“And you both don’t want to end him?” Oh, how the tide had turned.
“And let another wannabe hero take his place? He is about to break, and when he does, his moral compass will either force him to take his life or he will just drink himself to death. Either way I don’t give a flying two fucks.” He picked a fight, and now he was going to lose.
“Bloody wonderland,” he said again with a smile. There was a knock at the door, before I could reply.
“Enter,” I called out and in walked my mother dressed in a beautiful long-sleeved, green dress. “You look beautiful mother,” I said, standing up to greet her.
She kissed my cheek. “Thank you, son. I came to tell you that there are two officers at our door. They’re asking to speak with you. I thought I would let you know personally. This is the third time, Liam. I’m not pleased.”
Rule Sixteen: Never displease your mother.
“Call my wife.”
“No need.” Melody stepped inside, making me want to drop to my knees and kiss her feet. She was an absolute vision in the long, strapless white dress she wore. She looked like a goddess or an angel, and I felt lucky to even stand before her.
“Father, Mother, thank you. However, my wife and I have some business to attend to. We shall meet you at the wedding.”
“Please send the officers in,” my Mel replied as she walked, more like glided, toward me.
Taking her hand, I kissed it once my parents were gone. “You look beyond beautiful.”
“Save your flattery and tell me we are going to kill these sons of bitches for returning here.” She glared as she fixed my hair.
There was another knock at the door, and I smirked at her.
“Let’s find out.” I grinned, walking to my desk. “Enter.” Sadly it wasn’t the commissioner, but his Smokey the Bear sidekick along with another broad-shouldered man with orange hair.
“No commissioner? I’m insulted.” I turned to Mel who only glared at them.
“The city is a bit too chaotic for him to make it,” Smokey said. “As you know I—”
“We don’t care. What do you want?” Mel asked, looking at the younger man next to Smokey.
“We’re here to wave the white flag,” the orange-haired man declared.
I felt my brow rise and a smirk curl my lip. When I looked over to Mel, she frowned. Of course she would, white flags weren’t her forte.
Stepping toward the man, I looked him over. “You’re Irish.”
“Yes, Mr. Callahan.”
“Who the fuck forgot to recruit you?” I snickered. Most of all the Irish-born natives in the damn state worked for me in some form.
He glared at me. “I wanted to be the first of my family to do right by the law.”
“Well then, as you can see, we are on our way out.”
Mel replied stepping toward me. “We will speak to the commissioner at a later time. You both found your way in, I believe you know the way out. Please give Officer Pope and his family my regards.”
They couldn’t speak and that may have been due to the fact that she looked sinfully beautiful in white, or because Officer Pope and his family were no longer alive. They nodded with rage building in their eyes. The door slammed once they exited.
She turned to me and frowned, straightening my tie again. “You know they were lying right?”
“Yes, and what do we do with liars?” I asked my hands on her hips. She smiled as well, reaching into my tuxedo jacket to pull out my phone.
“Monte, two officers should be leaving the premises. Please make sure to escort them back to the station. You and I both know how tricky those high bridges can be.” I watched her mouth as she spoke, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss the breath from her lips.
She noticed once she hung up and placed her finger on them.
“Candy store is still closed.” She glared. “After all, you want to see Vance’s face instead.”
“Lov—” She didn’t even allow me to finish speaking before she walked away. Damn it all to hell. Vance better fucking cry and piss in his fucking pants.
MELODY
“Shoot me, please.” I groaned as I watched Amory and Saige kiss. It was like they were trying to suck the skin off each other’s faces.
“Not before you shoot me,” Liam whispered back. His eyebrows wouldn’t stop twitching, and had it only been us, I would have laughed over it. However, it wasn’t just us. We were surrounded by at least three hundred of Vance’s closest “family and friends.” The wedding was so boring that Liam and I spent most of our time texting Declan and Neal for updates.
But it was game time now. Taking our seat at table five, with the rest of the Callahans, we waited for the text message signaling it was done. However, the true fireworks didn’t start until Vance got the call. I was tempted to tell them myself. However, Vance still thought I was some little lamb unaware of the world around me. He was a fucking idiot. From Saige’s letters, he must have known I was the child who was spared on the plane. However, he still didn’t see me as a threat.
“Black, Red, and White just doesn’t seem right for this time of year.” Coraline frowned as she looked around the wedding hall.
“Yes,” I replied, looking Olivia up and down. “Adding red to the color scheme was a bad choice.”
Olivia’s blue eyes narrowed on me. “So is wearing white to another woman’s wedding.”
“There are very few people I consider to be ‘women.’ Saige is a snake,” I said drinking water. “Don’t ask what I consider you to be.”
Evelyn sighed while Liam snickered. Sedric was too busy checking his watch. He was dying to see what was going to happen as well.
“There is no hope for you two is there?” Evelyn asked Olivia and me.
“Not if she keeps harming my husband and then forcing him on assignments when he should be by my side,” Olivia said.
“Olivia, snap at me again and you won’t have a husband. In fact, I would just as soon kill you and move on. You’re not worth anything anyway, so do us all a favor and sit in the corner like a good little trophy.” I rolled my eyes at her as Liam’s phone went off.
Tilting it to me, I watched as a very expensive looking house, along with one too many cars went up in flames. The cameras caught every angle of the house, including two women banging on the door trying to free themselves.
“And they are?”
“Apparently Vance and Amory shared two special friends.” Liam snickered, and I could see the reflection of fire in his green eyes.
“That’s disgusting. Saige should be thanking me.” The thought made me want to puke in my mouth.
“She’s calling someone,” Sedric said. Liam and I looked over at him and tried not to laugh. He had switched seats with Evelyn just to see the fucking phone. Evelyn looked to me and winked, drinking her wine.
“I think I know who,” Coraline said, causing us all to follow her gaze to Vance who was in the middle of giving his son a speech. He glanced at his phone for a moment before going on.
“. . . it is for this reason I would like to welcome my daughter Saige Valero to the family. May she and my son make us all proud.”
Everyone but us applauded loudly. When Vance gave the microphone to Jane, I believe her name was, Saige’s maid of honor, he went to answer his phone. Sadly, it was too late, because Liam and I could see that the woman had passed out, probably due to the smoke. Putting his phone away, Liam took my hand and kissed it as we watched Vance listen to his messages. His back was turned to us but the moment he hung up after placing another call, he turned to us, his eyes were wide and deadly. All the “emotion” he had during the wedding was gone, and all that was left was this monster. It looked like he’d squeezed the phone so hard the screen cracked. Liam smirked and gave him a short nod as if they were friends.