by J. J. McAvoy
“It’s a shame you can’t read my mind.” I winked at her, still having to put force behind the knife to keep her at bay. “You’d know how badly I’d prefer not to have a raging homicidal madwoman screaming in my ear, but an agreement is an agreement.”
Her eyes were like liquid green fire. The more I stared, the hotter I felt; it was like looking down a volcano.
“What agreement?” Ethan asked and for a brief I’d forgotten he, along with the rest of the family, was still here.
Defuse her, I remembered. I’d hope to not have to go this far, to start with this lie, but it seemed none of them were going to give me the space I needed. Very well then.
“The verbal one your parents made with mine before they all died,” I lied. It wasn’t a total lie but it was close enough. At the mention of her parents, she seemed to snap out of her rage, pulling back slowly as her brother pushed forward with his questions.
“And that is?”
Looking directly at her, I said one word, “Marriage.”
Wyatt choked on the bread he was eating, coughing so hard his face turned red. The butler came forward with water, but Wyatt merely turned to me. “Marriage? What marriage?”
“My marriage to your temperamental, impulsive, screaming banshee of a sister, Donatella Aviela Callahan.”
Her face was void of any emotion, even anger. She just shook her head. “You’re lying.”
“If I was, why would your grandmother push herself to call and make sure I was not only welcomed, but also in the room right next to you?”
She got up, her fist balled at her sides. “Who are you to marry me?”
“Wrong question.” I pushed my chair back, rising to my feet. “You should be asking why only you? Your parents had three children, why did they only bother to arrange a marriage for you?”
She froze; her green eyes wide as she looked through me, not at me.
“I don’t know.” She didn’t answer. Rising behind her like a beast, Wyatt stood glaring at me as if he wanted to gut me alive. “I don’t know. I don’t fucking care. My parents are dead. Their opinion and wishes are irrelevant now. However, if they were here, they’d skin you alive for speaking to my sister this way. Good thing I’m alive and I’m good with knives.”
“Skin away then,” I said, tossing him my knife which he caught with ease. “When you’re done, I’ll still be here. Your sister will still be here and so will the agreement between us.”
She stood up, standing between the two of us but facing me. She wasn’t as enraged as she’d been before; now she was calm, too calm given the current situation. “There is no agreement. I’m twenty-six years old. I’ll pick who I marry, not my parents. Not my grandmother.”
“Yes,” I nodded to her, speaking just as calmly. “How did that work out for the last man you picked?”
She inhaled through her nose but still managed to keep it together; “Let’s break the agreement so you can go back to hell now.”
“Fine by me, so long as you understand that it’s you who is breaking the agreement.”
“I—”
“Stop.” Ethan cut in, proving he was much smarter than I gave him credit for. “What happens if she breaks the agreement?”
“I don’t care what happens!” She snapped at him. “It’s my life, don’t you—”
“All agreements have some type of collateral. He wants you to break the agreement, Donatella. Which means whatever he gets for you breaking it is worth more than having you. You are the only sister to the Ceann na Conairte, the daughter of a former governor, and business mogul. On top of that, you’re beautiful… What man in his right mind would turn that down just because he dislikes your temperament?” Mr. Know It All questioned, making them turn to look at me like prey they couldn’t wait to tear apart.
Bravo Ethan.
“Well?” Wyatt asked, waiting while Dona did her best not to scream.
“Italy,” I answered, looking from her to her brother as he sat comfortably at the head of the table. “All the drug routes in Italy; that’s what I get.”
“Ha.” Ethan laughed in shock. “Bullshit. My family would never give up our home—”
“Which is how they were sure that your sister would end up marrying me,” I said, taking off my glasses and picking up my book. “But, like she said, she’s old enough to decide who she marries, and I’ll support whatever she chooses. Thank you for dinner.”
I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the door. This family could never let anyone else have the last word.
“What happens if you were to break the agreement?”
So, I repeated what her brother had said; “You are the only sister to the Ceann na Conairte, the daughter of a former governor, and business mogul. On top of that, you’re beautiful… What man in his right mind would turn that down just because he dislikes your temperament?”
The look on their faces was magnificent.
On this side of the world the Callahan’s were the most powerful family, without a doubt, but they were extremely ignorant if they believed there weren’t other powerful families out there.
Opening the book in my hand, I read on from where I’d stopped… Beowulf was such a classic; “The dragon began to belch out flames and burn bright homesteads; there was a hot glow that scared everyone, for the vile sky-winger would leave nothing alive in his wake.”
TEN
“Vipera in veprecula est.
(There is a viper in the bush.)”
~ Unknown
ETHAN
“You’re calling again so soon; I truly feel loved,” my grandmother said on the phone.
“I'm not sure love is the right word,” I replied, looking up at Dona who stared blankly at the phone in my hand, her head bobbing slowly… I wasn't a doctor, but the doctor beside her seemed to worry she was going into shock.
“Love is always the right word.” She giggled. With my eyebrow raised, I looked over at Wyatt, who leaned forward grinning.
“Nana, are you high?” he asked.
“As a fucking kite,” she replied. “I knew it. The hospitals have all the good shit.”
Wyatt laughed outright at her response and so did she. The only one who didn't laugh was Dona. I was used to her snapping and I was used to her being cold…but this was neither. She was just numb, and I hated being witness to it.
“Grandmother, this Gabriel apparently believes that our parents arranged a marriage between him and Donatella.”
“He believes that…” she hiccupped. “Excuse me, because it's true.”
“Twenty-six years of living with you, eighteen years with father, and not once did I hear about an arranged marriage for anyone.”
“Why would anyone tell you? It has nothing to do with you.”
“Me,” Donatella whispered. “It's about me so why didn't anyone tell me?”
The smile on Wyatt's face fell at hearing how hurt she was. Hurting Dona wasn't easy, but when accomplished, it made everyone else hurt right along with her.
“If you don't want to marry him dear, then don't marry him—”
“Then he gets the routes in Italy?” I questioned, wanting to see if he really was telling the truth.
“Oh right,” she said as if it was an afterthought and not our family heritage. My mother’s home, everything she'd built with her own hands! “If Dona doesn’t want to marry him, then he gets to control the drug flow of Italy. Meaning nothing gets in or out with—”
“I understand the meaning!” I snapped at her and Wyatt cringed, shaking his head. Why I suffered to bring him back, I couldn't remember at the moment.
“Did you just raise your voice at me?” she asked softly.
Rubbing the side of my head, I inhaled slowly. “Nana, I don't understand why my mother or father would ever promise something like that to a stranger. It would be like Father giving away Ireland, it doesn't make sense.”
“It doesn't make sense because you are forgetting who your mother was—”
&n
bsp; “I'll never forget that,” I replied without hesitation.
“Then you know your mother would put everything on the line for only one reason—”
“Her children,” Wyatt answered, not being helpful at all. "If it came down to the whole world or us, she'd choose us.”
“Exactly. See, this is why you were her favorite.”
He beamed like a pet waiting to get his reward. What made him our mother’s favorite? Apparently of us three, Wyatt was the only one to ever say mama and since then he’d been crowned her favorite. So now, due to Wyatt’s big head, our mother’s grudge against Dona and I for calling out to our father first, was cemented for all eternity. Our mother had been so petty…like her daughter.
“No.” Dona shook her head, sitting up straight. Her eyes refocusing on us. “I'm sure Melody would risk it all for us…but only if it was the last option. And only if our lives were at stake… My life isn't at stake, so why put everyone at risk? Because she's sure she won't lose a fucking thing… She's sure I'll go along with it.”
She laughed bitterly, shaking her head as she looked up at ceiling. “Even from the grave she's still trying to make me do things her way.”
“Dona…sweetheart.”
“Nana, get some rest; I'll call you later,” she said, hanging up my phone and dropping it back on the desk. She rose to her feet.
“What are you going to do?” I asked her.
Holding on to the doorknob for a moment, she hung her head. “I don’t—I’ll come up with something.”
Just like that she was gone.
She was going to say she didn’t know. She doesn’t know how to fight… She needed help but she wasn’t going to ask…stubborn and full of pride to the end.
“Did you really not know?”
I glanced over to Wyatt who was leaning forward and now looked ready to shoot me, all humor gone from his voice.
“What?”
“Did you sell off our sister so you didn’t have to worry about her?” he asked, grinding his jaw, his eyes furious. “So, you didn’t have to worry she’d betray you?”
“You heard grandmother—”
“I’ve seen and heard grandmother lie on your behalf before! How the fuck do I know you weren’t the one that brought Gabriel here? You told him what to say and had Nana vouch for him. I’m sure you’d even convince Uncle Neal and Declan just so your bloody plan could come together.”
I watched him clench his fist to stop himself from trembling with rage.
“She’s my sister—”
“Which is why I’m sure you didn’t kill her. Instead, you picked some random douchebag to marry her off to!”
At that moment, I wanted to smack him. “Get out Wyatt!”
“I swear to God, if you are behind this—”
I rose to my feet, the only thing between us my desk. And even that wasn’t going to be enough to stop me from beating his ass. Calming myself down, I walked around the desk to stand in front of him. “Let’s say you are correct, little brother. You’re not, but let’s say you’re right and I am selling our sister. What makes you think you have any power to stop me? Your army is my army. The last I checked, most of them still think you’re nothing but a scared little bitch who ran from his responsibilities. To them you are just a spoiled little playboy, the little prince who can only talk like this to me because we’re blood and I allow it.”
I reached over to fix his tie and dust the shoulders of his suit before adding, “You can swear to whichever God you like, little brother. But swearing is nothing without power, so you better get your own before running your month.”
He glared at me, before reaching for my wrist and gripping it tightly. “Careful what you ask for, big brother. You know better than I; fortune, in this family, is on the side of the second son…and you’ve already been at death’s door once. And this scared little bitch saved your life. Know this—you don’t want to piss me off, because I don’t need an army. I just need to step back and watch you take all the bullets. Then people will know I stood in your shadow for twenty-six years; not because I was afraid, but because I enjoy the shield… From there I’ll rise just like Grandfather. The second son. His elder brother ruled for a while too…yet who remembers his name?”
Like Dona, Wyatt had a talent for knowing exactly what to say to get on my last damn nerve.
“Are you going to release my wrist or am I going to have to break your hand?” I asked him patiently. He did, stepping back and heading towards the doors. Just as he opened it, I called out to him once more. “Welcome home, little brother.”
He flipped me off as he walked out, and when the door closed I moved back to sit in my chair. Hearing a small click behind me from the secret door of the bookcase, I turned around to see her frowning as she stepped closer to me.
“Eavesdropping now?” I asked her as she came forward to sit on the edge of my desk. “I would have told you later, Ivy.”
“I know,” she said, brushing her blonde hair behind her hair. “I just happened to be walking by.”
My eyebrow rose at that. She just so happened to be walking by in the secret passage route through the mansion? “Would you like time to think of a better lie?”
“No, I’m just going to change the subject.” She tried to smile but that worried frown on her face was still there. “What did Wyatt mean by you both knowing fortune favors the second son?”
“My grandfather and my father were not supposed to be Ceann na Conairte. They were the seconds sons, meaning they had elder brothers who were supposed to take over. My grandfather’s elder brother - Uncle Declan’s father, Killian - was murdered, so my father’s brother stepped back and allowed my father to take over.”
“So, it’s a curse—”
“Two hardly constitutes a curse,” I cut her off quickly. I’d heard more than a few whispers about the Callahan curse and I preferred not to hear them from her. “And even if it were, don’t you think I’d be well prepared for it?”
She rolled her eyes; “Of course… What’s your plan? I mean you brought him back, so obviously you aren’t going to kill him.”
“Obviously.” She spoke of killing Wyatt so easily, as if the thought had just crossed her mind.
“So…” she pressed.
“Audentes fortuna iuvat and omnia vincit amor.” She waited, annoyed that she couldn’t understand. “Fortune favors the bold and love conquers all…”
“I don’t get it.”
“Don’t worry, you will,” I said, taking her hand and gently pulling her to sit on my lap.
She brushed my hair back softly; “This Gabriel guy, what are you going to do about him? I’m surprised you didn’t kill him for talking to you like that.”
Inhaling, I placed my hands on her waist; “I can’t kill him.”
“You? The great Ethan Callahan, can’t kill someone?” She gasped, leaning in to place kisses on my eyebrow and down the side of my face. “And here I thought you were all powerful.”
“I am,” I replied. Seeing her like this made me smile slightly.
“But?”
Closing my eyes, I enjoyed her lips as they sucked on my neck, “But so are the people who created me.”
She paused in her actions, sadly, and I felt her sit up. I opened my eyes to find her staring down at me. “You aren’t killing him because of your parents?”
I nodded; “I became who I am by watching my parents. They were always plotting, building the foundations for plans that were months, sometimes years, in the making. Of all the men in the world, they chose this Gabriel. For my mother to do that, to accept that, and for my father to agree to it… It means they weighed all the options, and decided he was it.”
“It for what?”
Good question. “Knowing my father, he’d want Donatella to be happy and to live as comfortably as possible. Something she could do on her own, but I still think he wouldn’t have agreed if Gabriel didn’t have wealth of his own. But my mother…”
�
�She wouldn’t want Dona to be happy?” She pouted. “I didn’t know her personally, but from her letter I could tell she loved all of you a lot.”
My mother’s love was different, though. “My mother…” I paused, not sure how to explain it. “Her love was in the future.”
“Huh?” She made one of her many faces at me.
I nodded again, feeling a bitter ache and not wanting to speak on it, but forcing myself to continue. “My mother loved us beyond our present selves. Sometimes we’d get so angry at her while growing up, not understanding why she’d push us so hard, and then something would happen and we could handle it because of how she had pushed us. She didn’t always give us what we wanted but she always gave us what we needed…The problem is she gave it to us before we realized we needed it. All three of us have these moments…” I paused again, unsure why my throat burned as much as it did. Why speaking about my mother bother me like this?
“We’ve had these moments when… It’s like we realize we can do or we’re doing something because our mother showed us how when we were younger. Back then when we didn’t understand, we fought her, Donatella especially… She thought Mom loved her less. Now, as adults, we see just how much our mother loved us, how far she went for us… But it’s too late to thank her. We can’t show her we are grateful.”
I sighed, sitting up and brushing the side of my nose. Focusing back on her as she looked at me gently, her hands on the side of my face. “So, to answer your question, she chose Gabriel because she believes he’s the best way for Dona to get whatever it is she truly wants. I trust my mother. That’s why he isn’t dead. That’s why I’m going to step back from this and let it play out between them. Whether Dona likes it or not.”
“I don’t know if you are bad brother but you are a good son…and a better husband,” she whispered, and before I could think her lips were on mine; and just like that all of me relaxed, wrapping my arms around her as she moaned into my mouth…
Day by day, Ivy was becoming my biggest weakness.
It made me wonder about Dona and Wyatt. They were romantics at heart, and like myself, whoever they fell for would be their weakness. Neither of them knew it yet, though. How could they?