TWELVE
“Till death do us part.”
NEAL
“Ouch. Babe, I’m fine.” I tried pulling away from her, but she wouldn’t let go of my face.
Liam had allowed me to come home, and the moment I stepped into the room, the woman all but attacked me, and not in the way a man liked.
“You’re fine?” she snapped. “You have a black eye, four broken ribs, a busted eardrum! Not to mention—”
“Baby…” I grabbed her hands, forcing her to look me in the eyes. “I’m fine. I’m a little beaten up, but I’m fine. So please, just kiss me.”
She glared at me, slapping me on arm before kissing me deeply. I picked her up with one arm and pushed her onto the bed.
“Neal, you’re hurt.” She moaned as I kissed her neck.
“Olivia,” I groaned looking into her eyes. “I had my ass kicked by a woman—a very small woman—and I just want to forget the whole thing. Can we do that? Can you help me forget?”
She brushed my hair back and eased onto her hands. “Get on your back.”
Smirking, I rolled over, allowing her to ease onto my waist. Slowly, she began to unbutton her shirt.
“Damn you’re beautiful,” I whispered as I held her by the waist.
Before she could speak, the door opened and my father walked in.
“For the love of fuck, Pop!” I yelled as Olivia grabbed for the sheet.
“Oh, did I cock block you?” Sedric smirked. “My apologies, I just wanted to check on my first son.”
“Get out!” I tried to adjust myself as Olivia held her laughter.
Sedric grinned. “Your mother wants to see you, don’t keep her waiting.”
I drew in a deep breath. “I will see her in the…”
“Rule Nineteen: Never—”
“Never keep mother waiting,” I finished for him. “I know, but I don’t want to see her with a hard on! So get out before I decide to move out.” This house was huge and yet felt so fucking small all the time.
“Really?” Olivia laughed. I loved hearing her laugh, “Where do you want to go?”
“Doesn’t matter. Family stays together. Rule Five: One family, one roof.” Sedric winked at her before closing the door. Grabbing a pillow, I threw it at the wood before lying back. I just wanted my wife.
Olivia said to me, as she kissed my lips softly. “Go see your mother. I’ll always be here. Always.”
Ever since she’d had her first kill, Olivia had changed. Or better yet, healed. She smiled and laughed without caring who saw. She was happy, and seeing her so happy made me happy. It made me grateful to Mel. God only knew how long Olivia would have held onto her anger. We still hadn’t found Harvey, but when we did, so help me God, he would pay.
Taking her hand, I kissed it softly before pulling her closer to me.
“My mother can wait,” I whispered.
“She’s going to kick my ass if I keep you from her,” she whispered back, but she never stopped kissing me.
SEDRIC
“Where is he?” my wife asked as she paced in our bedroom. I continued to flip through my book.
“Most likely enjoying his evening with his wife. Something I wish I could be doing,” I told her. If Neal was busy with Olivia, I could be busy with her. However my wife hated when the family was separated.
“How can he be having sex when Mel was gunned down?” she asked. “Not to mention how close he came to losing his life. We should be having a family meeting, or at the very least, we should be at the hospital with them! We could—”
“Sweetheart, Liam didn’t want us there…”
“Liam is an emotional wreck. His wife was just shot, why in the hell are you letting him make choices?” she snapped.
It was times like this that proved God chose a special type of woman to drive the men of our family crazy.
Dropping my book on the bedside table, I sighed just watching her.
“Don’t look at me like that, Sedric Callahan! Our daughter was shot three times by some stupid bitch pretending to be a mother, and I can’t even see her. Not to mention we don’t even know how Liam is dealing with this. We should be at the hospital!” She was beautiful, even though she was crazy.
“Sweetheart, lie down next to me,” I demanded and she glared. I felt like I was having a staring contest with her, until she finally gave up and climbed into bed next to me.
“Liam is the head of this family, and if he thinks he and his wife need a moment, then we do as he says. I know you want to become the mama bear, but give them a moment,” I whispered, holding on to her.
“I’m worried about Mel. It was her mother—I can’t call that bitch a mother. Who shoots their kids? What kind of sick, fucking, two bit—”
“Language.” I snickered, causing her to flip over and smack me.
“I’m serious, Sedric.” She frowned.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.” Sighing, I tried my best not to think about it.
Someone had attacked my family; they had harmed my son and my daughter. I wanted to set their blood on fire. I wanted to rip them limb for limb, but it wasn’t my place anymore. It was Liam’s, and if I thought about it, it made me want to… it made me want to kill.
Liam needed to kill this bitch quickly or I would snap.
DECLAN
“My boss doesn’t like the deal you made,” I said into the phone. This was so going to end badly.
“Too fucking bad. Are you people going back on your word? Your boss gave his word…”
“My boss gave his word when we were working at twenty, and you screwed us over for thirty. We’re not pleased, and bad things tend to happen when we’re not pleased,” I hissed into the phone.
“You paid, the deal is done. Go fuck yourselves.” And with that, they hung up. Frustrated, I gripped onto the phone, ready to throw it when Coraline appeared before me. She stared at me wide eyed.
“I’m a recovering shopaholic, you can’t break your shit. It makes me want to buy new things.” She smiled, walking up beside me.
“Sorry. Mel’s being unreasonable.” I sighed, placing the phone in my pocket.
“So, she’s being Mel?” she asked, and I smirked.
“Yeah, which I guess is a good sign.” It could be worse. She could be in bed, staring at me with dead eyes as we all tried to get her to function.
Coraline looked over to the wall where Monte, Duncan, and Antonio,—who was sporting a cast on his arm—stood outside of Mel’s room. They looked like those British guards who didn’t smile, blink, or freaking breathe. They just stood there, waiting for a moment to shoot down any motherfucker who tried to enter that room.
“What does she want you to do?” Coraline whispered. I just stared at her and she rolled her eyes. “You know guys tell their wives shit like this.”
“Yeah, but that’s usually after the wife’s tricked it out of them with sex.” I hadn’t even thought about that when I said it.
I expected her to snap at me, but she just grinned. “Noted. Too bad you’re on the clock. All these beds. Neal’s at home having his way with Olivia. Liam and Mel will be at it the moment she’s better. It seems as though you like having blue balls, Declan.”
I watched as she winked at me, then walked away.
Mel and Liam were going to kill me, but if I had a chance of having Coraline one last time before I died, I had to take it.
I followed like a puppy, watching her ass as she walked towards a back room. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her in quickly before pushing her up against the door.
“Don’t fuck with me, woman. I’m at my wit’s end.” I gasped when she pulled back and allowed her coat to fall.
“But I want to fuck with you, Declan,” she moaned, and I almost came in my pants. There my tiny wife stood, naked and waiting for me.
“Jesus Christ, Coraline,” I said before grabbing hold of her.
Pushing me back, I thanked God for this moment. I would book my room in hell for this.
THIRTEEN
“Mrder—all I need is u.”
—Jarod Kintz
LIAM
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” I said to them as I stared at the stacks upon stacks of boxes rising to the ceiling of my library.
“Your grandfather never liked computers.” Sedric snickered as the men brought more of the shit in. At this rate, we were going to be buried alive.
“He did this to fuck with me. The bastard knew that I was going to come after his shit eventually.” I could hear the old fuck laughing beyond the grave. I would have thrown him in the river, but mother thought it would be best to at least show some sort of respect to our dearly departed grandfather. His body would be buried in the local cemetery, forever separated from his beloved Ireland.
Neal, the giant that he was, dropped the last five boxes around my desk. “That’s all of it.”
“Out,” I snapped. Everyone but my father left quickly. They hated any paper that wasn’t cash.
“So you’re going to read through all of this alone?” Sedric asked, looking around at what was once a very beautiful green and gold study.
Grabbing one of the brown boxes, I made my way over to a chair.
“Until our favorite snake Aviela slithers out from whatever rock she’s hiding under, this is all I can do. Hopefully, this will lead to a shortcut in beheading her.” Aviela’s head rolling off her neck would be worth the oncoming paper-cuts.
“How’s Melody?” he asked, grabbing a box.
“I don’t—”
“Yes, you do.” He cut me off. I hated when people cut me off. “You need help and you’re getting help. Now, how is your wife?”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. “You mean the crazy homicidal woman you arranged for me to marry?”
The bastard snickered. “Yes, that woman, whom you’re madly in love with and overly protective of.”
“There is no such thing as an overly protective husband in the mafia,” I replied. “And the woman is driving me insane! She doesn’t listen to me at all.”
“My poor, poor son. Have you not learned? Women don’t listen, they talk. Listening is our job. In return, we get sex, children and food.” He laughed, making light of how chaotic up everything was.
“I’m listening! She’s just talking crazy! I swear sometimes I want to ring her pretty little neck.” Other times I just wanted to kiss her down to her…
Concentrate.
“Yes, they do that as well…she may be Bloody Melody, but she’s still a female, a pregnant female,” he stated.
I froze, staring at him. It had been three weeks since the accident and Mel still wasn’t showing. She was great, seeing as how neither of us were ready to tell the family. But apparently we weren’t careful enough. Mel was going to be pissed.
Maybe there was hope?
“Does mother know?”
“Everyone knows.”
Fuck me.
“Urgh—”
“Honestly, Liam, it’s been three weeks since she’s drank anything but tea and water? She demanded Neal wear new cologne last night at dinner. We aren’t brain dead, we can all connect the dots,” he said simply, as he pulled out a brown file.
“Great, you can all connect the bullet holes when she finds out,” I muttered under my breath; I didn’t even know why we had bothered to try and keep it from them.
“Liam,” he said seriously, “you’re going to keep her safe—both of them safe—but if you don’t relax, at this rate you’re to get gray hair or worse, lose it.”
I snorted. “When was the last time you saw a bald Callahan?”
“Liam…”
“I heard you, dad. I just need to believe you. None of this makes sense. Aviela makes no sense. If she wanted Mel dead, she would have killed her, but she didn’t. I don’t buy for a second that the woman has any type of maternal anything.” I paused, releasing a sigh. “Natasha’s family is gone. They took her body and left. These papers and the Briar are all we have and I just want to set fire to them both. Meanwhile, the very woman I’m killing myself for is yelling at drug runners and selling dope.” Brandy. My mind begged for it.
Rising to my feet and maneuvering around boxes, I grabbed the bottle at the far end of the room.
“What were you expecting her to do?”
“What would you expect a pregnant woman to do?” I snapped, drinking from the bottle. “I swear, she gets pregnant at the worst possible times. Just to kill me slowly.”
“Yep. She planned to get pregnant all on her own…”
“Whose side are you on?” I hissed, causing him to laugh. These were our “father-son” moments. He always knew how to get under my skin.
“And this is why the men call you the Mad Hatter.”
What the bloody fuck?
“They call me what?” I do not get a nickname. It’s Liam to family, Boss, Sir, and Ceann Na Conairte to every other motherfucker.
“You know, the Disney—”
“I know who the fuck it is!”
He laughed, making me want to rip his tongue from his month and staple it to the paper covered table.
He simply pointed at my face before flipping through some papers. “That, right there, and whatever you are thinking is the reason. Calm yourself down, I think I found something.”
Breathing through my nose, I grabbed the sheet of paper he was staring at. But I didn’t see anything worth the effort.
“It’s just a contract stating you and Natasha’s mother were to get married.” Thankfully, God’s sense of humor wasn’t that cruel. If that woman were my mother, I would have lost it a long time ago.
Sedric grabbed the bottle from me and pointed to the witness signature right next to my grandfather’s.
Jesus why?
MELODY
“Liam is going to kill me,” Declan stated for hundredth time as he drove.
“Say that one more time and he won’t have to.” He was such a little bitch sometimes.
Luckily, he didn’t say anything else or I would have had to hurt him. Leaning into the seat, I ate my chocolate slowly as he drove us deeper into the cloud-covered city. I had to admit, there was something about downtown Chicago at night that made me grin. I enjoyed how beautiful it looked from afar, but close up, as you drove through the streets, you saw the thugs and suspicious alleys. At that, I couldn’t help but grin. Chicago was our city. Everyone walking the streets was our guest. They lived because of us and they died because of us.
I got a kick out of watching one runner check the street before dashing over to an awaiting car. Whether they knew it or not, they worked for us. They were working our streets. After all, this was our playground.
“This is it,” Declan said, as he pulled up in front of the club. There was no line or even a sign for that matter. Just one man dressed in black, smoking what was most likely my weed. He eyed our car carefully, and with envy; Morris’ Bentleys tended to have that effect on people.
Opening the glove compartment, I placed my chocolate inside before grabbing my gun with my right hand. My right hand was still a little stiff, but I sure as hell couldn’t work much with my left. Thankfully, I could still shoot a gun. Probably not as well as I could before, but well enough to get my point across.
“Melody, are you …”
“Shut up, Declan and stay in the car,” I told him, putting the gun behind my back before grabbing my cane and opening the door.
The moment I stepped out, the guard stood straighter and smiled at me. After all, what could go wrong with a little woman using a cane?
“You on the wrong street, lady,” he said. “This place ain’t for your kind.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes, but managed to smile kindly instead. “I’m here to see Chuck.”
His eyes widened before they narrowed. “You ain’t here to see Chuck, cuz Chuck ain’t seeing nobody today.”
“Oh?” Idiot. “Not even Mrs. Callahan?”
“You’re Mrs. Callaha
n? Wife of Liam Callahan?” he stammered. I would have enjoyed it if he hadn’t said “wife” as if I was some sort of accessory.
He didn’t even give me a chance to reply before opening the door.
“Mel—”
“Sit, Declan. The grown-ups are working,” I said before walking—limping—in. My leg burned, but there was a bully in my playground and I hated bullies. I knew what type of club I was walking into, and it wasn’t the first time I had entered one. However, the smell of sex, sweat, and other miscellaneous fragrances, made me want to hurl. The place was so dim I was surprised the people could see the very ropes they were using to tie each other up; or that they could even concentrate over the music. But I preferred it loud. Maybe for the same reason they did. The louder it was, the harder it was to hear someone scream.
“You looking for a good time, bunny?” A man grinned at me, eyeing me from head to toe. His cock looked as though it wanted to rip out of his leather pants and attack me.
“Bunny?” I asked without emotion.
He grinned, stepping closer to me. “You know, cute, sweet,” he looked at my cane, “injured. You came here to explore your inner lioness, didn’t you? Don’t worry…”
I simply walked around him, but he grabbed my arm. Before I could smack the shit out of him, Declan beat me to it.
“Touch her again, and I’ll kill you,” he hissed, and for the first time, I could actually see how he and Liam were related. His green eyes glared into him.
“My bad, man…”
Ignoring them both, I continued on my way, not bothering to make any eye contact with any of the other horny men…and women, who may have been looking for a new partner. However, I doubted most of them were paying any attention to me.
“Mrs. Callahan for Chuck,” I told the man in front of the door that stood at the back of the club; he didn’t even hesitate. He simply opened the door.
The room, covered in nothing but cheap fur rugs and lava lamps, looked as if I had stepped back in time and into an Austin Powers-esque porno. And there sat Chuck, getting the blowjob of his life, from some very tiny redhead. He was so carried away with himself that he didn’t even seem to notice me or the five men “guarding” him for that matter. They stood against the wall of bear fur, looking at the man in disgust.