We all but ran out of there, and it wasn’t until we were in the car that Coraline broke out into laughter.
“Thank God. We came late and it still felt like we had been in there forever.”
“Now you all know how I feel. How dare you leave me all alone with those people?” Evelyn scoffed, pulling out her phone.
“I’m sorry, but God comes first, what can I say?” I added, finally able to relax into my seat.
“I can’t believe you bought all those paintings. Where’re you going to put them?” Olivia asked, trying her best to be “nice” to me.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I just had to get out of that place.” I was starting to get a headache from that woman’s voice.
Coraline looked out the window and frowned. “This isn’t the direction of the house.”
“That’s because Olivia and I are making a pit stop,” I answered, causing Evelyn and Coraline to pause, and Olivia to freeze.
I didn’t mind the silence, I enjoyed the ride. I didn’t tell Olivia earlier because I didn’t want her over thinking it. It was so cliché: a warehouse. That was because Liam didn’t want the prick in our house. I didn’t care either way. Declan, Neal, and Sedric would all be present, and normally, that would be stupid. Outside of the house and public functions, we were never all in the same place at once. However, Neal insisted, Sedric wouldn’t budge, and Declan was the one double-checking all the cameras. Another reason why we hated having everyone together was the amount of time we spent on security. It was just plain annoying.
When we pulled up, the driver opened the door for Olivia and I, and I noticed Antonio, along with four other snipers, on the rooftops.
“I’m coming.” Evelyn stepped out along with Coraline.
“This is not a field trip, and even if it were, I would be the person who signs the damn permission slip. Neither of you are coming,” I told them both.
However, Evelyn stepped up and looked me dead in the eyes, something very few people could do.
“I’m coming. Try and stop me, sweetheart.” She glared, and I wanted to show her that I could do more than try.
“Mel, you don’t want to add to your rap sheet, you spent more than an hour in confession,” Coraline said quickly, trying to get in between Evelyn and me.
“You people keep pushing me and then act all surprised when I snap.” I took a deep breath before turning around.
This was bad. Olivia did not need the whole family for this. She may have killed once, but I pushed her…I pulled the baby ruthless murderer right out of her. But she was still a baby. Babies got scared and nervous. Some even had performance issues.
When we stepped in, the first thing I had to get used to was the smell of weed from all the plants in the room. The second were the screams as Neal cut the fingers off of the pig.
“What the fuck?” Liam said to me, as he looked over at his mother and Coraline. Evelyn walked over to Sedric, who looked just as surprised as Liam, and kissed his cheek.
“They wanted to come along. I said no, but they didn’t want to listen,” I said as Coraline and Declan held hands.
“Since when do people not listening to you stop you from getting your way?” he asked, amused and running his hand up my side softly. I pulled away slightly; PDA was never my thing. He frowned, but dropped his hand to pull out his phone.
“Since I married you, I didn’t think you would like me using a sniper on your mother,” I replied, standing closer to him.
“Thanks, you’re too kind.”
“Been told that all day…”
“Neal, stop!” Olivia screamed, reminding me why I was here.
Neal, however, didn’t stop. He kept snipping away with the cutting pliers.
“You think this is bad?” he hissed, gripping the man’s thumb. “Wait until I get farther south, you stupid, motherfucking, cock-sucking piece of shit.”
The man looked dazed, but spoke anyway. “Believe me, that bitch had no cock when I sucked on her.”
That did it.
I thought the term ‘ape shit’ was generally overused, however in this case, Neal really did go ‘ape shit.’ The pliers fell from his hands as he started to beat into the pig’s face.
“NEAL STOP!” Olivia screamed.
But he didn’t. I wasn’t even sure if he could hear anything at this point. He wanted blood.
“Take him outside,” Liam said. It took two of our men and Declan to pull him back.
“I will motherfucking end you!” he yelled, trying his best to break free of their grasp. “You hear me? I will make sure every last person in your fucking family burns!”
“And this is why I wanted to tell everyone after she’d killed them all,” I whispered once he was finally out the door.
“‘They wanted to come along,’” Liam mocked me. “‘I said no, but they didn’t want to listen.’”
I cupped his ass.
“Love, if you wanted me, all you had to do was say so.” He smirked before winking.
Olivia stood still for a moment, looking back at the door before turning back to the half-dead pig. He spit out his teeth, trying his best to open his eyes and breathe.
“I remember you. Harvey’s girl.” He coughed. “Is this revenge? Aren’t you a little late? It’s been years. I doubt any of them remember like I do. Harvey was always a watcher. I could never get that sound out of my head. That cry when I became your first…you never forget your first they say.”
Evelyn moved forward, but Sedric held her back so all she could do was spit on him and unleash a few colorful words that I’d never thought I’d hear Evelyn say.
Even Liam’s hand twitched towards his gun.
“They’re wrong,” was all Olivia said before stabbing the pliers right in his head. She pulled it out only to stab him once more and dropped the pliers. Her hands shook as she stepped back.
That’s one way to do it.
He trembled violently before his body just gave out. Dropping it, she left to go find Neal.
“I don’t care how you take out the trash, just make sure it’s done,” Liam told the men, before leading me to our private car outside, and for a moment, my eyes connected with Olivia’s outside as Neal hugged her.
“You’re welcome,” I mouthed to her before getting in.
When Liam took his seat, I crawled onto his lap and straddled his waist. His stare travelled up my leg, stopping at my breasts before looking at my face.
“Hello, wife,” he whispered, gripping onto my thigh. Kissing him deeply, I felt him harden under me while he pulled me closer to him.
“I love you, you know that, right? I don’t say it often, I’m not good at saying it or showing…”
He cut me off again, flipping me onto the back seat.
“Take the long way home, Sal,” he told the driver as he looked down at me.
“Yes, sir,” he said as he rolled up the partition.
Slowly, Liam unbuttoned my dress, not speaking, just breathing heavily. I tried to get his belt buckle off, but he pushed my hands away.
“Yes, I know you love me,” he whispered, kissing down my chest. “I know you don’t say it often, but I don’t forget that you do, nor do I not feel it, ever. Even when you shoot me.”