by J. J. McAvoy
“Pl…ease…”
I released him and he fell back, his body starting to shake. I rose to my feet and nodded to Fedel who bent down and opened the idiot’s mouth to pour the antidote down.
“Ethan.”
“Yes, dad?” he asked, softly stepping up beside me.
I handed him my gun and he took it without question, pointing it at the man my guards were now holding up. The bravado the man had shown only minutes ago was fading, replaced now with tears.
“Please. Please! No! Anything you want…I’ll give you anything you want,” he said as he sobbed, spit coming from his lips, “Forgive me. Yuánliàng wǒ! Yuánliàng wǒ!”
“Ethan.” When I called his name, he fired, but his hands were shaking so badly, he missed completely. “Congrats, you killed a lamp.”
“I—”
Snatching the gun from him, I fired not once but twice, both bullets towards his crotch, his body cringing, before he buckled forward as he screamed out for his father. Paying him no mind, I turned to my son looking him dead in the eye.
“People like him,” I nodded to the fool behind me, “are the reason you should never be proud to called Liam Jr. You can only stand behind me for so long before you have to stand up for yourself. It is better you learn this now before you end up like him bleeding on someone else’s hotel floor, crying out for someone else to save his pathetic life. Do you understand me?”
His nose flared a little, his eyes hardened, his fist clenched, but he nodded. “I will never be like him.”
I saw it.
The same thing my father saw in me, I now saw in him and I could not help but feel pride at that.
“Tàiyáng Ruò Jiàn, when your father asks who did this to you, tell him I, Liam Callahan, accept his apology in advance. Tell him if I have to deal with the Tàiyáng family again, I will show no mercy, and you will lose your other head,” I said as I watched the blood pour from him. He sobbed and curled into a ball on my floor.
“Sir, it’s almost time,” Fedel reminded me.
Sighing, I nodded, already heading towards the doors with Ethan beside me. He peeked back at him once, a frown turned his lips downward but said nothing until we were in the hall once again.
“Uncle Declan?” Ethan said with a grin. He ran up to the man who was dressed in a fitted dark suit, shirt, and black tie. His dark brown hair was cut shorter on the sides and longer on the top, styled by who I could guess was Coraline. There was no way in hell he’d put the effort in coming here if our family didn’t have to. “Uncle, why aren’t you in a bow tie?”
“Because apparently he and the grim reaper share a closest,” I answered for him.
He laughed and messed up Ethan’s hair. “Unfortunately, not all of us can pull off the James Bond look as well as your father, Ethan.”
The corner of my lips turned up. “Well, at least you know.”
He rolled his eyes, the smile on his face fading when he focused on the door behind me. “Everything good?”
I didn’t reply and got on the elevator as it arrived. When Ethan moved to get in, I held my hand out and shook my head. “Your job now is to go with your uncle and fill him in before dinner starts. I can count on you, can’t I?”
“YES!” He stood straighter and nodded so seriously I wanted to laugh. A grin spread across Declan’s lips and his eyes met mine. I knew exactly what was going through his mind and I was sure he knew what was on mine as well.
The ride to the penthouse suite was short. The two men already standing at the entrance did not say a word, only opening the suite room for me. I didn’t give a shit about how nice the room looked or how good the view was. The moment I saw her, dressed in a sinfully tight, long cream gown that hugged each one her curves and hung off of her shoulders, exposing the top of her back, nothing else mattered. She stood on the terrace, staring out at the city. Before I even realized it, I was behind her, brushing her hair over to the side with one hand and gripping her waist with the other, kissing the nape of her neck.
“Careful,” she said, “my husband will be here soon.”
Kissing up her neck, I bit the top of her ear and whispered, “don’t push me, Melody. I’m not above hiking this dress up and fucking you in front of all of Chicago.”
“Ahh…” She moaned when I grabbed her breasts, both of us frustrated over the amount of fabric between my palm and her skin. I was already hard for her and the way she pressed into me, I’m sure she knew.
“Liam—we…can’t…now.”
God fucking damn it.
Taking a deep breath, I let go of her and she grabbed onto the rail in front and tilted her head back.
“14 days, 3 hours, 20 something minutes, I think we’ve broken our record.” She turned to face me leaning against the rail, a growing smile on her face.
“Not having time to have sex is not a record I want to break.” I frowned and placed my hands on either side of her. Two weeks. Two God-forsaken weeks—that was how long it had been since I had sex and I was starting to lose my fucking mind. Between both of our “jobs” and our kids, we didn’t have time. Before, we always made time…didn’t matter what was going on. “Acting like an adult and being reasonable is doing nothing but giving me blue balls. I’m far too sexy to be suffering from blue balls.”
She laughed, freely, and openly, a laugh reserved for our children and me. “I wouldn’t say nothing. From what I hear The Mad Hatter is as terrifying as ever. Meanwhile, Bloody Melody is stuck in bureaucracy, and slowly losing her goddamn mind.”
“Honestly babe, I really don’t give a fuck right now,” I said and her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. “Because all I want to hear is our bed slamming up against the wall, you moaning underneath me and my heart racing as I slam my cock into you over and over and over again.”
Her brown eyes filled with lust. “Someone is confident in his abilities.”
“Well, you keep coming back for more, so how can I not be?”
“Then tonight it better go down exactly as you describe, Mr. Callahan.”
Cupping the side of her cheek, I couldn’t look away from her lips. “Or you’ll do what, Mrs. Callahan? You want me as badly as I want you, I bet you’re getting wet right now.”
She glared, but she didn’t deny it. Instead, she brushed my hand off her face and changed the subject. “What happened to our guest in the Presidential suite?”
“He was treated in a very un-presidential manner, but lives,” I said and I could not stop myself from glancing down the length of her body.
Twenty-minutes…all we needed was a good…
“And…” She grabbed my chin and lifted my head back up to meet hers. “What did he say?”
“He cried out for his father like a bitch. I’m guessing he came here to prove to his father and the rest of the triad that he had balls…I took them away.”
“Everything in me says to kill him, Liam. To kill them all now before this escalates.” She said and crossed her arms over chest, pushing her breasts up, obviously to torture me. God. After all of these years, I was still addicted to her. “We have spent a long time slowly building a balance, Liam…we can never—”
“I know,” I said seriously. I kissed her forehead before resting mine on hers. “And if anything comes against us, we will do what we have always done.”
“Fight?”
“Win.”
TWO
“We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.”
~ Margaret Atwood
MELODY
At eighteen, I became the first ever female Boss of the Italian Mafia and to this day I can still remember, the shock, the horror, the disgust on their faces. How dare a woman try to lead them? It was not possible. It was not plausible and in their eyes, it was a sin. I did not know my place. So one by one, they sent men after me, or brought men to replace me and one by one, I tore them down. I spared no one. No mercy. No fear. Just death. Not just to them, or the ones that sent
them, but their families, their neighbors, and even their mailmen. I didn’t just kill them, I wiped them off of the face of the goddamn earth as a lesson to the next motherfucker who thought he could stand against me. It was a lesson learned very quickly.
By twenty-four, I was married to the next Boss, the Ceann na Conairte, of the Irish Mob, Liam Alec Callahan. The Italians and the Irish were like water and oil. Our families had been at war with each other since their grumpy asses came off of the boat in the 1850s. To say our first meeting was anything but love at first sight would be an understand statement. I shot him. I’ve shot him a couple times in our marriage, to be honest. I’ve bruised ribs, broken fingers, and spit blood from my lips in my battles with him. He was just like the rest of them. He saw my breasts and for some reason thought that meant I wasn’t capable. But he too learned.
Now at 33, I stand as the most powerful woman in the goddamn state.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, please join me in welcoming my personal friend and our Governor, Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan,” the Mayor spoke into the microphone. His body turned towards me as he and the rest of the guests clapped.
Liam rose as I did, kissing my check quickly before I moved to the podium in the center of the stage.
“I don’t have friends, Benjamin. You should remember that ” I whispered into the ear of the old man as he congratulated me, gripping tighter on his hand. He smiled for the cameras, but in his blue eyes, I saw a mixture of fear and hate, something I was not only used to but also proud of. Benjamin Weston, the fifty-seven-year-old lanky, white-haired snake, who tried to move heaven and earth to make sure I didn’t get re-elected.
Standing behind the podium, I couldn’t get past the irony. Our enemies, the police, were being fed by our own hands now. Meanwhile, Liam and I were the ones who drove them to the brick to begin with.
It seems they have learned their lesson as well.
“Five years ago,” I spoke into the microphone, “the people of this great state elected me as their governor in the hope that a better and safer state would be in their future. Today, with the help of community organizers, congressmen of both parties, the mayor’s office, and staff, along with the Chicago Police Department, we are finally seeing that future. From the beginning, I understood the key to a better society has always been the safety of its people, this safety could only be brought about by the support of our brothers and sisters in uniform, who put their lives at risk every day, not only in Chicago but all across Illinois. This is why I passed the Roman Bill, which not only increased the pay for police officers but all other civil servants. On top of that, we have provided better healthcare benefits for them and their families. In doing so, the number of civil servants has doubled in the last five years, but best of all, the crime rate across Illinois has dropped by sixty percent. It is a great honor that I welcome representatives from police forces all across the state here tonight in celebration. Thank you all for your service.”
Stepping back, I applauded along with everyone else before moving to take photos with Mayor Weston, his wife, and various police commissioners from across the state. Like always, Liam stood beside me, but I could tell he was couldn’t wait to leave.
“Your biggest fan is trying to get your attention,” he whispered in my ear.
I didn’t understand. “Who?”
A small smile spread across his face as he nodded over to the family table and sure enough, there was my Ethan, dressed in a bow tie and a Ralph Lauren satin lapel suit jacket. He smiled brightly at me, giving me thumbs up. I gave him a quick wink and faced back to the cameras as more people came up beside us.
“You brought him with you to see Tàiyáng?” I quietly questioned Liam through a smile.
“Yes,” he said sternly, giving my waist a soft squeeze, “and he did well. Better than—”
“You should have told me.”
“I just did.”
At that, I did turn to face him, however, he didn’t return my gaze. He just smiled for the cameras saying, “Smile, sweetheart, they’ll think we’re arguing.”
Looks like we were going to fight tonight.
I nodded to Mina, who was dressed in a long lavender and gray floral gown. She stood up and said, “Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, the Governor and our family truly hope you enjoy your evening.”
“Has the Governor—”
“Tonight is to the celebrate the united efforts of our men and woman in uniform, and nothing else. Thank you again.” She smiled and nodded back to me.
Peeling Liam’s hand off of me, much to his annoyance, I walked over to Ethan who stood in between Declan and Neal. He and Neal both laughed over something. The height difference between them was hilarious, but even more amusing was how much more mature Ethan tried to be in front of his uncles.
“Mio bel leoncino,” I called out to him, my hands outstretched.
“Mommm.” He groaned with a frown on his face at my nickname for him, but I walked over to give him a hug away.
“Don’t ‘mommm’ me,” I said cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look at me, “because I can think of something much more embarrassing.”
His green eyes widened. “Leoncino is good.”
“I thought so. Now what where you and your uncles laughing about?”
Ethan and Neal shared a look before both saying, “guy stuff.”
I felt my eyebrow rise at their alliance, then turned to see Declan putting his phone back into his lapel pocket.
“They were laughing at Ethan’s imitation of our guest earlier,” Declan confessed, causing Ethan’s mouth to drop open.
“Uncle!”
Declan struggled to keep a smug look off his face; “What? My boss asked for an answer. I answered.”
He crossed his arms frowning. “Dad’s the boss.”
“Ethan.” Liam stepped up, towering over him, and once again Ethan stood straighter.
Two emotions rushed through my veins the moment he spoke those three little words—
rage and pain. It wasn’t a lot, but it was there. Smiling, I just petted his hair.
“Right, dad’s the boss,” I said and I saw them all, Liam, Declan, and Neal share a glance in response. “Come on, it’s way past your bedtime. Fedel?”
He stepped up. “The car is already up front.”
“We should get going. Cora and Evelyn must be exhausted dealing with all of the kids,” I told them before reaching for Ethan’s hand. He stared wide-eyed. trying to tell me not to.
Fine.
Forcing another goddamn smile I did not mean, I turned away from them as Mina made her way back to us, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to read my facial expression. Shaking my head at her, I took my clutch from her hand along with my phone.
“Mel?”
“Bathroom. I’ll meet you at the car,” I said not bothering to look back, knowing full well my security detail was already following discreetly.
It was a much longer walk from our table to the bathroom than it needed to be. Every other step, people kept popping up in front of my face, pushing my restraint to the maximum capability. I thought I had finally escaped them, pushing the wooden door, and stepping on the marble tiles of the bathroom, but right there at the sink dressed in her hotel uniform was some blonde in tears.
For the love of fuck.
Sighing, I ignored her and put my purse on the counter, pulling off my rings in order to wash my hands.
Don’t talk to me.
Don’t talk to me.
Do not even fucking think of talking to me.
“Sorry for all the crying…”
Fuck me.
“It’s alright, don’t care either way,” I stated and grabbed my lipstick.
“This city!” She inhaled sharply, her fist clenching at her sides until she finally smacked the black counters. “Why is everyone here so cold? I don’t get it. I’ve been here a month and everyone is just horrible and miserable! It’s like the most negative p
eople on the planet decided to move to Chicago and live!”
“Then leave,” I said calmly, finally facing her.
“What?”
“Pack your shit. Get on the next bus to nowhere-I-don’t-give fuck-vile and stay there instead of bitching to people who do not know you, nor would like to, in five-star hotel bathrooms,” I replied. I put my rings back on, dropped my lipstick into my clutch and turned to leave before she further ruined my mood.
I made my way back to the door before remembering something. “If the most negative people on the planet have moved to Chicago, what does that say about yourself? If you can’t make here, that is no one else’s fault but your own.”
She stood there like a statue frozen in her own hypocrisy.
“Ma’am?” Huston Murphy, my head of security, stepped up to my side, glancing back over my shoulder at the door. “ We heard shouting—”
“I’m fine. What did I tell you, Murphy? I’m not like past governors, and you don’t need to hover, especially in one-on-one situations” I said. It was times like this that I wished I still had Fedel and Monte beside me. Since becoming governor, everyone on my staff needed to be squeaky clean to the point of annoyance.
Like all-American boy Huston Murphy, 31, a decorated Marine and recipient of the Medal of Honor, born and raised in Chicago, black hair, blue eyes, and 6’1”. He was also voted most popular in high school—cue eye roll. No arrests, no tickets, just a few unpaid student loans. When his file came across my desk two months ago, I wanted to shred it. Anyone with that clean of a record had some secret. I didn’t trust him with my shoes, let alone my life. However, Mina insisted.
“Ma’am, your family is heading to the cars,” he said to me.
Ma’am.
Ma’am.
Ma’am.
The more he said it, the more I heard Ethan’s voice in my head saying “Dad’s the boss.” I spent twelve hours pushing his hairy head out and he goes and stabs me in the fucking heart.
“Ma’am—”