Standing up caused them all to turn and look at me, and I put my Stepford wife smile on. “Will $250,000 cover them all?”
There were gasps, followed by a round of applause as the woman stared at me flabbergasted.
“Mrs. Callahan, you truly are a Godsend. Thank you so much!” she said, starting the applause all over again. I smiled and waved like a broken doll before taking my seat again.
“Now we’re going to have to sit through art shows every damn month.” Olivia sighed.
Then I would buy the paintings every damn month to get it over with.
“This concludes our afternoon. Your artwork will be shipped to you this evening!” the woman said. I wrote a check, waving it for one of her art-boys to come snatch it up like a wild animal.
We all but ran out of there, and it wasn’t until we were in the car that Coraline broke out into laughter.
“Thank God. We came late and it still felt like we had been in there forever.”
“Now you all know how I feel. How dare you leave me all alone with those people?” Evelyn scoffed, pulling out her phone.
“I’m sorry, but God comes first, what can I say?” I added, finally able to relax into my seat.
“I can’t believe you bought all those paintings. Where’re you going to put them?” Olivia asked, trying her best to be “nice” to me.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just had to get out of that place.” I was starting to get a headache from that woman’s voice.
Coraline looked out the window and frowned. “This isn’t the direction of the house.”
“That’s because Olivia and I are making a pit stop,” I answered, causing Evelyn and Coraline to pause, and Olivia to freeze.
I didn’t mind the silence, I enjoyed the ride. I didn’t tell Olivia earlier because I didn’t want her over thinking it. It was so cliché: a warehouse. That was because Liam didn’t want the prick in our house. I didn’t care either way. Declan, Neal, and Sedric would all be present, and normally, that would be stupid. Outside of the house and public functions, we were never all in the same place at once. However, Neal insisted, Sedric wouldn’t budge, and Declan was the one double-checking all the cameras. Another reason why we hated having everyone together was the amount of time we spent on security. It was just plain annoying.
When we pulled up, the driver opened the door for Olivia and I, and I noticed Antonio, along with four other snipers, on the rooftops.
“I’m coming.” Evelyn stepped out along with Coraline.
“This is not a field trip, and even if it were, I would be the person who signs the damn permission slip. Neither of you are coming,” I told them both.
However, Evelyn stepped up and looked me dead in the eyes, something very few people could do.
“I’m coming. Try and stop me, sweetheart.” She glared, and I wanted to show her that I could do more than try.
“Mel, you don’t want to add to your rap sheet, you spent more than an hour in confession,” Coraline said quickly, trying to get in between Evelyn and me.
“You people keep pushing me and then act all surprised when I snap.” I took a deep breath before turning around.
This was bad. Olivia did not need the whole family for this. She may have killed once, but I pushed her…I pulled the baby ruthless murderer right out of her. But she was still a baby. Babies got scared and nervous. Some even had performance issues.
When we stepped in, the first thing I had to get used to was the smell of weed from all the plants in the room. The second were the screams as Neal cut the fingers off of the pig.
“What the fuck?” Liam said to me, as he looked over at his mother and Coraline. Evelyn walked over to Sedric, who looked just as surprised as Liam, and kissed his cheek.
“They wanted to come along. I said no, but they didn’t want to listen,” I said as Coraline and Declan held hands.
“Since when do people not listening to you stop you from getting your way?” he asked, amused and running his hand up my side softly. I pulled away slightly; PDA was never my thing. He frowned, but dropped his hand to pull out his phone.
“Since I married you, I didn’t think you would like me using a sniper on your mother,” I replied, standing closer to him.
“Thanks, you’re too kind.”
“Been told that all day…”
“Neal, stop!” Olivia screamed, reminding me why I was here.
Neal, however, didn’t stop. He kept snipping away with the cutting pliers.
“You think this is bad?” he hissed, gripping the man’s thumb. “Wait until I get farther south, you stupid, motherfucking, cock-sucking piece of shit.”
The man looked dazed, but spoke anyway. “Believe me, that bitch had no cock when I sucked on her.”
That did it.
I thought the term ‘ape shit’ was generally overused, however in this case, Neal really did go ‘ape shit.’ The pliers fell from his hands as he started to beat into the pig’s face.
“NEAL STOP!” Olivia screamed.
But he didn’t. I wasn’t even sure if he could hear anything at this point. He wanted blood.
“Take him outside,” Liam said. It took two of our men and Declan to pull him back.
“I will motherfucking end you!” he yelled, trying his best to break free of their grasp. “You hear me? I will make sure every last person in your fucking family burns!”
“And this is why I wanted to tell everyone after she’d killed them all,” I whispered once he was finally out the door.
“‘They wanted to come along,’” Liam mocked me. “‘I said no, but they didn’t want to listen.’”
I cupped his ass.
“Love, if you wanted me, all you had to do was say so.” He smirked before winking.
Olivia stood still for a moment, looking back at the door before turning back to the half-dead pig. He spit out his teeth, trying his best to open his eyes and breathe.
“I remember you. Harvey’s girl.” He coughed. “Is this revenge? Aren’t you a little late? It’s been years. I doubt any of them remember like I do. Harvey was always a watcher. I could never get that sound out of my head. That cry when I became your first…you never forget your first they say.”
Evelyn moved forward, but Sedric held her back so all she could do was spit on him and unleash a few colorful words that I’d never thought I’d hear Evelyn say.
Even Liam’s hand twitched towards his gun.
“They’re wrong,” was all Olivia said before stabbing the pliers right in his head. She pulled it out only to stab him once more and dropped the pliers. Her hands shook as she stepped back.
That’s one way to do it.
He trembled violently before his body just gave out. Dropping it, she left to go find Neal.
“I don’t care how you take out the trash, just make sure it’s done,” Liam told the men, before leading me to our private car outside, and for a moment, my eyes connected with Olivia’s outside as Neal hugged her.
“You’re welcome,” I mouthed to her before getting in.
When Liam took his seat, I crawled onto his lap and straddled his waist. His stare travelled up my leg, stopping at my breasts before looking at my face.
“Hello, wife,” he whispered, gripping onto my thigh. Kissing him deeply, I felt him harden under me while he pulled me closer to him.
“I love you, you know that, right? I don’t say it often, I’m not good at saying it or showing…”
He cut me off again, flipping me onto the back seat.
“Take the long way home, Sal,” he told the driver as he looked down at me.
“Yes, sir,” he said as he rolled up the partition.
Slowly, Liam unbuttoned my dress, not speaking, just breathing heavily. I tried to get his belt buckle off, but he pushed my hands away.
“Yes, I know you love me,” he whispered, kissing down my chest. “I know you don’t say it often, but I don’t forget that you do, nor do I not feel it, ever. Even
when you shoot me.”
I tried to speak, but he flipped me over and smacked my ass. I hated how much I liked it and how wet it made me. Pulling off the rest of my dress, he kissed up my back, rubbing my ass softly before smacking me harder. This time a moan did escape my lips.
I loved it when he got like this.
“My only question is, what brought this on?” he whispered, as he kissed the back of my neck.
“A revelation at confession.” I shivered when he reached under to pinch my nipples.
“Really now?” he kissed my shoulder. “What did the good father tell you?”
The moment I opened my mouth, he smacked my ass again and I bit my lip in order to control myself… it didn’t work.
“Jesus, Liam…” I moaned.
“Yes, I know about Jesus. I’m asking about your revelation.” He kissed my ass cheek.
Licking my lips, I took a deep breath. “I fear losing you.”
His kisses stopped only briefly before they were back at my ear.
“My silly wife, you can’t lose me. Nothing is going to keep me from having your mind, soul and body.” He said the last part as he slapped my ass cheek again.
“I…”
“Shh, love. I’m going to give you something you’re going to need to confess about later. Maybe more than once,” he said, smacking my ass over and over again until I was squirming with pleasure under him.
“Does it hurt, love?” he asked, rubbing my skin.
I moaned out something, but I wasn’t sure what. He snickered, smacking me a few more times before putting three of his beautiful fingers inside my wet pussy.
“Goddamn, you’re wet. You like it when it when I punish you?” he asked before pulling his fingers out and bringing me up to straddle his lap once more.
“Only in bed, and even then, it depends.” I kissed him, reaching inside his pants for his cock.
“When we’re in a car, like right now, I want you on your knees with those beautiful lips of yours on my dick, ” he said as I stroked him.
“And if I say no?” I smirked, kissing his nose.
“You really must love it when I take you from behind.” He grinned.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t like it either. It’s more of a reward than a punishment, isn’t it?” I asked. Before he could answer, I slid down to his knees and took him into my mouth.
“Fuck!” he moaned loudly, grabbing hold of my hair.
I was proud that I could take most of him into my mouth, that was something that was far from easy.
He thrust forward once before letting go of my hair, and pulling me back up to him. He didn’t even wait before thrusting forward and pushing me up against the window.
LIAM
I loved my wife. There was no doubt in my mind that she was God’s personal gift to me, but…
“I can’t believe you bought all this fucking shit,” I said, picking up the bottle of wine before joining her on our bedroom floor. There had to be at least fifteen to twenty paintings spread throughout the room.
“What would you have done if you had to sit through that shit?” she asked, biting into her strawberry. I watched the juice run down the side of lips before leaning forward and licking it.
“A napkin would have worked as well.” She rolled her eyes, as she wiped the corner of her mouth.
“Yes, but then I wouldn’t have been able to taste you.” I grinned as I grabbed, a strawberry. “Plus, you love me, remember?”
“That car ride was such a bad idea,” she said as she tried to stretch out the knot in her neck.
“Blasphemy. Car sex is never a bad idea.” I would swear by it. “Besides, you enjoyed it as much as I did.”
“What do you think that is anyway?” she asked, changing the subject to point to the painting closest to us.
I looked closely and smiled. “I see two people having sex in the shower.”
“It’s abstract.” She laughed.
“I abstractly see two people having sex in the shower,” I whispered, pulling her to me.
“Maybe you’re having a vision of the future. However, I see a hot bubble bath.” She smiled.
I loved to see her smile.
“I can work with that,” I replied, picking her up.
I really loved my wife.
SIX
“It is not enough to stare up the steps,
we must step up the stairs.”
—Vaclav Havel
DECLAN
“Have you had sex yet?” Dr. Bell, our therapist, asked bluntly. I looked over at Coraline, who just stared down at her nails.
“No, we haven’t,” I answered. “I mean, we were going to but…”
“You weren’t able to get…”
“No!” I snapped. I knew where he was going, and I didn’t like it. “My dick works fine, thank you.”
“Then what happened?” he asked.
“Our sister-in law cut in. That killed the mood,” Coraline replied.
“How long ago was that?”
“Five days ago,” I said.
“And in those five days you weren’t able to get into the mood again?”
Neither of us answered.
“How long has it been since either of you have had sex?”
“I don’t…”
“Seven months, two weeks, five days and three hours,” I said, causing Coraline to stare at me wide-eyed. Even Dr. Bell stared at me oddly.
“I’m good with numbers,” I said, sitting back in my chair.
“I see,” he said. “The reason why I worry about it is because a healthy sex life is highly important in a marriage. It brings you closer together and allows you to see each other in the most intimate way. The longer you both stay away from each other, the harder it is to find your way back. Declan, what was it that set the mood last time?”
I shrugged. “She looked beautiful in her dress and I couldn’t take her my eyes off her as we danced. Plus, it was the longest I’d gotten to hold her in some time.”
“Coraline?”
“He looked at me like he used to…” She sighed, finally looking at me. “Like I mattered.”
“You do matter. You matter a lot, more than anything.” I took her hand.
“It’s one thing to say it, but it’s another to show it,” she whispered, pulling her hand away.
“See, that’s our problem.” I groaned as I sat forward. “I’m trying all the time. I am fucking trying, but she always goes back a step and blames me for everything in the past. I know I screwed up, but I feel like we’re never going to get past that point.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t!” she yelled at me, and I felt the sudden urge to strangle her.
“Is that what you really want, Coraline? Do you want a divorce?” Dr. Bell asked her and I felt my heart slowly sink. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her. It was worse when she didn’t answer.
“Divorce, means something completely different in this family, Doc.” She replied, with a hint of sarcasm he didn't get.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
She didn’t say anything.
“Either way I don’t think you want to get a divorce,” the doctor answered for her. “I think you want to make him suffer because you suffered. You want him to feel everything you felt. You know he loves you and you love him, but you’re still angry.”
That got my attention.
“Maybe.” She frowned and we all fell silent.
He was good at letting us be silent. The motherfucker got paid by the hour anyway.
“Fine, I’m still angry and hurt. He doesn’t just get to come in with his charm and make it all better. He just wants to wipe the slate clean and pretend he never did anything!” She pointed at me.
“No, I don’t! I want to wipe the slate clean so I can stop sleeping in the fucking guest bedroom and hold my wife again. I want to wipe the slate clean so we can move on! That doesn’t mean I want to forget. I don’t think I could ever forget the seven months of
blue balls and short jabs you’ve taken at me. You want me to suffer, Coraline? Well I’m suffering! I have a beautiful, amazing wife who won’t let me hold her, who won’t even speak to me! I’m suffering!” I yelled.
I stood up.
“I’m done for the day, Doc.” And with that, I left.
CORALINE
“I know you’re hurt, Coraline. But you have to let go of it or let go of your husband, because it’s not fair to you or him,” Doctor Bell said to me and I just stared at my wedding ring.
I didn’t know he was suffering. He seemed fine, always happy to see me when I stepped out in the hall. I was tired of this too…
“Thanks, Doc. See you next week,” I said as I walked out.
The moment I got down to the car, the driver opened the door for me. Declan sat with his head up and eyes closed.
“Clean slate,” I said, taking his hand.
He looked to me. “What?”
“It’s time for a clean slate, and starting from now, there is one,” I whispered.
“Clean slate,” he repeated in shock as I sat on to his lap to kiss him.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he muttered, as he wrapped his arms around me.
It was going to take baby steps, but it was time.
SEVEN
“All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.”
—Confucius
LIAM
“Please, tell me I heard you wrong.” I was doing my best to stay calm, but it seemed the world was on piss-the-fuck-out-of-Liam mode.
Sedric sighed, pouring himself a glass of brandy. “I’m afraid not, son. Apparently your grandfather will be making a stop in the States.”
“But grandfather hates America,” Declan stated the obvious, making me want to throw my glass at his face.
Mel leaned against the desk, forcing me to calm down with her eyes. She could do that now. Her own little superpower; where she could control what I was feeling with just her beautiful brown eyes. But she couldn’t understand how much I hated my grandfather and how much he hated me. I didn’t even want to give him the satisfaction of talking about him.