“Call them off, or I’m calling snipers,” I said to Liam.
He leaned down to kiss my cheek. “I would, gladly, but my mother and father want good press.”
I glared at him, pinching his arm until he pulled me away from the cameras and headed toward the sea of guests. There were more damn photos and fake congratulations there, until I saw Vance and Amory making their way through all the drinking and celebrating in the courtyard. Our guests danced underneath the steams of lights, blissfully unaware that two of the most deadly men in the country were about to collide with another deadly pair.
Both Vance and Amory were as slick as eels with their dark eyes and oily skin. Amory stood at the same stunted height as his father, even though Vance was rather stout and Amory was sickly thin. They shared many of the same traits—blond hair, though Vance’s was graying, a strong chin, and small ears.
“Remember, the Valero do not know I took over for my father,” I whispered, making sure it seemed as though I was nothing more than an excited bride. Behind Liam, I saw Neal and Declan step closer to us. Monte and Fedel were near the entrance focused on me. With a glance, Fedel let me know Antonio and three other snipers were in the windows of the manor, waiting.
“Oh, and you should know, Vance tried to arrange a marriage with Amory and me, years ago.” His eyes widened before narrowing into dangerous slits of green.
“Mr. and Mrs. Callahan!” Vance said as he reached us. “Congratulations. I must say this was a huge surprise. Melody what a fine young woman you have become, hasn’t she Amory?”
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” I asked innocently, squeezing Liam’s hand. He needed to step up and be calm. Amory looked at me with pure lust, however, making me want to cut his eyes out, and doing nothing to help Liam calm down.
He sneered, shaking Vance’s hand, which had been extended for me. “This is Vance Valero, love. The owner of the company that keeps stealing many of our products.”
Vance glared dangerously, as did Amory before he smiled at me. “I do not wish to bore your beautiful little head with such youthful fiction. Your father and I were quite close. I was hoping to speak with him, however, he seems to be absent from this joyful occasion.”
I tried not gag. “Liam and I wanted to get married. My father spoke of some new huge business venture in Austria that he needed to get a jumpstart on. I will let him know you spoke of him.”
Amory’s eyes widened before he grinned and reached out for my hand, but Liam took it instead. “I’m sorry gentlemen, but my wife and I must be making the rounds. Please enjoy yourselves.”
“Yes, please do,” I added, smiling as though I was naïve to the tension between them. “Evelyn has worked so hard on this day. We are lucky to afford such a lifestyle. One day you could be sitting on the top of the world, then the next it could be sitting on you, my father says.”
“Your father has always been wise.” Amory winked at me before glaring at Liam. “But we are all human and make mistakes.”
Fuck you, you no good motherfucking asshole.
When we walked away, Liam pulled us onto the dance floor under the purple and red fabric draping.
“What the fuck is going on in Austria? I know that is the last place your father is.”
“Calm the fuck down. Nothing is in Austria, but Amory doesn’t know that. He is a leech, and I have no doubt he will be on the next plane tonight trying to steal from us.” Plus, if we divided him and Vance, it would be easier to break them.
His hands wandered down my spine. “You want them to think you don’t know anything.”
“It’s easier to kill a deer if they think you are a rabbit rather than a wolf. Amory was so busy staring at my breasts, he couldn’t even speak.”
“I noticed. I should just kill the motherfucker now and save myself the annoyance. He is lucky I didn’t rip his eyes out, and believe me I would have.”
The darkness in his voice made me shiver in pleasure. I allowed him to spin me before bringing me in close. “You need to clear your mind and take a deep breath. We were able to flip Ryan Ross. He reports directly to Monte now, then to me. It’s how I knew Vance knew about the plane. He wants to do something bigger. He wants us to relax before he attacks. But mostly, he wants to hurt you.”
“And how the fuck is Vance going to hurt me?”
“Me,” I answered. “He will want to use Amory as a way to gain intel. Amory will probably flirt with me and try to gain my trust. It wouldn’t be the first time he went after a married woman.”
“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.