by J. J. McAvoy
I stared at him for a moment before taking Evelyn’s arm once again. “A living breathing teleprompter. I can’t wait to hear your speech as to why Colemen is so behind in the polls. I think he’s been lapped twice.”
Adriana held open the door for us, and as Evelyn took a seat inside, I noticed Liam had yet to get off the plane with Jinx.
“Ma’am?” Adriana called my attention.
Taking a seat, I simply shook my head at Liam. Funnily enough, I wasn’t mad; it was just my husband being my husband.
“So, how are you?” Evelyn asked, petting my hand.
“Evelyn.” I stared at her misplaced appendage.
Sighing, she rolled her eyes and let go of me. “Fine. I want to know about the baby. You and Liam haven’t spoken about it and I just want details. When is your next doctor’s appointment?”
“Evelyn…”
“Melody, give me a break. This is my first grandchild and I’m dying here. I was this close,” she held her thumb and index finger barely apart, “to calling your doctor for your medical records.”
Adriana snickered quietly.
“Adriana, my appointment is in two weeks, make sure it’s possible for Evelyn and Sedric to sit in.” The moment I said it, she pulled me into her arms.
“Again with the hugging.”
“Get over it, Melody. I’m a grandmother, it’s what I do.” She laughed as we pulled apart.
“Adriana, what have we missed?
“Neal and Olivia have kept me at arm’s length. However, from what I could gather through Antonio, Olivia fired most of the old staff and hired new personnel, redecorated the halls—”
“She what?” Evelyn sat up harshly, pulling against her seat belt.
“The chariot ball this evening will be held in the manor. From what I understood, it was a political tactic, so she fired all the immigrants.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose—a habit I was picking up from Liam—I could only close my eyes and rest my head against the chair.
“What else, Adriana?”
“Neal is working on something big for the night. I knew there was a miniscule probability of you or Liam resting with strangers in the house, so I took the liberty of preparing all of your clothing and belongings along with the rest of the family’s. He’s also added at least thirty cameras around the property for this evening. They’re even in the bedrooms.”
“God give me the strength not to kill my own son,” Evelyn prayed.
Staring out the window, I watched the trees blur by and I tried to wrap my mind around this without losing my cool. I wanted to wring both of them out, but all I could do now was go to this damn function and watch. Afterwards, I’d deal with Roy.
“Adriana, set up a meeting for me.”
LIAM
I waited on the plane for the sole reason of confronting Jinx alone. The whole flight, I stared at my wife in awe, ecstasy, and love before realizing I still didn’t know that much about her past. I knew about her criminal past, but not her personal. She was more than the gun in her hands, and the blood under her heels, and I wanted to know more. So, I waited just outside the cockpit as he parked our jet.
The moment he opened the door, he came face to face with me and paused, dropping his bag onto the floor.
“Boss?”
“You were lying when you said you were drunk when you slept my wife.”
“Boss—”
“Never interrupt me, Jinx. You’re just giving me an excuse to kill you,” I said.
He nodded, standing straighter with his hands behind his back.
“As I was saying, you weren’t drunk. And I would like to believe my wife wouldn’t have just jumped into bed with anyone. You two were close, were you not?”
He took a deep breath and nodded.
“Good, then what do I not know about her? The small personal things she would note as so insignificant she wouldn’t bother sharing. I know she’s afraid of the dark, but tell me more.”
He kept his mouth shut.
“I’m done speaking, Jinx.”
“She loves to swim, but I believe you knew that.”
“I do.”
“She also loves the opera. She doesn’t treat herself to it often. In fact, she hasn’t gone since her father died…”
“And she married me.”
He nodded.
“What type of opera?” It wasn’t my thing, but I could learn to love it if it was hers.
“Italian, of course. Her favorite being Bianca e Falliero by Felice Romani. She would never admit it though. She also enjoys documentaries. It doesn’t really matter what it’s about, if it’s on, she makes a mental note to watch it later. Never leave her in charge of the kitchen unless you want to be unintentionally poisoned. Her father banned her from going in after she set the stove on fire. Her favorite food is stuffed artichokes. That’s all I know, sir.”
“And yet still, it’s more than I knew.” It bothered me.
“She was never in love with me, sir. It wasn’t some romance. She spent her life locked up in the house. I was just a wounded dog she brought in.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
“Did you—” I paused. “Do you love her?”
“In that way, no. Not then either. I have someone. I had someone. Like I said, I was just a wounded dog.”
I said nothing more as I walked off the plane. My father stood at the bottom of the stairs with Neal and Declan at his side. Fixing my suit jacket, I ignored them all with Jinx right behind me.
“Damn it.” Declan sighed, handing my father an envelope of what I could only assume was cash.
“Neal, you’re riding with me.” I told him as our Range Rover pulled up, and Monte opened the door for me.
I didn’t even wait for him to close the door before asking, “What the hell have you been doing, and who dipped your outfit in whiteout?”
He smiled before straightening his tie. “In a few hours there is going to be charity function at the manor. Melody told me to even the playing field by any means necessary, this is a part of my plan. Someone has to know more about the President. I’ve been looking over the case for days. It was no prick with an axe to grind. It was a hired hit; I know it. They fired from at least twelve yards away.”
“Neal, I want this over. Prove what you need to prove and get it done because if you don’t, I will kill him, father-in-law or not.”
We needed the presidency, and if Colemen couldn’t get it done, I would personally find someone who could.
“Mel made that clear. I understand, and I would not let you down, brother. I swear it.”
“Very well then,” I said as his phone rang.
“Father?” Neal answered before handing it to me.
“Yes?”
“Your wife just called Declan and I, demanding we meet Roy near the docks in forty-five minutes. She wants you to meet her in her car, which will be parked a block away.”
“What the fuck is she thinking? We haven’t checked out the area yet.” Neal asked, overhearing.
I couldn’t help but grin, knowing exactly what my wife was thinking.
“Why didn’t she call me?” I asked.
“The same reason I didn’t. Your phone is still off. Rule forty-two—”
“Never turn off your phone. Thank you, father, I know. We’ll be there soon.” Before he could speak, I hung up.
“Liam, you can’t be—”
“You did our job for a week, brother. Melody and I have been doing it much longer, do not think for a second you know more than we do. She scheduled this meeting to give Roy no time to contact the feds incase this was a setup. She also owns a few of the abandoned buildings near the docks where a few of her men—our men—guard. And, dear brother, she has a mole. If the police need to move quickly, they will make noise and he will hear it. So, yes, we are serious,” I stated quickly. If there was anything my wife was good at, it was thinking on her feet.
Clenching his jaw, h
e nodded and looked to the driver. “Take us to the docks.”
“And is there an Opera radio station?” I asked him.
The older man met my eyes through the mirror for a moment before nodding. “Yes, sir.”
Closing my eyes, I rested my head as the music drifted through the speakers. I didn’t understand opera; I didn’t get what the big deal was. But then again, I never had to care, so maybe it was just a lack of exposure. Worse came to worst, I would invest in earplugs and just watch her reactions.
The more I listened, the more I thought about it. Why did she love it? What did it make her feel? So many questions…so few answers. All too soon, the woman’s voice faded and the music shifted into something bleaker. It was like a sudden unexpected darkness had fallen on a bright day, and it had happened so quickly that it took a moment for your senses to adjust. I didn’t understand the words the man sang, but something told me it was about death.
“Liam—”
“Shh,” I whispered, trying to decode the darkness in his voice. It was more than death, but murder, something he did not regret.
Opening my eyes, I turned to face my eldest sibling. He simply looked at me as though I had lost my mind, and maybe I had.
“We’re here,” he said, but we weren’t at the docks. We were on bridge and there stood my wife, leaning against the rails with a pair of binoculars in her hands, and Adriana at her side.
“Head home, Neal. There’s enough family here.”
Stepping out of the car, I basked in the essence that was purely Chicago. I couldn’t help but grin, I loved this city, I loved the wind as it blew through the streets, pushing everything forward, and making sure nothing stayed in one place for too long. The city of big shoulders to carry big dreams. My city.
“I called you,” she said as I leaned against the railing next to her. She didn’t look at me, instead she gazed through her binoculars as the wind blew by us once again.
“My phone was off. We did just get off a flight.”
“Rule forty-two—”
I couldn’t help but grin. “Who taught you all the rules?”
Dropping the binoculars, she grinned back at me. “Your father told me when I called him. How many rules are there? Because I think you people just make it up as you go.”
“My father has one hundred and six rules,” I told her, taking her binoculars to look out over the docks. “His father had eighty-seven. God knows how many I will keep or add.”
Pulling the binoculars down, she forced me to meet her gaze. “Rule five of our rules. Always answer my calls.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.” She nodded, leaning over the rail. “I called Brooks.”
“The mole?”
She nodded once again. “Yes, apparently the Chicago PD are out fetching coffee for the FBI to pull off a sting operation. They need to find the President’s murderer and every moment that goes by, they look worse. They don’t care about the drugs today.”
“So Roy’s on the up and up,” I said, turning my back to the scenery to focus on her.
“Beau says there is a rumor going around that we had the President killed in order to get Colemen into the White House.”
“I wouldn’t put it past us,” I joked, to which she simply rolled her eyes, but I did see the corners of her mouth rise.
“A drug sting could be a way to get us in cuffs. Then maybe make a deal for information about the President.”
That would be genius, however…
“The Chicago PD are a bunch of idiots who are scared of their own shadows. I highly doubt any of them would be able to pull that type of thing off, even with the FBI.”
“Sir, Ma’am,” Adriana spoke up, looking over the docks. “There’s movement.”
Turning around, I looked through the binoculars only to find nine men all wheeling iced fish towards the factory. One by one, they rowed in pink salmon and scanned the area.
“Does that look like eight million worth?” I asked
“I guess we’re going to find out. If it is, we need to get it off the ice,” she said into the wind, pulling out her phone.
She was right. If it was quality cocaine, then dropping the temperature would cause it to become moist, chunky, and lose its strength.
“Sedric, I’m sure you saw?” she said into the phone before going quiet. “All right, Liam and I will watch from here.”
Adriana handed me a tablet with a live feed of inside the factory. I watched as my father strode in with Declan beside him. It looked as though they were alone, but we all knew better. Roy and his men couldn’t see the guns above them.
“Mr. Callahan, I’m happy you chose a place without pens,” Roy said to Declan. He didn’t smile, instead walked over to one of the fish, pulled a knife and stabbed it, ripping open its skin. Packages of white powder spilled out.
“Pens?” I asked.
“Brother and sister bonding.” She smiled, watching the screen carefully.
My father tasted a bit off of his finger before looking to Declan. Their faces were cold, blank…evil.
Declan glanced over all the fish. “Where did you get this, Roy?”
“Looks like it’s real.” If it wasn’t, I’m sure Declan would have been gutting him.
“I respect eh, Callahans, in fact, I’m scared of eh, however, I can’t give up my people. You can understand that, right?”
“No,” he replied.
“Sedric,” Mel stated, still on the phone, “accept it and make sure he sells it off. If he does, we will let his supplier slip for now.”
She glanced at me and I nodded, turning off the feed. “Have a sample brought to us.”
She repeated it to my father before hanging up.
“Eight million worth of coke easily turns on the street. He could cheat us,” I told her.
“He could and then we’ll staple pens into his arm. For now, we go home and deal with the politicians.”
“Great. Dinner with more people trying to steal my hard earned money.”
MELODY
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” I screamed into the mirror of my closet, causing Liam to walk in like an erotic angel from hell. He wore his white pants, shirt and blazer flawlessly, while I, on the other hand, was ready to flip out.
“What’s wrong?” he asked stupidly, pulling a loose thread from his blazer.
“‘What’s wrong?’” I repeated, nostrils flaring, “What is fucking wrong, is THIS!”
I turned around to show him the zipper that had broken less than halfway up my back. I had never, ever in my life not been able to wear any of my clothes!
He laughed. The Irish asshole just laughed.
“This is not funny!” I cursed him, wiggling in the dress, hoping by some miracle the zipper would repair itself and go all the way up.
Walking up behind me, he grabbed hold of my hips and pulled me towards him. Meeting my gaze in the mirror, that grin was still spread across his face.
“Seeing you—my wife of all people—freak out over clothes is the funniest thing I’ve seen this week.”
“Then you need to get out more,” I snapped, glaring at the stupid white dress clinging to my body. “And for the record, I am not freaking out. I shouldn’t be battling with my clothing for at least another two to three weeks.”
“And you got those statistics how?”
I didn’t answer.
“Have you been reading baby books without me?”
“No!” I said a little too quickly, causing his left eyebrow to raise. “I Googled it.” I pulled away, as I stripped off the stupid dress with the stupid zipper. I was going to personally call Giorgio Armani later.
His eyes scanned over my body and I hated how sexy he looked right now. It wasn’t helping me at all. What made it worse was the fact that I could see his erection as clear as day, pressing against his pants.
“Liam, no! We have God only knows how many people in our house right now and I need a dress. We are not hav
ing sex in my closet.”
Stalking towards me, he just grinned. I took a step back until I was pressed up against my Jimmy Choos. He went straight for my neck, pressing his body against mine. He squeezed my breast with one hand while his other hand grabbed at my ass.
“Liam, you’re going to ruin your clothes.” It was all I could think to utter.
“Good, then we can both go naked,” he whispered into my ear, as he gripped onto thighs and lifted me up with ease. “Now stop fighting me and scream my name.”
I was going to give in. I didn’t even want to fight him. Damn him.
“Ma’am, I was able—” Adriana froze mid step with a new dress in her hands.
Thank Jesus.
“Leave it, Adriana and go away,” Liam snapped, not bothering to look at her.
“No,” I said, doing my best to wiggle free of his hands. “I need to get ready. Go cool off on the balcony, I’ll be out in a moment.”
He stared at me for a few seconds. Rage, lust, and disappointment were all brewing in his eyes. Lowering me to the ground, he snapped towards Adriana who just waited, head held high and posture strong.
“Next time, knock,” he hissed at her before walking out.
“Don’t mind him, you have another dress?” I asked.
Nodding, she handed me the bag. “Yes, it’s floor length, capped sleeves and draped to keep your baby bump discrete.”
“I got it, you may go get ready,” I told her. It was simple enough and I wanted a moment to myself.
When she left, I hung the dress on the door, and I turned to the side to stare at my stomach again. It was only going to get larger, the kid was only going to get bigger.
Sighing, I went to get dressed, not really caring about my hair or makeup. I just wanted this over with so I could sleep. I was exhausted.
Stepping into my red heels, I took a deep breath, and cracked my neck before walking out. Liam stood, waiting on the balcony as I had asked, staring at the people in the gardens below. I could hear their cackling laughs, fake compliments and the snapping of cameras.
Placing my hand onto his back, I leaned on the rail next to him.
“They all love her.” He frowned, looking down at Mrs. Monroe as people gathered to shake her hand and take her photo as if she were already the president. “We need something, anything to knock her down or we will lose, and I can’t wait another four years.”