No matter how many times we fought or how pissed off we were at each other, we always shared a bed. Always. It was a personal rule between us. And yet, it had been almost three hours since I’d left him in the basement and he still hadn’t come to bed. The clock beside me read 3:47 AM and I swore if another minute w
ent by I was going to hurl it at the door. I couldn’t sleep. He better not be sleeping somewhere else, either.
“Oh my God,” I whispered to myself. When had I become this person? The wife waiting up for her husband? “What is wrong with me?” I groaned, grabbing a pillow and placing it over my face. I was Melody Callahan! Bloody Melody. Head of the Italian mafia. The Governor of Illinois. Grown men had shit themselves in front of me. The woman couldn’t even make eye contact! I was a fucking boss! So why the hell am I completely losing my cool over a man? So what if I love him! So what if he is the father of my children? I’m the cool and collected one. I’m the one who is right! He’s the one trying to make our daughter some fairytale damsel in distress! If anyone shouldn’t be coming to bed it is me!
“Mel!”
My eyes opened when the pillow was ripped off of my face. He stared down wide-eyed, sweat dripping down the sides of his face and nose.
“What the bloody fuck are you doing?!” he yelled at me as I sat up.
“What?” I yelled back, but he didn't answer. He took a deep breath, shaking his head as he sat down on the edge of the bed beside me. He had changed into a pair of black running shorts and a sleeveless black shirt, the back of which was drenched in sweat.
“Don't do that again,” he muttered, taking off his sweaty ankle brace and throwing it onto the ground.
“What—”
“I came in here ready to finish our discussion only to find you not responding with a pillow over your face.”
I grinned. “You really think that's how I'm going to meet my end? A pillow?”
“I don't think about how you are going to die, Mel. Thoughts like that…”
He didn't say anything, just rose from the bed and grabbed his brace before walking into our bathroom. I thought about joining him for a moment but just stayed still. He didn’t take long; the shower was on one second then off the next, and he came out drying his hair with a towel, dressed in only dark green satin pajama bottoms. His hard chest, each one of his abs defined, was completely exposed to me. The bed shifted as he lifted the comforter up and sat down beside me. He smelled like fresh spices.
Silence.
The only sound was our breath.
“What are you doing?” I caved in first when he shifted over to the side to sleep.
“I’m tired, Melody—”
“We do not go to sleep angry, so either we work it out or we don’t sleep.”
He groaned before turning over to me. “Are you trying to drive me insane? Is that it? You want me to just lose it—”
I kissed him softly before putting my forehead on his.
“I came on aggressive but you should know that is how I am. Nevertheless, I’m doing this not because I want to upset you, Liam—”
This time, he kissed me, his hands going to my neck before he flipped me onto my back and laid on top of me.
“It’s annoying when someone interrupts you when you’re speaking, isn’t it?” He smirked and I rolled my eyes, trying to push him off, but he pinned me under him. “I know you, Mel. Better than anyone else in this world.I know you are overwhelmed with the amount of love you have for our kids, which is why I know you also don’t want to be the one to push Dona. But you have to. I get it. I hate it, but I get it. I’m not pissed at you, I’m pissed that I’m so torn between being a parent and being a boss. I like being the fun parent.”
I took a deep breath. We were on the same page again. “So we stop babying them.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, resting his head on my chest. Running my hand through his hair, I knew he wouldn’t let go of me, so I made myself comfortable in his arms.
He was right.
No one knew me like he did. No one understood me better than him.
SEVEN
“I’m a coldhearted bastard. I’m insular, I’m jaded, a workaholic, I’m ruthless, and I’m self-serving.”
~ Ally Blake