ups.”
My list of fuck ups?
“Declan, leave. I am not in the mood.”
He didn’t look worried. “I won’t until you admit it.”
“Admit what? What the bloody fuck do you and your goddamn nosy wife want? For the love of Jesus, say it and be gone.” My brain felt as though it was boiling over. I didn’t want to do this now. This wasn’t what I thought it would be like…I just…fuck it all.
“Admit you want her to suffer,” he whispered.
“You’re damn right I want her to suffer. Are you happy now, dear cousin? I said it. I admit it. I want her to feel the pain because I want her to think before she does something like this again.” Which made me a horrible husband, but it was true.
He didn’t look surprised or even bothered. He just nodded. “The only problem is she has already suffered. She’s suffered more than enough. And you’re not the one who should be aiding in her torment. She can never match your pain, Liam because it is impossible to match. You need her; she needs you, and the rest of us need you both together. Walk in her shoes for a moment—she’s spent her entire life with a dying father, who only ever taught her to depend on herself. You can’t change that in just two years. And if you love her as much as I think you do, then you should know that. You’ve always been good at patiently working towards what you want. I’m not sure why it’s so hard for you to be that way with her.”
I pulled back on the safety of the gun and looked him in the eyes. He sighed before turning to leave. My father who stood outside the doorway glanced at us then shook his head before retreating. I heard the door close and I had a feeling that Declan would never bring this up again. This wasn’t the first time he had ever tried to advise me, and it wasn’t the first time I’d held a gun to him.