Vicious Minds

by J. J. McAvoy

  I couldn’t answer that because it did sound weird.

  “Besides, he doesn’t even remember her.”

  And that was the weirdest thing I’d heard all day. “Ethan doesn’t remember her? Are you sure? Did he say that?”

  “You saw him, he was utterly shocked—”

  “Yes, at having a daughter…but not at his daughter’s mother. Wyatt, Ethan never forgets anything. He didn’t know he had a child, but he probably knew who he slept with. On the slight chance he didn’t truly remember, all he had to do was figure out around when his daughter was conceived, and he could find the security for that time. Ethan is never satisfied not knowing something. He will dig until he finds it. So, either he knows, or he found it out, which is why he’s letting her simply roam through the house.”

  There was silence on the other line until finally he exhaled. “I’m getting very tired of trying to figure out how Ethan’s fucking mind works. Up is down. Right is left, and the moon is the sun with him!”

  “Where are you?”

  “With your Cain. King Ethan put me on desk duty.”

  “Well, I’m in your bed whenever you get tired of my desk.”

  “Helen.” I shook in horror at the new voice on the line. “He’s not alone here.”

  “Oh…hi dad.” I cringed, putting my hand over my face. “You’re working on Cain with him? Sorry, I don’t want to interrupt. Talk to you later, bye!”

  Hanging up quickly I tossed the phone away burying my face in his pillow. I should have gone into the hall. Give me ten assassins over ever experiencing that again.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 20

  “It is fraud to conceal fraud.”

  * * *

  ~Unknown

  Untitled

  ETHAN

  Staring into the flames of the fireplace, I heard her heels click upon the stones as she walked down the stone staircase until she reached the bottom. She didn’t take a further step. She looked as beautiful as she always did, and though she didn’t smile, I could see the hint of amusement in her eyes. After all, she’d just wiped the floor with my so-called guards and my family.

  “We have three minutes before either your mother, uncle, or Helen fixes what I did to the security system.” She lifted her phone to show me her timer.

  I walked across the cellar, grasping the back of her neck and pulling her close to me. My lips were on hers and her hands went to my hair. She opened her mouth for me when I felt her tongue in my mouth, I couldn’t help but press her against the staircase. The feeling of her breasts against me, the way her ass fit in my hand when I reached down to squeeze, only turned me on further.

  “Now we have two minutes,” she whispered, breaking away from me and placing her hand on my lips.

  I kissed her fingers before remarking, “You changed the plan.”

  “My grandfather changed the plan. I knew he was slipping. But not so quickly. I miscalculated.” She frowned, annoyed with herself, which meant I didn’t have to say anything else on the matter.

  “The rest of plan? Are we still pretending we don’t know each other?”

  She smirked and kissed my lips softly. “We continue as planned. We know everyone is watching, let’s give them the show they want.”

  “Toying with my family is fun for you?”

  “Don’t pretend like I’m the only one. The only reason anyone becomes a puppet master is because they love to see the puppets dance on their strings.” She tilted her head to watch me. “We’ll talk about everything else in your…our room. My clothes are already unpacked right?”

  “You giving orders already?” I asked, squeezing her ass tighter. “How dramatic are we making this reunion?”

  “Opera worthy,” she replied, pushing me off and adjusting her clothes. I did the same, and she waved her hand, telling me to go back towards the fire place. “Also, your cousin Helen was pretty much naked waiting for your brother in his room.”

  “Why the fuck would you tell me that?” I asked, cringing.

  She just beamed and pointed to my dying hard on. “To get rid of that.”

  Rolling my eyes, I fixed my suit as she counted down to her…our cruel little joke on my family. Everyone believed I didn’t have a sense of humor. Turns out I did, just at their expense.

  “Three, two, one,” she said, and I just stared once again, tempted to shake my head.

  She stood right in front of me.

  “Hello, Ethan. Am I at the final level where I face the boss now?” she asked coldly. And she said I deserved an Oscar.

  “That depends,” I said, looking into her familiar grey eyes. After four years, nothing had changed about her but the length of her hair. “Am I the final boss? Or is it you? Is this my game or is it yours, Cordelia—I mean Calliope?”

  She moved over to the couch, placing her purse and jacket on the side table before inspecting the wine bottles which hung stacked against the stone wall. She checked the dates before picking one. “A 1782 Chateau Lafite is one of the best red wines in the world. It’s worth a quarter of a million dollars. Some people say it calms you down. Let’s find out…”

  “Calliope—”

  “Your ungrateful son of a bitch!” she screamed, throwing it at me. The bottle shattered against the fireplace behind me. And she wasn’t done. She grabbed bottle after bottle, throwing them at me. “Who the fuck are you questioning right now?”

  How the fuck was I so damn in love with this fucking crazy woman.

  Goddamn it!

  CALLIOPE

  “They were right; I feel much better.” I drank from the bottle as I sat on top of the table. Looking over my shoulder, I watched Ethan dab the blood on his forehead with a napkin. “Do you feel better?”

  He paused, turning his head to me his green eye boring right through me. I wanted to kiss him so badly. He looked pissed, though.

  “Now that you are calm—”

  “Now that I am calm?” I spun around on the tabletop to look at him. “I was calm on the phone. I was calm when I got here. You were the son of a bitch who had guards waiting for me, armed. Why? Because I was not okay with the fact that my daughter was taken from me without permission? Instead of approaching me in a calm and logical manner, you decided to fight me. Actually, I can’t even call that a fight. Which is worse because the fact that it was so easy to get to you feels like I was being bloody mocked!”

  “I had guards meet you because I don’t know you! Nor do I trust you. From the moment we met five years ago you were lying to my goddamn face!”

  “I lied to you?” I said, stunned.

  “Are you really going to—”

  “You are the most insufferable person I have ever had the misfortune to meet. You are so goddamn pigheaded, you think you are the sun, the sky, stars, and the damn moon! I never lied to you—”

  “You said your name was Cordelia Muñoz!”

  “I never said that! You said it! You never asked my name, Ethan. Why? Because you thought I was some poor sexy Colombian woman that would simply fall for your great bullshit. You never bothered to ask for any information about me. You found someone to follow me as I was working undercover as Cordelia Muñoz. You compiled all that information together, never asking me a single damn question related to who I was because you are pigsheaded! Now you want to call me a liar, Vaffanculo!” I swore before spitting air in his direction.

  His fist clenched and nostrils flared. “You knew who I was and that our family had history and yet said nothing—”

  “Why the fuck should I have to say anything? I was working. Was I supposed to jeopardize all the work I had been doing for a year for you? Why? Did you tell me about your work? No. Did I ask? No. I didn’t need the answers. You wanted to know who I was, but you didn’t ask, and you got bad information. That was your fault! So why am I at fault? No... sei un figlio de puttana!” Turning away from him I drank again, knowing full well he was going to chain me down and fuck me till I couldn’t walk for this shit.
<
br />   “If you truly believed you did nothing wrong why did you keep me away from my daughter?” The question was most likely for his parents watching or any of the caring family members also watching.

  “Calliope!”

  “You can raise your voice all you like. That won’t make me respond to you—” I closed my eyes as he yanked my arm forcing me back. His hand on my skin…how tightly he held me…it made me want to not only fight back but also chain him up too. His eyes glared at me, but I saw the lust in them.

  “You have three seconds to release my arm before I get upset,” I warned him, and he squeezed more.

  “You don’t seem to understand,” I said seriously, placing my hands in my pockets. “I am not Cordelia Muñoz, a poor nobody waitress from Bogotá, Colombia. I am Calliope Seraphina Orsini of Lazio, Italy. Before the Callahan clan existed, before even the Giovanni family existed, my family did…as nobles. Three popes: Celestine III, Nicholas III, and Benedict XIII came from my family. No one touches me without my permission. Not even you.”

  Dusting the glass shards off his of his shoulders, he pinned me with his stare, his jaw set tightly. “If you care so much about family, if you hold family in such high regard, why the hell would you deny me mine? You still haven’t answered that. Fine. I never bothered to actually know you. You had your reasons for not telling me who you really were. Fine to all of that. I will take responsibility for that. But what was the reason you chose to deny me my daughter?”

  “I’m not housewife nor am I an ornament. I am a weapon. So I said no to you…and the future you’d offer, fully aware that you’d most likely never see your daughter until she was older. Did I feel bad about that? Sure. But not for you, for my little girl, so I made sure she knew who you were. I told her stories all about your family. I even made sure she remembered your face, name, number, and address. Isn’t that enough?”

  His eyes never left mine. He stared, and I could tell he was touched. But he didn’t want to speak first. Instead, he grabbed my bag and coat.

  “Calliope.”

  “Save your bullshit for someone other dumb jailbird Irish bitch. Note or no note it doesn’t matter, nor does it change anything. I didn’t come for you. I came for my daughter, and maybe my grandfather. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to kill him yet. So point me in the correct direction so I can go home.”

  “I’m not letting you go.”

  “I’m not asking.”

  He reached his behind his back and within a second, we both had guns drawn on each other.

  “You saw what happened when you stepped into this house. If you think I’m going to let you leave, let my daughter leave, you’ve lost your goddamn mind. I will fight you with everything I have. I will drag your name through the mud and expose you in every way humanly possible. I’m sure the world will love to know about the i libitinarii.” He threatened me coldly, placing his hand in his pocket. “An exposed assassin is as good as dead, correct?”

  “Just like I’m sure the world would love to know of the great Callahan connections…and their direct influence with the mob. An exposed mafia is as good as dead, correct? Try me, motherfucker. I’ll sink your battleship too.”

  “So we’re at an impasse then?” He lowered his gun, a small smirk on his lips.

  “I guess—Ah!” I hissed I caught sight of the needle in my shoulder. Reaching up, I pulled it out with shaking hands. I’d give anything to blow his head off right now, but I couldn’t help falling back on the stone walk. I slid down to the floor. “You’re going regret this.”

  He came over, hunching down in front me. “You’re upset with me and I you. But that doesn’t change the fact that our daughter needs the both of us. What do you think she’ll ask if you try to take her away? As you fall asleep ask yourself whose happiness is more important? Yours or hers?”

  “Vaffanculo,” I whispered before closing my eyes.

  And scene!

  ETHAN

  She really loved the drama.

  Vaffanculo? Her final words?

  I couldn’t deny it was fun, though, acting with her, being ridiculous with her. It was the only relief from the madness in our lives.

  She looked so innocent like this. I walked her back to my bedroom. Her body felt perfect against me. It was like taking back the spoils of war. Even though we both knew she was staying, she was also challenging me to see just how far I’d go to make her stay.

  “It’s over now.”

  “Not yet.” Her eyelids snapped open and before I even could blink, I felt the burning as it spread up my arm. Glancing down I saw the long thin needle clenched between her fingers protruding from my hand. She sat up on the bed, turning to stand up. I tried to move, but I couldn’t.

  “There is still one more Callahan I have to beat.”

  “Did you…fucking…have to stab me?”

  “You shot me.” She shrugged and pushed me down on the bed, kissing my lips. “How far is your brother going to go for you this time?”

  “We don’t have to go this far,” I muttered, feeling my words slur a bit.

  “The only way to create a good cover is to cover all of your bases,” she whispered, kissing me again. “I’m here. We’re here. But no one can know how we got here. All of them have to believe this lie.”

  “Fine.” I frowned as I watched her go over to Giovanna’s bedside. She brushed her hair gently, before looking at me, a small smile on her lips.

  “Mamma,” Giovanna whispered, rubbing her eyes. “You’re back.”

  “Yes, cuore mio.” She picked her up and kissed her cheek, walking back to the bed. When she reached my side, she bent down bit. “We have to go now. Say bye-bye to papà.”

  “Ciao papà. ti amo. (bye daddy. I love you.)” Giovanna whispered, leaning over and kissing my cheek before burying her face into her mother’s. I felt that guilt again. Calliope and I were also cruel people, vicious people, using our daughter like this, putting her in this position. But it was almost over. And then we’d make it up to her.

  What we did now was to make sure I’d never have to leave her like my parents did me. It was hard. But it needed to be done.

  I nodded once more, and Calliope took her from the room.

  The world was going to fear Calliope and I. No one or nothing was going to get in our way…not even our own feelings.

  CALLIOPE

  I made it only a few paces into the hall when another an opponent made his appearance. Holding firm to his crutch, he glanced at Gigi and then to me.

  “Do you think you have chance, Wyatt?” I asked him, already done with these people today.

  He smirked. “I’ll never know until I try. It’s the least I could for my brother.”

  “Very well then,” I said, reaching behind my back when he outstretched his hands, and I eyed him carefully.

  “Since my body is still healing, I’ll try a different approach,” he said nodded as if I was a wild animal he was trying to calm.

  “And that is?”

  “Ask nicely,” he said with a smile. “My brother has been through a lot. And sure, I don’t know what you’ve been through, I will assume it was hell. But even still I’m asking…please, don’t do this to him. One by one, everything is going up in flames around him and what’s worse is that it isn’t his fault, but he’ll blame himself for it anyway. It’s what he does. He takes responsibility for everything all the time…and…and he doesn’t want to let us down. Don’t do this…for her…don’t let him let down his daughter. Please stay. I won’t stop you if try to leave but I’d rather you stay.”

  Aww, such a sweet speech. Walking forward, I didn’t stop until I stood right beside him. “Thank you for not stopping me.”

  I only made it three feet when I heard him turn around. I turned back to him and he sighed, holding a switch in his hands.

  “I lied.”

  “I knew you would.” I pointed his bad thigh and his eyes glanced down to the needle now sticking out of it.

  Shi
fting Gigi in my arms, I walked faster as he went down, turning left first and making it all the way to the stairs. I set her on her feet and dropped my things on the ground. Bending down I took out my gloves from the coat, wearing them I unzipped one of pockets of my coat I pulled out a thin vial.

  “Mamma—”

  “Stay back, cuore mio, we’ll go in a second…” I said in Italian, trying to work, but I stopped when I heard a sniffle. I glanced up and her bottom lip was quivering and tears were pooling in her eyes.

  “Cuore mio…”

  “Daddy…hates… me. That’s why I…I have to go… But I don’t want to, Mamma.” She tried to fight back the tears, but the came and she rushed to wipe her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mamma…warriors…don’t cry.”

  That was final curtain call of this little show ours. I put the vial back into my pocket and took off my gloves. Kneeling, I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tightly.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, cuore mio,” I whispered, brushing her hair back. “Your daddy wants you with him so much.”

  “Then why do I have to go?” she asked, sniffling again.

  I wiped her tears with my thumb. “Because mommy makes complicated choices. But I’ll be better for you, I promise.”

  “So I can stay?” The hope her eyes was too much for me to handle. Nodding, I pulled her back into my arms, wrapping them around her tightly. When I looked up, my grandfather was standing at the end of the hall with a small smile on his face. Glaring at him, I rolled my eyes before I affirmed my daughter. “You’re staying, cuore mio. This is Callahan Manor and you are a Callahan.”

  That was the excuse we needed.

  They now had a story of why I left.

  And now why I stayed.

  It was a lie, but it would explain why Ethan and I were going to magically work it all out.

  Using our daughter as our cover was horrible thing to do a little girl, emotionally, but we needed to do it.