by J. J. McAvoy
Liam’s words from the night before came to mind. You are like me.
“Why did you come here then Natasha?” I asked, stepping up slightly. She slid across the small space on the floor to get away from me.
Tears streamed from her eyes as she shook, covered in toilet bowl water and blood.
“I love him,” she sobbed. “Please don’t kill me.”
“Find a new man to love, Natasha. If you come around him again, I will snap your neck and bury you under this church,” I warned, kicking her in ribs once before stepping over her and walking out of the stall.
I looked myself over in the cracked mirror—her blood still dripping from it—and fixed my hair before washing my hands once more.
“It was nice meeting you Natasha. Let’s not do this again,” I said and left.
Walking through the grand entrance, I dipped my finger into the blessed water before making the sign of the cross over myself. Moving quickly into the front aisle where the rest of the Callahans were standing and singing, I stood by Liam who stopped, glancing over at me. I smiled and took the book from him.
“I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. All who dwell in dark and sin . . .” He wouldn’t sing so I nudged him. He just shook his head picking up where I left off.
Well, I feel so much better.
LIAM
“Peace be with you,” we all said.
“Go in peace, the Mass has ended,” the priest replied before leaving. Soon after, everyone started to take their exit as well, however, I grabbed Mel before she could move.
She turned to me, eyebrow raised, as if she had no idea why I was holding on to her. Maybe she really didn’t think I would notice.
“What?”
“You have blood on your shoe,” I said, waiting for an explanation.
She looked down and frowned, pulling away from me and taking a seat. She looked completely at ease as she took a cleaning pen from her purse, bleaching it clean before grabbing hand sanitizer.
“Better?” she asked me with a smile. For the love of God, she had no shame, and it made her even sexier.
I needed to stay emotionless though.
“Yes, now, how did it get there?”
She frowned. “Liam, please don’t make me lie in church.”
“You’ve got to . . . then don’t lie Melody.” She was going to drive me mad.
“I had to settle something, and it’s done,” she replied, standing up and bowing toward the altar, then leaving.
“Of all the women in the world.” I looked up at the crucifix before taking a deep breath and followed after her. I would find out soon. Right now, I just needed to make sure Step Four worked out.
We were leaving for camp tonight. After that, she and I would bond and get back to killing those who were less important.
Neal came up quickly, looking over at me and turning his back to the rest of the family.
“Liam, are you sure?” he asked me for the sixtieth time.
“Yes, Neal,” I sighed. “For the last goddamn time. While we are at camp, you are going to shoot me and you’re going to make sure it’s a good, but not fatal shot. That’s the only way I will let the past go.”
“I could kill you,” he hissed at me as we walked to our cars.
“If you do, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.” I smirked. “You won’t kill me, Neal. You want my forgiveness too much to kill me.”
“This is cold Liam. If she finds out . . .”
I watched her as she spoke with Coraline and our priest. I couldn’t help but think how beautiful she was. “She won’t find out. If she does, she will be mad but will get over it. She loves me, and she’s alone. I simply have to remind her that I’m all she has. Remember what happened last time my plans didn’t work?”
He looked at me confused. “No.”
“Exactly.” I smirked, because my plans always worked.
“Okay, I will do it. You want it on the second day?”
I nodded, stepping forward then stopping and glaring into his eyes.
“You tell anyone of this, Neal, even your wife, I won’t just hate you. I will kill you and her, I swear to God, I will,” I whispered so softly I wasn’t sure if he could actually hear me. The fear in his eyes told me all I needed to know.
Turning away, I walked over to my beautiful wife. The bow on her dress made me smile. She was a gift—my gift—and I couldn’t wait to unwrap her. I couldn’t wait for camp.
MELODY
“Liam, my young boy,” Father Thomas called out behind me as Liam approached.
Liam took his hand. “It was a wonderful service, Father Thomas.”
“You would say that even if it bored you to tears,” Father Thomas said, winking at me. “I must say, you have chosen well, another woman of God in the Callahan family. It is why God blesses you all so greatly. You all honor him every Sunday without fail.”
If only you knew what I did in your bathroom, I thought to myself.
“Thank you, Father.”
He took my hand, and Liam held on to my waist.
“I see a child in the near future, my dear child. God will bless you with such, as well,” he whispered for only Liam and me to hear. My nostrils flared and my eyes narrowed, but Liam gave me a light squeeze.
Smiling at him, I pulled away, hoping Liam would say something, but he was still sitting on his mountain of ice.
“Thank you so much, but we must be going, Thomas,” I replied, pulling Liam toward the car.
“I need your phone,” I said once we were inside.
He looked at my oddly. “Why?”
“Because mine is broken.” I sighed. “Are you saying no? You don’t want me to see you’re past whores’ names?”
He glared at me, handing me the phone. “No. There are no whores in my phone. I simply wanted to know who my wife needed to speak with so badly.”
“My doctor.” I frowned as I dialed. “Everyone seems to think that a baby is popping out of me soon. Why, I’m not sure. However, it’s not happening and I’m going to make sure my birth control is working as well as possible. Anything else you would like to know?”
“Olivia has had a hard time conceiving, it was leaked to the press a year ago. Declan doesn’t think he or Coraline are ready to be a parents, mostly because he and Coraline are always too busy. You’re new and young—no one doubts you will be able to have children. That’s why they bring it up,” he said plainly, leaning back and watching the city outside pass us by. He wouldn’t even look at me. I didn’t care, not now at least. I had my blood fix this morning. It was the breakfast of champions. I could take on the world and Liam.
I couldn’t wait for camp.
SEVENTEEN
“Murder, like talent,
seems occasionally to run in families.”
~ George Henry
MELODY
“They’re excited,” Sedric replied as we all stood in front of the jets, which were fueled to take us straight to Cascadia. The men were all beside themselves as they grabbed their gear and walked onto the planes. Those who weren’t flying with us had driven, leaving late last night with Monte so they could be there by the time we landed.
“How could any place named Candia be exciting?” Olivia frowned, her hands across her chest as if she were a child. It was kind of funny. I didn’t know Barbie’s could bend their arms.
“Cascadia,” Coraline corrected while Adriana stood beside her. I was curious to see what would happen in the week I was gone.
“Whatever, my point is the same.” Olivia rolled her eyes.
Evelyn smiled, clapping her hands. “Well, I’m excited for you boys. I always wanted to send you all to camp. Take pictures!”
“Honestly, mother, it’s not that type of camp.” Liam smirked, kissing her on the cheek before grabbing his bag.
“Actually it is,” I replied, as Fedel handed me my new smartphone. “I’m simply going as a chaperone to make sure they don’t lose complete c
ontrol.”
“A chaperone?” Declan smirked. “What do you think will happen?”
Turning to Fedel, I raised my eyebrows. He was trying really hard not to smile and even coughed.
“Well don’t be shy,” I told him.
“Last year, some of the knife nuts captured five or six skunks and placed them in the sniper cabins,” he snickered quickly before returning solemn.
“And?”
He dropped his head down. “And then the snipers covered their cabins in honey and fire ants.”
“Then the hackers were hacked and their computers were filled with gay porn. They also replaced their normal mice with dildo shaped ones. The hackers then gave them laxatives. Which lead to the things I do not even want to begin to explain. If I hadn’t stepped in, one of them probably would have died,” I said as I checked my messages. Looking up, I saw Evelyn’s red face still processing everything she just heard.
“Holy Jesus fuck, what’s on the menu this year?” Neal asked, wide-eyed. I could see the excitement building in his eyes.
Fedel grinned. “You Irish better watch your backs.”
“Non vedo l'ora di prendere questi cani verso il basso.” Antonio laughed alongside Fedel.
Declan stepped forward. “If you’re going to trash talk us, do it in English or Irish so everyone can hear or beidh mé briseadh do liathróidí.”
“Just in case you don’t know, he said he will break your balls.” Neal laughed.
Antonio held up his hands, not even least bit afraid. “You Irish and your balls. All I said is I can’t wait.”
“Enough,” Liam snapped at them.
A whole week of this . . . how fun.
Sedric looked desperate, and I would be, too, if I had to spend time with the women. “Mel, are you—”
“No, Sedric,” Evelyn and I said at the same time. She looked at me and grinned as if we had an alliance.
“This sounds so stupid,” Olivia declared with her nose so high a bird could nest in it. “Neal—”
“Neal works for me . . . us,” I said as Liam glared at me. “This is part of the job. Don’t like it, too bad. But if you’re really worried, I will personally make sure he doesn’t become someone’s butt pirate.”
Their jaws dropped, and Liam opened his mouth but closed it quickly, chuckling to himself. Smiling, I glanced once more at Adriana before turning toward the plane. In an hour, we would be at camp and I wouldn’t have to deal with being a Callahan for a week.
The moment I stepped onto the plane, they all stopped speaking and looked at me.
“Continue.” I didn’t have anything to say to them. Sitting down, I noticed Eric had a leg brace on. He met my gaze, and I simply grinned, forcing him to look away.
Fedel walked up to me—not sitting, seeing as how he had lost that right—with a file I hadn’t seen before. I almost wanted to smile at him. Information was the key to my good graces.
“Yes, Fedel?” I asked as Nelson, the stuttering fool, handed me a glass of wine before going to serve the rest of the plane.
“I know you don’t like apologies—”
“And yet here you are wasting words, Fedel.”
He nodded. “I have kept watch on Vance and found something, but I haven’t been able to confirm it yet.”
I hated unconfirmed information because it often led to dead ends. However, he knew that, so whatever it was had to big enough for us to pay attention to whether it was true or not. Glancing around the plane, I only saw Neal.
“Wait until Liam takes a seat, and then join us,” I replied. I watched as shock flashed through his eyes before he nodded.
He wouldn’t have to wait long seeing as how a second later, Liam stepped onboard with Declan right behind him. Liam looked almost annoyed when he looked at me, and it was ticking me off. I wanted to shoot him in the fucking face, the emotional bitching bastard. I hadn’t done anything. He wanted to be Mr. Cold and act like a dick then I would let him. The cabin went silent again for him.
“If anyone plays a prank on me, I will cut your hand off and make you eat it. Feel free to spread that around, because I’m not joking.” He didn’t even have to state it. The amount of poison and ice in his voice promised more than the loss of a hand.
They all nodded before continuing to speak among themselves. Liam walked back to where I was, stopping to stare—glare—at Fedel.
“Didn’t you fire him?” he asked me.
“Leaders don’t fire people. It sets a bad precedent.” I smirked. “Instead, we kill them.”
In that moment, I saw his lips twitch up into a smile before it was gone again. He nodded, placing his bag in the overhead compartment before sitting down.
“Why isn’t he dead then?” he asked, pulling out the brandy from his coat pocket. He was such a drunk.
“He may have information on Vance,” I replied, taking a drink of my wine. Liam glanced up, waiting for Fedel to speak, but before he could, Jinx started the jet.
“Well sit down, Fedel,” Liam stated.
He was more than happy to, and I respected that he was working hard to make sure I didn’t ever have to put him in his place again.
“You said he might have something?” Liam asked, and Fedel pulled out what looked to be letters in code and some in Russian.
“I haven’t been able to decrypt them all,” Fedel replied quickly. “However, from what I can tell, this is Vance’s Step Two.”
“You skipped a step?” I asked, picking up the papers.
“It wasn’t clear until now. Step One was getting started with Alexei Rozhkov,” Fedel replied, pulling out the photo of the old Russian mob boss with a scar across his neck. Some brave soul had snuck into his bedroom and slit his throat but the bastard still lived.
He was one of the most powerful men, alongside Orlando and Sedric. Was being the key word.
“Did your people kill him?” I looked to Liam.
Liam shook his head. “Father had been hacking away at him for years. Then when Declan stole the rest of his fortune, the man was basically crippled. He couldn’t afford the high quality smack anymore. No junky would even blink at his shit. His men left him, he lost his houses, friends, everything, and my father wanted to kill him, but I thought it would best to make him live in the slums he created. All he had was some precious fourteen-million dollar red diamond, which I thought was just a rumor until we heard someone stole it.”
Fedel looked at me, snickering as I just drank my sweet red wine. The whole cabin became silent as Liam and his men’s eyes slowly fell on me. My people boasted with pride, but Liam stared at me in shock.
What the fuck were they shocked for? As if stealing a rock was the worst thing I had ever done.
“You stole it,” Declan said, slowly rolling it around his tongue, and Neal looked jealous.
“I needed a new coaster?” I replied. It wasn’t a big deal to me. Liam didn’t speak, he simply leaned back into his chair and frowned out the window.
“How old were you?” Neal asked, leaning back as well, as if I was about to give him a fucking bedtime story.
“It was the weekend before my eighteenth birthday. I wanted to get myself something nice, pretty, and shiny. So I did a little digging, found his not-so-secret safe house in northern Russia, and thought why not? I haven’t pissed off any Russians yet, and stole it.” It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, but I did it.
“She was in and out in eight minutes,” Fedel added. “Three minutes to break in, two minutes to kill two of his men, a minute and nineteen seconds to grab the jewel, and then forty-two seconds to get out.”
“What happened to the last minute and forty-one seconds?” Declan asked, but his mind seemed to be racing.
“The last minute and forty-one seconds to send the house up in flames,” Jinx added over the intercom, making me smile.
Jinx didn’t often show his face—he preferred to keep hidden from everyone—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t always listening. Plus, he would kn
ow. He was the one who picked me up.
LIAM
Are you fucking kidding me! Seriously! At seventeen, I was a sophomore in college still trying to get rid of my acne and my awkward bullshit, while she was blowing up houses and stealing a rare jewel in the bloody motherland.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I turned to Fedel. “What does this have to do with Vance?”
The idiot was so busy getting high off his past memories he almost forgot why we were talking about this.
Declan pulled out a photo of a red-haired woman. “Meet the woman formerly known as Saige Rozhkov.”
“He had a daughter?” I replied but the closer I stared, the more I saw the resemblance.
“Formerly?” Mel asked him as she glared at the redheaded woman in the photo.
“By the end of tonight, she will be Saige Valero,” he replied, and both Mel and I put our drinks down.
“What the fuck?” Mel and I said together.
“From what I’ve learned, the man who slit old Rozhkov’s throat was Vance when he was on his rise to power. He wanted Saige to marry Amory. However, the old man wouldn’t have it. That’s when he went to Orlando, but he was rejected again. So Vance took a step back, and I guess allowed both your families to destroy Rozhkov. But since you let him live, Vance went back and killed him, but not before torturing every last secret out of him. Even though Alexei was destroyed, he still had the names. As both of you know, old names come with old favors. He pulled every last one of them after the fall of Rozhkov,” Fedel explained quickly as he looked through more papers.
“Then why does he need this Saige?” I asked. He had the power already. The girl seemed to be useless.
“Because they’re foreigners,” Mel whispered, and I could see her connecting the dots in her mind. “Vance and his brothers came from Italy where my father all but banished them. The Russians hate outsiders. This Saige is a pawn. Something to make his men stand straighter behind him.”
Made sense. “Does she know?”