“What the fuck!?” he yelled at me.
Smiling, I focused. “Do the tape, then send it to me, we’ll broadcast it tomorrow. Avian’s been doing a pretty good job controlling the fallout from the FBI. I want to strike again before he comes after us.”
“He’s already tightening up the DEA busts around our supplies. It’s as if he knows where all our imports are coming from.”
I’d known that. But hearing it from his mouth annoyed me. Liam stood up and grabbed my legs. Instinctively, I tried to kick him away.
“Just get it done.”
“I’ll get right on it. And Mel?”
“What, Declan?” I gritted through my teeth as Liam grabbed my free arm and placed it behind my back.
“Did you know Fedel’s gay?”
I was aware of that, but I was more shocked that he knew. Fedel was very good at keeping his personal life as private as possible.
“Get it done, Declan.” I hung up and threw the phone onto the bed as I tried to wiggle free from Liam’s grasp.
“You know, you’re very abusive,” he whispered into my ear.
“It’s not my fault you’re a pussy,” I replied, as I kicked my leg into his balls.
“BITCH!” he hissed out in pain as he involuntarily let me go.
I hadn’t even kicked him that hard.
Grabbing his shirt, I pulled him onto the bed and sat on top of him.
“And you better not forget it, sweetheart.” I moved to get off of him, but he didn’t let me go.
“Liam—”
“Stop talking. Just sit on top of me until it feels better.”
I tried not laugh. “And how is this helping?”
“Mentally it makes me feel better.”
I roll my eyes as I sat on top of him for a moment longer before I got up. “We have a lot to do today, you’ve been through worse, so man up.”
“Women underestimate how fucking painful this is,” he grumbled as someone knocked.
“Maybe that’s because we are comparing it to the fact that once a month Mother Nature punches us in the uterus for a week,” I snapped.
He opened his mouth, but then closed it, obviously unsure how to respond as I opened the door.
Sedric gave me an odd stare and I could only assume that he’d heard the last part of our conversation.
“Yes?” I asked.
Shaking his head, he handed me a folder and I immediately wanted to smack him over the head! I’d specifically instructed him not to key Liam into this. Now he was going to ask me what the fuck was in it.
“Sedric—”
“Before you start, Liam came to me a week ago and asked me to do the same thing you wanted. There’s no point in me doing it twice. This is everything for all of us, with the exception of Olivia, of course.”
Liam came up beside me, and took the file. “You asked for new identities and didn’t tell me?”
“I’ll take my leave now,” Sedric snickered, as he turned around. He paused for a moment before he turned to face us again. “Ethan and I are going to a hurling match tomorrow.”
“Starting a little young, don’t you think?” I grinned. Part of me didn’t like the idea of Ethan, who’s just a giant pillow of sweet baby, getting exposed to such a bloody sport. But then again, he was still young, he likely wouldn’t remember it.
He shrugged, and smiled. “Liam always walked away when I tried to teach him. So, I’m going to teach Ethan before he can walk. He’ll grow into it.”
Liam rolled his eyes, and leaned against the doorframe. “Try all you want, old man, but Ethan is just going to cry and annoy everyone around you.”
“You underestimate how much Ethan loves his grandpa,” he replied, and waved us off as he left.
Taking the folder from Liam, I pulled out the passports, and checked through them quickly.
“Latvia.” I frowned. “If we didn't have any other reason to kill Avian, then not going to Latvia would be it.”
“Luckily, we have more than a dozen reasons,” Liam replied from inside his closet.
Following him, I watched as he grabbed a new shirt and lifted two ties, one burgundy and the other navy blue, for me to pick. I pointed to the navy blue one, and he of course picked the burgundy one. He and I did this every day. I picked one and he chose the other. He had to have known that by now I always picked the tie I disliked, but I didn’t think he cared…and neither did I.
“The plan?” he asked as he took out a pair of dress socks.
“While you are kissing up to the fat cats on Capitol Hill in regards to the marijuana grant back home, I’m going to start creating rap sheets for our scapegoats. Because of what we’re planning, I want people to definitely believe that they were capable of everything when they finally get caught.”
He nodded. “Phone records?”
“When Coraline took the agent, she was using a burner phone to speak with Declan. It was paid for in cash, of course, but that can be changed to leave a paper trail.”
“It’s takes twelve and half hours to get from the capitol to Alabama.”
How the hell did he know things like that off the top of head?
“That’s why there are tickets bought in their names at the perfect time. They aren't real, but I doubt that anyone will be diligent enough to check.”
Standing in the doorframe, he came up to me, and brushed my hair back as he cupped my cheek. “You sure you don’t want me to stay?”
“So you can read more comics? No. I think you need to get some work done. Now go make us richer.”
Rolling his eyes, he kissed my forehead before he headed to the door. “I’ll be back at five, have dinner ready for me.”
Clenching my teeth together, I took a deep breath, as I gazed at him. “Sure sweetheart. There’s no guarantee you’ll survive it though.”
He snickered as he closed the door behind him. Hearing a small whimper, I turned to Ethan, who was slowly waking up in his basket by our bed. He rested so quietly sometimes, I found myself needing to check his breathing just to make sure he was okay. Reaching into his basket, I pulled him into my arms and kissed his head.
“Mommy is going to frame a terrorist, do you want to see?” He whined and waved his arms before he started to cry.
“Food, then terrorists. Okay,” I muttered, as I headed to the kitchen.
Evelyn was there, stirring a pot of beef something, and the second she spotted Ethan, she abandoned the pot.
“Do you need me to get him?”
She reached for him, but I held on.
“No, I got it.”
She gave me a look as I reach into the fridge for his bottle.
“What?” I asked her, as I took the top off with one hand before I placed it into the bottle warmer.
She shrugs with a smile. “Nothing.”
“I do not like being dismissed, Evelyn.”
“Oh please, you’re not scary with that little cutie on your hip.” She made a face at him, but he wasn’t having it. Just like Liam, he tended to get grumpy when he was hungry. “Anyway, I thought you were busy, changing the course of history, and leveling government institutions and all that.”
“I’m a working mother, what can I say?” I muttered, as I reached for his bottle. She watched me with a giant grin as I tried to test the temperature of the milk on the inside of my wrist, but I couldn’t with Ethan on my hip.