Ruthless People (41 page)

He stood up when Adriana came in with a bowl of something. I couldn’t really hear
what they were saying, and I didn’t care. I wanted to go back to sleep, but my body
wouldn’t let me.

“Love,” he whispered above me, but I didn’t reply.

Sighing, he lifted me up with ease and placed me on his lap, as if I were some chi . . .
child.

“Love, eat. It’s just soup,” he said as he started rubbing his thumb against my bottom
lip. “Mel, love, I’m begging you. Open your mouth, or I will force it open.”

I listened and he looked disappointed, like he wanted me to fight him. But I was tired.
All I wanted to do was go back to sleep. The only way I could do that was to listen
and allow him to feed me, one spoonful at a time.

DAY 9

“It’s morning, Melody,” Olivia said as she opened my curtains so wide the sun blinded
me. I didn’t want the sun. It was too happy. Too full of joy and life, it didn’t know
when not to shine. It should know that it was a dark day. It should know not to come
my way. I wanted the moon. I wanted the night. I wanted the darkness.

But I was too tired to yell at her. Instead, I simply rolled away from the sun.

“You know I was jealous of you,” Olivia said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
“I’m still kind of jealous. I’m always jealous. I don’t try to be. It comes from having
divorced parents I guess. You’re always fighting for attention, and they’re always
giving it to you because they feel guilty. But with you it was a different type of
jealously.”

Go away Olivia,
I thought but didn’t speak.

So she went on. “When I first heard that Liam was getting married, I was kind of hoping
she, you, would be like Coraline, the old Coraline, willing to let me have the spotlight
and come to me for advice. I think I wanted to be Evelyn in away. I wanted to be the
heart of the family. But you weren’t like Coraline, or even Evelyn. You were a mafia
boss. You, a female, ruled the Italian mafia. When Neal first told me, I thought he
was joking. It should have been impossible. No way would any man, true mafia gangster
bow down to a woman, and yet there you were. And the men were bowing so low they were
almost kissing your white shoes. Do you know that’s a thing on Twitter?”

Please go away Olivia,
I thought to myself once again, and again I failed to say it out loud. So she went
on . . . again.

“Hashtag, Melody Callahan,” she whispered. “You’re trending. You’re always trending,
and you don’t even know it.

“Anytime we step out in public, you’re on Fashion Police, or some other random magazine,
being praised. But you don’t care because you’re a fucking Boss. So of course, I was
jealous. The stunningly beautiful, always fashionable, deadly frightening Melody Callahan?
How the fuck are any of us supposed to stand next to that?”

Why won’t you go away?

“I shouldn’t care right?” She sighed. “But I do care. You’re everything I wanted to
be and then some. The object of every man’s desire, and yet never a person. I was
born beautiful, and I don’t mean that in a cocky, ‘I love myself’ sort of way. I was
born beautiful, and guys always liked me for it. But there was one guy who liked it
a little too much. I was a freshman in college. I was actually saving myself for the
one, and I knew he wasn’t it. So instead of paying attention in school to those stupid
flyers and posters that all read ‘
No means No
,’ he . . .”

She sobbed, and I just wanted to sleep.

“He pulled me into his dorm room, and no one did anything because I was the pretty
girl who most likely did get around. His friends were there and they all—” She stopped,
staring at her tattoo, running her finger over it so many times I stopped counting.
“When they finished, they laughed at the fact that I was the loosest virgin they had
ever had. When I got home, I had never cried or scrubbed myself so hard. The next
day I pulled out of all my classes and finished the rest of my college career from
the safety of my bedroom.”

I wasn’t sure what she wanted from me, but I enjoyed the silence as she lost herself
in her thoughts. Sadly, it was short-lived.

“I got this tattoo a month before I found Neal. A Dara knot, I wanted to be strong
again and it made me feel that. I think that’s why I found Neal, I wasn’t broken anymore.”

If you are in this family you are broken, don’t kid yourself.

“He made me feel safe again, happy again. But there is still this part of me that
I can’t fix. I hate people. I hate men . . .
all
men outside of this family.”

That is the very definition of broken!

“And I hate women in some ways, because I hate myself. So when I saw you walking as
if you were on water, I hated you the most. Neal tried to knock some sense into me.
He said you’re the queen and I’m the princess. After that, I was able to handle it
until Evelyn told me you were pregnant.” She laughed bitterly.

You are insane Olivia. Leave me alone.

“I wanted a child of my own. Neal and I tried over and over again, and here you, the
woman dripping in blood and sin, were going to have a child. So I cursed God. I told
Him that He was an egotistical, bigoted asshole. Where was the justice? All the shit
I had gone through and I just wanted a child. You kill, you steal, you lie, and yet,
He gave one to you. But here I am regretting it so badly, Melody,” she whispered the
last part.

“I never ever meant to hurt you, and I swear from this day forward I will always love
you like I should have from the very beginning.” If she knew me at all, she should
have known I didn’t want or ask for her love and that I knew it was bullshit. She
wanted to make herself feel better not me.

I was tired of listening to her. So I just slept.

LIAM

“What’s your name dear?” my father asked the young crackhead before us as I drank
my brandy.

“Whatever you want it to be.” She winked, and I almost puked.

My father on the other hand just leered. “I think Julia Roberts is the only one who
can do that line.”

“Redheads your thing?” She pouted, which was also sickening, as she twirled her brown
hair.

“My wife’s my thing,” he replied, taking a seat before her. “And your life should
be your thing. You see, the only thing that is keeping you alive right now is the
thought that you may know something. If you don’t, well . . .”

He just stopped, and the whore began to shake. “I need something to get the edge off.”

Rolling my eyes, I forced myself not to snap her neck.

“What’s your poison?” Sedric said, walking over to the tray of drugs Fedel laid out
for him.

That got the girl to perk up like a bitch in heat. “Heroin and Cocaine.”

“Somebody’s a rock star,” my father said. “But let’s not get greedy. Pick one.”

She pouted once again, and once again, I was torn between puking and ripping her lips
off.

“Heroin,” she said, and my father grabbed the injection before handing it to her.

“Do you need help?” he asked.

But the girl just shook her head untying her halter-top and using it as a tourniquet
with no shame that her breasts were exposed to the world. Moaning out as though she
was at the peak of a climax, she rode the wave of poison in her veins.

“Druggies man,” Monte whispered in disgust. This was a constant reminder why none
of them were allowed to do any shit.

“Where’s your boss, dear?” Sedric asked her softly.

“I don’t know.” She smiled, and I felt myself losing control. “They said they were
going to Finland. No one ever checks Finland.”

“Did they tell you this?” Sedric questioned looking back at me.

She shook her head like a child “Nope. Vance had just finished fucking me. He’s an
ass. He left me high and dry. I was almost begging. But nope, he was done and wanted
me out. So I went in the shower and heard him talking to some redheaded bitch. Ha-ha,
you both like redheads.”

“Do you know anything else?” Sedric asked her. “This could save your life.”

“I’m horny. Can I get a last fuck instead of a last meal?” She grinned reaching for
my father’s crotch.

I was tired of her. Nodding over to him, he held a gun to her skull. “This isn’t jail.
You don’t even get a last prayer.”

Her body slumped over the table with the fucking needle still in her arm. Sedric just
looked at her in disgust—the mask of kind smiles was gone—the man who stood in front
of me was the same man who made me who I was today. Shaking his head, he put another
two in her before handing the gun over to Fedel.

“Such a fucking idiot.” He frowned, pulling out his electric cigarette. It was the
only compromise my mother would allow him.

“So Finland then?” Declan asked me.

“No, not until we know for sure. I don’t believe we have any men there but double-check
and pull them out. I don’t want them catching on. Besides I still need to talk it
over with my wife,” I replied as I opened the door.

“Is she speaking yet?” my father asked, but he knew the answer.

“No, no she isn’t, but she will.” I had to believe she would snap out of it.

“Don’t give up hope, son.”

Easier said than done.

MELODY

Day 14

“I had a crush on you,” Declan whispered from his spot at the foot of the bed. “Crush
is such a stupid word. It was more like lust. I shouldn’t be telling you about it,
but I’m hoping you will get pissed and kick my ass. You know, like Bloody Melody would.
I know Liam would skin me alive. No seriously, he actually had us skin one of the
Valero. It’s like he is going through a historical Roman torture manual and just picking
shit. I wouldn’t be shocked if we crucified someone next.”

I need to put a “do not disturb” sign on the door.

“Yeah, so please don’t tell him. Maybe one day when we are old and gray . . . no not
even then. He would be senile and probably worse. He acts just like our grandfather
sometimes, and our grandfather is an insane, perverted arse of the highest degree.
He lives in Ireland and prefers to stay there, which is good. He would understand
why I lusted after you. It’s hard not to. I think every man with a working dick does.
But I’m the only one foolish or stupid enough to stay it out loud.” He laughed because
he was stupid.

Very stupid. No wonder Coraline is pissed at him.

“It’s gone now. Not that you’re not attractive because you are, but I think . . .
I
know . . .
I’m lusting after my wife a whole lot more. You had something to do with that. I don’t
know how you did it. Maybe it’s just for the fact that you exist. But you did it.
You took my lamb and made her a tiger. She isn’t a lioness like you, but she is deadly
in her own right. Plus the new hair style gets sexier with each passing day,” he said.

Closing my eyes, I went back to sleep, trying my best to drown him out.

LIAM

Day 18

“
I thought I said no one was to enter Finland?” I asked them as I drank straight from
the bottle.

Antonio nodded. “You did, sir, but she spotted one of our men in the airport before
they had a chance to leave. They had no choice but to bring her along.”

Sighing, I stared at the blonde woman known as Vance’s favorite mistress, Hera Pompilio.
There was nothing I could do about it now. She wasn’t the big fish I wanted but I
could use her as bait.

“May I?” Declan asked, stepping up to the mirror.

“Knock yourself out.” Maybe he could use his gentlemanly shit on her.

When he walked in, her dead eyes stared right through him.

“Are you the man who killed my son?” she questioned softly.

Declan simply raised an eyebrow. “I’ve killed many sons, ma’am. You’re going to have
to be more specific.”

“Amory Pompilio Valero. Age twenty-seven. Six feet, two inches tall. Blond hair, blue
eyes, he—”

“No, I did not kill him,” Declan said. “That honor was left to my brother and two
cars. I was under the impression Amory’s mother died when he was young.”

“That’s what you get for being under everything.” She smirked. “I was always made
to be Vance’s wife. No other woman could carry his child, not even his stupid wife.
I told him he should kill her and marry me, but he told me he couldn’t. That he made
some deal, but I knew it was lie. He took Amory from me and gave him to her. She was
so beyond herself with happiness. Every day taking care of my son, I hated her. The
day Amory called her Mother, I rammed an ice pick through her heart. Vance was pissed
so he broke four of my ribs and my jaw. But he loved me too much to kill me.” She
laughed so effortlessly, I wondered if Natasha could use a roommate in the asylum.

“Sad,” Declan said, but I knew he didn’t give a fuck. “Why were you in the airport
in Finland?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she just checked her nails.

“Hera, what you tell me could be the difference between a painfully slow death, or
a quick one. One where you could be with your son, again,” Declan told her.