Ruthless People (16 page)

“You aren’t making my desire to kill the fool lessen.” He stopped to look me in the
eyes. “In fact, I want to kill him more.”

“Then I get to kill Vance.” He wasn’t going to get to kill them both.

“I kill Vance. You get the brothers and Amory.”

“Deal. But the only way for that to happen is to give Amory a little wiggle room and
some rope to hang himself with.”

“So more parties and balls. My mother will like it. However, I will cut off the motherfuckers’
fingers if they touch you. But until then, Valero has a shipment of prized cars coming
in two weeks to Italy. Vance loves his cars.”

The bastard was getting excited just thinking about it.

“You hit his drugs, and now you want to take his toys? Husband, that is quite cruel.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you have any other ideas?”

“No.” I grinned. “But after we steal them, we should set them on fire.”

“And I’m cruel?” He kissed my cheek, and I froze for a moment, realizing that we had
once again just worked together with ease. It was like our minds fed off each other.

“We will talk about this later. Apparently, it’s time to cut the cake,” I told him,
noticing Evelyn waving. I had almost forgotten that this was our wedding with thoughts
of theft and blood in the air.

“Yes. Later,” he replied, looking at me with lust once again.

LIAM

It felt like hours after we cut the cake that we were able to sneak off. Orlando was
in one of the rooms in the eastern part of the manor. The moment we arrived, Mel went
to sit beside him. He was breathing only through tubes and machines, which all looked
painful.

“
Ciao, mi bambino dolce
.”
¹³

Mel kissed his hands. “
Ciao, mio dolce padre
.”
¹⁴

“
Sei bellissima
, Melody.
Mi dispiace che non ero abbastanza forte per voi
.”
¹⁵

“
Tu sei, e sarai sempre abbastanza forte.
”
¹⁶

I felt bad for intruding on their moment. I wasn’t sure what they were saying but
it seemed to be too personal for me to just be standing there. However, I couldn’t
bring myself to leave Mel’s side.

Orlando looked up to me breathing heavily, waiting for me to take his hand. When I
did, he squeezed it.

“
Sii buona con lei
,
¹⁷
Liam,” he said to me before turning to Mel. “
Sii buono con lui
,
¹⁸
Mel.”

“
Lo farò
,”
¹⁹
she said, and I repeated it, even though I didn’t know what it was she said. It just
felt right. When I did, he kissed both our hands before giving them back to each other.

Mel closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and standing up. I watched as she pulled
a needle from the nightstand, and realized what she was about to do. Reaching out,
I grabbed her hand, and for the first time I saw the true depths of her strength and
how much she hated it. She would put her father to sleep to give him peace, and it
would kill her slowly every day of forever. Yet, she would still do it.

“I have to do this,” she whispered to me, as I tried to pull the needle from her.

Shaking my head, I snatched it from her hand. “You will hate yourself, and I would
rather you hate me.”

In her eyes there was a fight, because she was Mel, and my Mel would always fight
me. But I would win this battle. Stepping in front of her, I pulled the cap off with
my teeth before going for his arm. Mel wrapped her hands around my waist and placed
her head on my back, not watching.

Good. I didn’t want her to see this.

I did it as quickly as possible and turned off the machines, before turning and holding
her.

MELODY

I just listened in Liam’s arms, not crying or depressed but somewhat relieved that
someone else had fulfilled my father’s wish. Something I had dreaded since he first
asked. We stood there holding each other for God knows how long before Liam spoke.

“Wife, Mel, my Melody. Let’s go to bed,” he whispered, and I nodded. He lifted me
up bridal style, and a part of me wanted to fight him but not now. Not tonight. Not
our wedding night. Not my father’s last night. I knew I would fight him on a million
things soon, but not tonight.

TWELVE

“Cruel with guilt, and daring with despair,
the midnight murderer bursts the faithless bar;
Invades the sacred hour of silent rest
and leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast.”

~ Samuel Johnson

LIAM

“Is that all, sir?” Dylan questioned softly, placing the tray of food and the files
I requested on the top of my desk. He knew just as well as anyone that if he woke
my wife, I would snap his neck.

“Tell Patrick I want to know of Amory’s whereabouts in the next few hours.”

The moment the door closed I turned to Mel, only to find her sitting up and staring
back at me. Her face was void and her eyes clear as day. It was almost haunting.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said, leaving distance between us as I tried
to read her mood.

She frowned, noticing that she was still in her dress, before standing up and turning
around. “Help me out of it.”

Without saying a word, I unhooked the tiny part at the top and unzipped it slowly,
trying my best not to get excited, but it didn’t work.

Her fucking father just died, calm down.

Seeing
her in nothing but white lace almost killed me.

Fuck it all to hell.

“Let me get you—” She stopped me with her lips, and I gave in, gladly pulling her
body to mine and gripping her ass. I loved her ass. I loved how it felt like it was
made for my hands only.

When her tiny hands pulled away my tie and ripped at my shirt, I had to push her away.

“Mel, we can wait. I can wait.” I gasped, breathing deeply to control my raging cock.

“Well, this isn’t about you. This is about me, and I can’t wait. I don’t want to think.
I just want you inside me now.”

Fuck.

This time when she kissed me, I picked her up and laid her back down on the bed kissing
a path from her lips to her neck. She moaned, pushing up against me with her hands
in my hair while I worked my way down to her breast.

“I will buy you new ones,” I told her as ripped the bra from her, allowing her breasts
to bounce in freedom, and pulled her underwear off. She glared at me but only for
a moment before closing her eyes as I pinched her nipples.

“Harder,” she asked. So I did, pulling on them before taking them into my mouth. She
was already rocking against me, and I knew she wanted me inside her, but I wouldn’t
give in just yet.

My hands traveled down to cup her, and she arched up in pleasure.

“Just fuck me already, Liam.” She moaned, grinding herself into my hands.

“No,” I replied, placing three fingers in her. I watched, enjoying how she looked
as she met her pleasure with my hands. I moved my fingers faster and deeper into her
wet core. Each time she let out small moans of pleasure, and one of her hands went
to my chest while the other pinched her breast. Watching her, this hungry for my cock,
made my desire for her grow even more. I made sure to take mental pictures of this.

“Liam, your cock.”

“No.” I snickered, fucking her with my fingers even more, until she was so close that
I pulled out of her.

She stared at me furious and wide-eyed. She looked enraged, and all I could do was
lick my fingers of her juices.

She watched me for a moment before tackling me. I stared up at her in amusement, holding
on to her thighs as she ripped my pants to get at my dick. She didn’t have to wait
because the moment she pulled my pants from me it sprung up before us. This was why
I chose to go without boxers. She glared at me, grabbing onto me, and I bucked up
at her unable to control myself in her hands.

“You want this just as bad as I do,” she said, and I was almost tempted to tell her
no fucking duh.

However, when she eased her way onto me, I couldn’t even think straight. My hips began
to move, pushing my cock entirely in her.

She was moving too slowly, watching me struggle to fight back the urge to ram my way
in her until she couldn’t walk.

“How quickly the tables can turn,” she whispered. I gasped when she leaned down to
kiss my chest.

Grabbing on to her waist and hair, I held her on top of me before sitting up. I was
done playing around. I just wanted to fuck her so deep that she wouldn’t be able to
see straight.

“And how quickly they change back.” Gripping her waist, I forced her to move along
with me, fucking her as we sat in the middle of my bed.

She looked me in the eyes as I looked into hers. Our lips were only inches apart,
breathing each other in as she rode me. Reaching up, I brushed the side of her face
and pulled her hair, along with her head, back so I could kiss her neck. Then I pushed
her down onto the bed and rammed myself harder.

She moaned, and I smiled. “Fucking Jesus, Liam.”

Leaning down, I kissed the side of her face before whispering, “Not even he can save
you from this now.”

Holding onto her wrist with one hand and gripping her thigh with the other, I fucked
her pussy hard, ramming farther and farther inside her as she trembled in pleasure.

“Fuck, Mel,” I yelled as I felt her walls tighten around me. But even then I didn’t
stop. I wanted to fuck her pretty little brain out, so I let go of her hands and grabbed
on to her hips. I fucked her like she was a bitch in heat. I went quickly. I went
deeply. I went in and out so many times I couldn’t even see straight, and she was
screaming my name while clawing at my back. She had come twice already, and I would
keep making her come until she was filled with only me.

Slowing my thrusts down only slightly, my head went back as I released in her just
as she came for the third time. Drained, I forced myself to hover over her, not wanting
to crush her. However, she surprised me and pulled me on top of her. So I just laid
there on her breast, leaving small kisses on her neck.

“Thank you.”

“You never have to thank me for sex.” In fact, she could have it anytime she fucking
wanted.

“Not only for the sex, Liam.” Stopping my kisses, I sat up to stare in her eyes, but
she refused to look at me.

“My dear wife, you do not have to thank me for that either.” I kissed her cheek before
finally pulling out of her. I was going to bring up condoms later, and hopefully,
she didn’t want them either.

We didn’t speak for a moment as I lay next to her. Instead, the smell of sex and our
breathing was the only thing to fill the room.

“What do you want from me, Liam?”

I wasn’t sure how to say it without . . . without sounding like a pansy. But I knew
if I lied she would know, and the last thing our relationship could handle was a lie,
whether it was big or small.

“I want you to love me,” I said softly. “But if not, then I want it to be the closest
thing to you loving me. I want your loyalty. I want your honesty. I want you by my
side and no one else’s. I want your body. I want your mind. I want to know your hopes
and dreams so I could one day make them reality.”

I paused, knowing the sicker, inner-darkness part of me was about to speak. But that
was who I was, and I wanted her to know it. I hadn’t even realized I wanted it until
now.

“I want you to be willing to kill for me. I want you to be the same killer I am and
not flinch away from the blood. I want you to revel in the blood alongside me. I want
you to help me take down every fucker who stands in the way of a Callahan.”

She was silent, and so was I as we lay there.

“The second part of that I can do with ease,” she finally replied. “The first, the
love. I haven’t loved anything in a long time. I cared for Orlando deeply, but we
were never close. I spent most of my life training. He was working. I wouldn’t know
where to start with love.”

It wasn’t a no. It was just a how, and I would have to show her.
I took her hand, kissing it before
sitting up.

“We will start with getting to know each other,” I replied, loving how she looked
in my bed . . . our bed.

“Know each other?”

“Like what the fuck is your favorite color, and other not important, but important
things like that.”

“It’s teal. I do not know why, but it’s teal.”

Smiling, I got up, naked as the day I was born, and grabbed the plate of food, the
wine, and the files, and placed them before us on the bed.

She picked up the wine and smirked. “You know my favorite wine.”

“I do,” I replied, uncorking it and not telling her how I knew. She didn’t need a
cup and drank straight from the bottle before handing it to me. I drank as well, laughing
in my mind at how far I had come. Had it been any other female, I would have seen
them as less of a woman. But with Mel, it only made her sexier to me. Everything she
did made her sexier.