“Are we seriously discussing the type of weapon used to stab me in the chest?” Declan asked, and it was my turn to roll my eyes.
“It wasn’t even really your chest. It was much closer to your shoulder-blade. The worse you needed was stitches, you big baby,” I added, and Neal snickered until I glared at him again.
“I have a much bigger knife waiting for you,” I snapped.
“If Neal ever shoots anything near me again, I will take off his head and mount it on the fucking wall.” He seemed to mean it, but I wasn’t sure.
“I still hate him,” I replied, drinking.
“Looks like I’m not the only romantic one.” He grinned, however, it was interrupted by a cellphone. Neal answered it quickly before handing it to Liam.
“Father.” Sighing, Liam placed it on speaker before setting it on the table. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Liam asked, sitting up straighter. I didn’t understand why men always felt the need to prove something to their fathers.
“Liam, Melody, I’m sure you both took time out of your busy schedules to watch the news. The police commissioner is becoming a problem.” Sedric’s voice sounded hard, like he was trying to control his anger.
“Yes—”
“We are handling it, Sedric. Is that the only reason you called?” I asked before Liam could make a fool out of himself. He looked me dead in the eye, as if I’d lost my mind.
There wasn’t a reply at first, just a deep breath. Did I tick off Sedric? Too fucking bad.
“Evelyn just received an invitation to a wedding being held here in Chicago for a Saige Rozhkov and Amory Valero.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed as we looked at each other. Nodding, he took a deep breath.
“We will be attending. If that is all, Father, we must be going,” Liam replied, ending the call before he could get another word in.
Rising from our seats, we both walked into our private cabin at the back of the jet. The second the door closed, I began to speak.
“You are the head of this family, not your fucking father. You do not sit up straighter for him. You do not even give him all your fucking attention. And you sure as hell do not answer his questions like you are still second-in-command. The only person who gets that amount of respect is me. You are a leader, so lead. You share with him when you motherfucking feel like it. Not when he calls and barks. You may be his son, but you are not his child. You are Ceann na Conairte, and I am the Boss, even to our fathers. If you embarrass me or yourself like that again, I will rip out your throat.”
LIAM
She’s right. That was the very first thing that went through my mind after she left. I was the Ceann na Conairte, not my father. I had seen him as such for so long that it was almost second nature to show him that same respect. Stepping off the plane, Mel stood before none other than Coraline.
“What in Jesus fuck happened to my wife?” Declan asked from behind me.
“What happened to her hair?” Neal asked, staring at the shorthaired girl standing in front of Mel.
Without answering either of them, I walked to my wife only to be met with another shock.
Is that the ugly duckling? Adriana stood beside Coraline, her nest of a hair tamed, her glasses gone, and her face covered in light makeup. She wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, but she didn’t deserve the ugly duckling title anymore.
“Adriana, ride with us,” was all Mel said when I reached her. “Cora we will talk later.”
Once we reached the car, the driver opened the door for us while Adriana took a seat up front.
“I’m guessing you had something to do with this?” I asked Mel once we were on our way home.
“She came to me. I had Adriana do what she could,” she replied, not in the least bit worried about how this might turn out. Declan . . . well Declan really couldn’t do shit, and that’s probably why she wasn’t bothered.
Sighing, I turned to the woman up front. “Well, what can my sister-in-law do?”
“She was difficult the first day, frustrated with herself and the world on the second. The third day, she puked up half her weight, and then the rest of the week she got a lot of the basics down. She will need more practice, but she is getting used to carrying a knife. Mrs. Callahan was right about the gun. She tried it, and almost blew her hand off.” I could hear the amusement in her voice. However, my mind couldn’t picture Coraline doing any of those things.
“And her hair?” Mel asked.
“She got a little carried away with the whole becoming a warrior thing. She demanded to listen to Rocky during one of the morning sessions. Then at night, she wanted to listen to Eye of the Tiger on repeat. Eve—Mrs. Callahan found it fitting.”
Mel sat up. “I thought I told you to keep this discrete.”
“I tried, ma’am. The second and third days were the hardest for Coraline, and she was so sore she couldn’t hide it during dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Callahan believe it is just self-defense. Olivia Callahan tried to tell Neal, so I had her phone jammed, ma’am.”
Mel frowned but nodded, even though no one else would be able to see her but me.
“I see.” I frowned as well. Family dinner tonight was going to be interesting.
“It’s nothing to worry about. We have much bigger things on our plate like Saige and Amory,” Mel said, hissing out their names as if they were poison.
“Which is why I think we should plan a small trip to Italy.”
“Liam, we cannot take out Vance’s cars now. It’s probably at the bottom of our to-do list.” She wasn’t getting it though.
“We don’t have to go, our men could go. After all, what better time to destroy cars and maybe a home or two while everyone is celebrating a wedding?” They would be so blindsided.
She smirked. “Guerrilla warfare.”
“Exactly.”
“Adriana, when is the wedding?”
“Three weeks from today, ma’am,” she replied quickly, handing us a wedding invitation. Mel stared at it with just as much disgust as I did. Allowing it to drop to the floor, she turned back to me.
“Are you sure you don’t mind not being able to physically destroy Vance’s things?”
It was the only downside. “Yes, but seeing Vance’s face during the wedding when he gets that call will surely make up for it.” He wouldn’t even be able to publicly display his anger. Instead, he would have to take it up the ass and just smile at me.
She shook her head at me and stared out at the city. I watched her eyes storm over and I wished more than anything I could read her mind. She turned to me with a smirk that I wanted to kiss off her fucking face.
“My father told me once that the world wanted Kate Middleton or the first lady, someone to kiss babies and write big checks on your behalf.” She said it slowly, but I still didn’t understand.
“You want to write a check?” Why would that get her so excited?
“Yes.” She smirked, looking back outside. “To the men and women of the Chicago PD who were injured during those terrible fires. After all, how can they afford all those bills? I even think we should do it in person. I bet our favorite Superintendent and commissioner, Officer Patterson, will be there as well to console the families.”