“Melody couldn’t fight me so she sent you—AH URGH!” She screamed out when I simply moved my hand back and shot into her legs. When I took my foot off her chest, she rolled onto her side, curling into a ball when I crouched next to her.
“You shot my wife.” I sneered, the anger I had been trying to hold back bubbling to the surface. “That right there is the difference between you two. My wife would have killed you with her own bare hands. However, I believe that is a waste of time for the governor, don’t you?”
“Emilio—”
BANG.
“Ur—”
“It was a yes or no question, Liling. Who the fuck do you think you are to shoot my wife? The mother of my children, the head of the Italian mob—”
“For now!” She spat at me.
“As you know, this gun is loaded,” I stated, pressing the gun to her skull. “If you don’t answer my questions, I will unload in your skull.”
“Fuck you! FUCK YOU! You’re going to kill me anyway—”
“Liling, you will find out there are worse things than dying, just like your brother did…I promise you.”
MELODY
The moment I stepped through the doors, all I heard was applause; it came from the security team, the staff on the ground, and even a few guests on a tour of the state building.
“Welcome back, Governor!”
“We missed you, Governor!”
Mina stepped up right beside me as we walked and I waved politely as we made our way back to my office—the office I hadn’t returned to in almost a month now. My doctor and Liam were still telling me to take it easy, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had too much to do, mostly figuring out who the fuck had voted Mayor Cortés into office and why.
“Welcome back, ma’am.” Bruce, my secretary, stood up from his desk, a cup of coffee already in his hands.
“Thank you, Bruce, but no coffee—”
“It’s herbal tea, it’s the best for the heart.” He nodded to me and I took it but didn’t drink. “You have about thirty calls from various other mayors and officials. I had the fruit baskets and gifts sent to the car since I know you hate your office being cluttered. No one but the cleaning crew has gone in there since you…er, left. If anything is out of place let me know and…” He sighed. “I’m just glad you are back; this place was like a graveyard.” He leaned in closer. “We even had a few people trying to jump ship and buddy up to some people. I have their names highlighted.” He handed me a piece of paper as if to let them all know he was snitching on their asses proudly.
“As always, good work, Bruce.” I nodded to him, taking the list and walking back into my office.
Just like he’d said, nothing was out of place as I walked across the blue carpet, moving behind my Bubinga desk and sitting back into the chair.
“Missed it?” Mina asked, taking a seat across from me.
“It’s just a chair.”
She tilted her head, a smile on her lips. “This is just a chair.” She pointed to her seat before pointing back to mine. “That is a throne. You sit there, you control this state.”
“When are they coming?” I changed the subject even though she was right and I loved the fucking chair.
Beep.
“Ma’am.” Bruce said over the phone. “We have the city council members here. They say they have a meeting, but I have nothing on the books.”
“Let them through,” I replied. Mina rose from the chair and walked around the desk to stand beside me.
One by one, twelve members of the city council all stepped inside my office, none of them looking happy to be there. It was like children having to come to the principal’s office after getting caught cheating.
“Please sit—”
“They can stand.” I cut Mina off. “At least, until someone explains to me how a nobody from nowhere suddenly became the mayor of the largest city in Illinois overnight. It seems impossible. In fact, I can see no way this could have happened unless you all are hiding something. I know you, Steven, have been gunning for the job yourself. And you Diane, you even planned to support him. The rest of you all swore to me that you would never cast that vote unless I approved. So is this your way of telling me you no longer stand behind me? If so, I’m hurt, but you’re going to hurt much, much more. ”