A Bloody Kingdom (Ruthless People Book 4) (26 page)

“What I tell you, boys? Things made in China!” Big Tony replied and even I snickered at that. “Probably sniffing smog, plastic, and dog bones.”

“You racist as shit, Big Tony,” someone yelled and he just flipped them off.

“
Vai e for titi, grassone bastardo
,” he snapped back, which got the man on his feet. Three seconds—that’s how long it took for us to get into an argument. Jesus, our people, I swore they lived for that shit.

“What all this bitchin about, you little babies?” Uncle Vinnie hollered, coming out of the bathroom still adjusting his belt. Always clean-shaven with a top hat, sweater, and tie, Vincent Buccieri—or Uncle Vinnie as everyone called him because he really was like that odd old uncle no really knew at the wedding but somehow everyone was talking to anyway—was the oldest of us all, pushing eighty-seven next month. “When I was your age we were kickin them Irish dogs out the city, not fightin our own damn selves.”

“How many times we gotta tell you? We ain’t at war with the Irish any more, Uncle Vinnie,” Big Tony reminded him.

“We always at war!” He pointed his cane back at him. “You pussies have forgotten that since you been following pussy.”

One by one their eyes all shifted to me. It wasn’t a secret that I was the right hand of Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan; it was part of the reason so many of them also came here, to get a word or a favor or a job in through me. They never made the mistake of insulting her in front of me.

“Oh yeah, Uncle Vinnie,” I said, sitting up in the chair. “The boss wanted me to thank you and your wife for the bottle of 1990 Masseto.”

“
Non c'è problema!
” he said, moving to take a seat in an empty barber chair.

“She asked if your wife enjoyed the 1961 Barolo Riserva she sent over,” I added.

“
E' perfetto!
” He kissed his fingertips. “I’ve always said no one can pick a bottle of wine like a Giovanni. When Orlando was young, they used to say if wine wasn’t flowing in the street of Bosa, he was either sleeping or fucking.”

I snickered at that. The last time I’d gone back to Bosa was right after Wyatt and Donatella’s fourth birthday.

“Fedel, how many more free haircuts until I'm upgraded to bottle service?” Big Tony asked me.

“When have I ever gotten a free anything?”

He frowned at me clippers, then at me. “See this, my friends? Straight up stingy, complaining about free haircuts when he can afford them.”

“Let’s not get sidetracked. Uncle Vinnie, when did you start givin and gettin thousand dollar bottles?” Giulio gasped out like the rest of the men there.

Uncle Vinnie pulled out his newspaper, proudly stating, “
Il Buccieri e Giovanni sono famiglia.
”

“If you two are family, what are the rest of us?” Giulio questioned.

Everyone turned to Uncle Vinnie, who looked over the corner of his paper. “I don’t know about them, but
sei uno stronzo!
”

We all laughed so hard at how matter-of-factly he said it.

“What so funny?” asked a small boy who looked around the same age as Ethan and had short brown hair and hazel yes. “I don’t understand.”

“Oh no.” Big Tony sighed, turning Giulio to face the mirror.

“Poor kid,” Dino muttered as he shaved above my lip.

I almost felt bad for him when Uncle Vinnie started his rant, “You don’t understand. What don’t you understand?”

In the corner of my eye, I saw the kid shrug. “I don’t understand Italian.”

“Then you’re a freak.” Uncle Vinnie rolled the newspaper up, pointing at him. Dino had to stop for a moment, he was trying so hard not laugh. “What do you mean you don’t understand Italian? Does a fish not understand how swim? Does a bird not understand how to fly? If you cannot understand your own people then you are a freak of nature. You will die out in the cold. You don’t understand Italian. Fine, I don’t understand English! Learn!”

He didn’t stop there but switched to over to Italian, asking him if he knew where he was from and then beginning to complain about this generation.

“Fedel!” he called out to me.

“Sì?” I tilted my head to the side, allowing Dino to pat the sides of my neck.

“Melody’s children, they understand our language, correct? Or do those Irish bastards got them wearing skirts already?”

All of us laughed, even I did though I was pretty sure kilts were a Scottish thing.

“No skirts yet sir, and the oldest, Ethan, understands, but is still struggling to speak back. He’ll get there, the boss is making sure of it.”

He nodded to himself before glaring at the boy in disgust. “You don’t understand Italian. Huh.
Marmocchio!”

Poor kid, but I was sure he’d try learning it now.

“Thank you, Dino,” I said to him, handing him the bill as I rose from the chair.

“You leaving us already?” Big Tony questioned. “I didn’t even get my bottle of wine yet.”

“Next time. I’ll see you all next week, and kid.” I put my hand on the head of the poor kid Vinnie had destroyed. “Try to learn a few words by then. Take your time; you won’t be a freak forever.”

“Thanks,” he grumbled as I walked out, adjusting the collar of my jacket.

“Fedel Morris,” he said my name like the devil claiming a soul. When I faced him, he stood shoulder to shoulder with me in a black suit and dark green tie. In his hands was an umbrella, the handle of which was a silver wolf.

“Mayor Cortés,” I replied, scanning around the buildings in front of me.

“Now, Fedel.” He stepped in front of me with a sly smile. “If I were going to kill you, I wouldn’t make the trip down here personally.”

“So what does a the mayor of Chicago have to do with a nobody bodyguard?”

“A nobody?” He frowned and looked truly confused. “How can you, the Callahan family’s right-hand man, be a nobody? Everyone on this street knows who you are. That, to me, means you’re a real important somebody.”

“Mayor, I’m very busy at the—”

“Right, right, of course, the dog must return to his master.” He nodded, placing the umbrella up to his shoulder. If he was expecting a reaction, he wouldn’t get one from me. “Come work for me, Fedel.”

“Come again?” My eyes widened. Of all the things I’d figured he’d say, that was not on the list.

“I’m offering you a job. Change is coming to this city, and when it does I’d like you to be working at my side. Whatever you’re being paid—”

“You think I decided to dedicate my life to one family because of the pay?”

“Of course not. If you had I wouldn’t be here personally to give you this opportunity.” The smug, arrogant little bitch was starting to piss me off.

“Let me use this opportunity to let you know that you will lose this fight. I’ve seen men much stronger and much more ruthless try to stand in front of Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan; none of them are alive to tell the tale. She wins. She always wins. The world, the sun, the moon revolve around her. And if you’ve been stalking her, then you should know this. So my answer is no, I don’t work for dead men.” Walking around him, I made a move to walk to my car farther up the road, but instead pulled out my phone and dialed. It took less than ten seconds for another car to come around the corner.

“Tell me, Fedel,” he called out. When I moved to get in, he turned back, his face emotionless and impossible to read. “Why does everyone call Melody by her full name? It’s a mouthful, don’t you think?
Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan
.”

“When you earn a name, people respect it no matter how long it is.” I shut the door. Only when he was far enough away did I start the engine with the key. Nothing happened.

“You thought it was rigged?” asked Frankie, the driver who was only twenty-two and had just started to work under me after being a drug runner on the streets. “I keep saying you’re too paranoid. What happened to those stone instincts—”

BOOM.

My head whipped back to see my car now in black flames.

“Holy fucking shit! Did that really just happen? Shit! Holy shit!” Frankie screamed, about to jump out of his skin.

Emilio, you son of a bitch.

“Shut up and drive. It’s not the first car bomb in Chicago and it won’t be the last.” Taking out my phone, I stopped the recording, sending the file over to Melody, as always.

I didn’t go shave or get a haircut at Big Tony’s barbershop just for the hell of it. I sat in place of the boss, as her ears. Everything that was ever said, she heard it straight from them through me, because she knew she’d never be able to sit with them in the same way.

I wasn’t the dog…I was the fly on the wall, and I didn’t mind.

NINETEEN

“The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must, therefore, be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.”

~ Niccolò Machiavelli

LIAM

I do not like malls, or boutiques, or grocery stores; in all honesty, restaurants, church, and our charity were the only places you could really ever find me spending time with other “citizens.” If I ever needed to go shop for any reason, I called ahead and made sure they were closed to all other customers. My suits were tailor-made and the tailor came to my house. The rest of my clothes Melody had gotten for me, and I knew she also did not frequent malls. I supposed it was the product of being raised rich or maybe just our own ego. Either way, it was how we were…why did it matter? Because I was hunting, and like all hunters, I needed to understand my prey in order to trap it.

“And this is the necklace he ordered correct?” she asked, lifting the yellow-green heart-shaped diamond double halo pendant up to her face.

“Yes, this is the custom necklace Mr. Callahan ordered. He picked out the diamond himself,” the seller replied, moving to take it back from her. However, she pulled back, a wicked grin spreading across her face. She wore a casual fitted white dress and her black hair, which was always up in all the pictures I had seen of her, was now down and in loose waves.

“Whatever the price, I’ll double it.” She had already moved to place it around her neck.

“And I’ll just double my bid on top of that.” I finally stepped into the front of The Ocean Mile Jewelry store, popping the jelly beans I had in my hands into my mouth. Her black eyes widened as she stared at me before turning back her to guards. “Gentlemen, the lady no longer needs your assistance. You are free to take your leave.”

Not only did her guards leave, but the jeweler did as well, locking up behind the counter before rushing back behind me and into the back room.

“Just so you know, my wife prefers pear cut diamonds; she’d never be caught dead with hearts around her neck.” I leaned on the showcase, popping another jelly bean in my mouth. “But you don’t really care, you just want to upstage her in any way you can, and since Emilio won’t let you shoot at her again, you think a diamond necklace will work in annoying her, Liling? Pity, my wife assumed you were smarter. I, on the other hand, was positive you were just a wannabe mafia princess.”

Her nose flared at me and within a second she lifted a gun, pointing it right into my face. “You honestly think I wouldn’t have a weapon? Pity, I thought you were smarter than that. Emilio, on the other hand, thinks you are useless.”

I glanced down at the gun still in my face. “You gonna point that thing in my face all day or are you going to shoot?”

“You don’t think I would?” She pulled the trigger and, of course, nothing happened.

“You truly are an epic idiot aren’t you?” I stared at her in pure awe before laughing. “Jesus, no wonder Ju-long didn’t want to step down, both his children are imbeciles—”

“You son of a bitch!” She charged at me, but before she could do anything but make animal noises with her mouth, I smacked her arm away and grabbed a fistful of her hair before slamming her head right through the glass case. I didn’t really hear her screams as I dragged her face along the glass edges, cutting into her porcelain skin before throwing her on the floor, my shoes on top of her chest.

“You’re a disappointment,” I spoke down to her. “But you’ve also explained so much. All of this, all the planning, you really have no idea what is going on, you are just a mindless puppet who is jealous of my wife. All I had to do is let it slip to a few people that I was getting my wife a necklace and here you come crawling like a rat to a cage. You try to dress like her, change your hair, your walk, your makeup—all to be a woman you can never be. How sad is your fucking life? Did your father not love you enough, is that it?”

“He—”

I took out my gun and shot her in the wrist. “AHH!”

“On second thought, I really don’t give a fuck about your daddy issues. Hell, I don’t give a fuck about any of your issues.” As I pressed my foot harder into her chest, she gasped out. “I’m sorry, did that hurt?” I questioned, firing again into her other arm. “You’re going to have to forgive me, it’s been a rough few weeks.”

“Melody couldn’t fight me so she sent you—AH URGH!” She screamed out when I simply moved my hand back and shot into her legs. When I took my foot off her chest, she rolled onto her side, curling into a ball when I crouched next to her.

“You shot my wife.” I sneered, the anger I had been trying to hold back bubbling to the surface. “That right there is the difference between you two. My wife would have killed you with her own bare hands. However, I believe that is a waste of time for the governor, don’t you?”

“Emilio—”

BANG.

“Ur—”

“It was a yes or no question, Liling. Who the fuck do you think you are to shoot my wife? The mother of my children, the head of the Italian mob—”

“For now!” She spat at me.

“As you know, this gun is loaded,” I stated, pressing the gun to her skull. “If you don’t answer my questions, I will unload in your skull.”

“Fuck you! FUCK YOU! You’re going to kill me anyway—”

“Liling, you will find out there are worse things than dying, just like your brother did…I promise you.”

MELODY

The moment I stepped through the doors, all I heard was applause; it came from the security team, the staff on the ground, and even a few guests on a tour of the state building.