“All men are touchable, Andrew, those who touch me simply lose their hands. So let them come. I’m only just beginning. What I’ve done to you is not even the beginning.” A second later the adrenaline must have kicked in because he shook and screamed like a fish out of water . . . much to my ears’ enjoyment.
Stepping out into the hall, Declan, Neal, Monte, and Fedel all stood waiting for me. Declan walked over, handing me a phone as we walked out of the hospital.
“Hello, sweetheart.” I smirked.
“You no good motherfucking bitch!” she yelled at me.
“Sweetheart, we don’t want our kid coming out swearing like a sailor.” I laughed as Fedel opened the car door for me.
“The life-form who is fucking with my emotions, draining my energy, and stealing half of all my food is certainly in a sac of fluid and can’t hear a word I’m saying. You went to see the commissioner without me!” she screeched as I flipped through the files in front of me.
“Love, you were knocked out cold this morning . . .”
“Then use your motherfucking hands and wake me the fuck up. You benched me!” Little did she know, I tried to wake her up but she was no longer in the land of the living then.
“Love—”
“You left me here with your mother, who is now calling every motherfucking asshole with a drop of Irish in their veins to the house. I will kill someone, cut off their head and put it on the dashboard of your car if you do not fix this shit. I’m eleven and a half weeks and barely showing!” Her hormones were going to cost me my life . . . or a relative.
“Mel, sweetheart . . .”
“Call me ‘love’ or ‘sweetheart’ one more time, sweetheart, and I will bust your teeth in,” she said sweetly.
“I got nothing from him. Antonio and Eric told me they caught one of the Valero men, Cross, in Mexico. They should be in the house, and you can handle that when I get back.” There was silence on the line, which I prayed meant she was okay.
“I hate this,” she whispered into the phone. “I hate how I have no control of how I’m feeling. I feel like a ticking time bomb, Liam. It’s pissing me off.”
“I’m good at defusing bombs, lov—” I stopped. I could almost feel her rolling her eyes. “I get it. One step at a time, and I will try my best to help to not tick you off. Would you like a smoothie?”
“That ticks me off!” she snapped. “Since when could you bribe me with treats like a fucking child.”
I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “So no smoothie, then?”
“Mango, banana, orange and extra kiwi,” she replied before hanging up, and I fought back a laugh.
“Take me to Smoothie Hut,” I told the driver up front. Neither he nor Fedel said a word. But what could they really say? I had a pregnant and dangerous wife waiting for me back home.
MELODY
Taking a deep breath, I rolled into a ball on my bed.
“How are you feeling?” Evelyn said, literally sounding like a bird from a Disney movie, before taking a seat beside me.
I’m tired, hungry, or annoyed every ten minutes. I spent the first weeks puking in Adriana’s bathroom just to hide it from Liam, and now you’re treating me like I’m an infant.
“I’m fine, Evelyn,” I said coldly, sitting up.
“Cut the bullshit, Mel. I’m serious, I get that you want to remain ‘Boss,’ but you’re also about to be a mother. That supersedes anything else. So drop the act and speak to me as if I were Liam.” If I spoke to her like I spoke to Liam, I would lose it.
“I shouldn’t be pregnant, Evelyn. I did everything but take my uterus out not to become pregnant. Yet here I am. This kid is taking all my energy, and I’m tired all the damn time,” I said, leaning against the pillows.
Damn him and his Irish swimmers.
“You’re still in your first trimester. Fatigue is normal. Give it three more weeks, and it will fade.” She smiled, taking my hand into hers. “Mel, you don’t understand how happy this makes me. How happy this has made our whole family. I’m going to be a grandmamma.”
“Yeah,” I said with no emotion, because I wasn’t excited.
“You don’t want a child?” I could tell she was trying not to judge me, but I could see the worry in her eyes.
“I kill people, Evelyn. It’s part of the job, and have no regrets about it because I’m good. I’m one of the best there ever was. History will put me right up there with Al Capone and Charles “Lucky” Luciano. I’ll be the second woman on that list next to Xie Caiping. That was my baby. That’s the kid I’ve been taking care of for the last seven and a half years. I don’t know how to take care of that child, while taking care of this one.”
There, I said it. I took a deep breath as Evelyn processed.
“You do know the reason for family right?” She smiled. “You are good at delegating everything but your power.”
“That’s because power shouldn’t be delegated.” It’s what made me stronger. Why share that? I was already splitting half of it with Liam.
“Maybe not. Maybe you could do it all by yourself. The only downside would be losing your mind, Liam’s heart, or your child.” I don’t know why my hand went to my stomach but the smirk on her face annoyed me. I had Saige and Amory already aiming for its life.
“I don’t have to tell you to be yourself. But do use us if needed. Liam realizes he needs you, and I doubt he would side-step you. Do less, but when you do something, make it lasting. Leave a mark. Your men and the rest of the world will see you as you are—Bloody Melody.” She winked at me as Liam walked in. He looked confused and slightly worried. I guess he thought if I was talking to his mother, something had to be wrong.
“I will leave you and the Mad Hatter alone, for now.” She gave me a small hug, which I didn’t return. I was not a hugger, but I patted her on the back.
“Darling.” Evelyn hugged him and smirked at the smoothie in his hands. “That’s a small cup.”
“What?” Liam replied, looking at it. Evelyn winked at me before leaving, even though I had no idea what it meant.
“Are you all right?” he asked, handing me the smoothie.
I rolled my eyes, slurping down the drink. “I can’t have alcohol. How would you feel? And this is a small cup.”
“Touché.” He laughed, falling next me. He had this annoying new habit of rubbing my stomach as if it were a fucking crystal ball. It seemed to make him happy, so I didn’t say a word. Someone should be excited for this kid.
“What did the commissioner have to say?” I asked, shaking my drink—stupid fruit kept getting stuck at the bottom.
“We ruined his life, we killed his men, we are evil . . . same old, same old.” He sighed. “I didn’t get anything new out of him.”
“Please tell me you ended him then. I’m done with the Chicago PD.” If not, I can always go back to the hospital myself.
“It’s done. He died painfully and slowly. Monte stayed behind to make sure.” He kissed my stomach before looking to me.
“This Cross person, how far up the chain is he?” The closer the guy was to the boss, the harder it was to make him talk.