“There’s the real Coraline breaking out. Maybe you aren’t hopeless. We will try again tomorrow, and you better not be late.” She glared before walking away from me.

When she left, I felt myself fall and I just lay down in my closet. Who was the real Coraline Wilson Callahan? I wasn’t sure. My whole life was unsure, with the exception of Declan. He was the silver lining in my life. Neither of my parents really wanted anything to do with me, seeing as how they weren’t really my parents. They were my very bitter aunt and uncle. After my real parents died, they took me in, hoping they could get the money that was left to me.

They didn’t care about me, and they were pissed when they found out only I could withdraw anything and not until my sixteenth birthday. They never said a kind word to me as a child, and then on my sixteenth birthday, they were taking me on shopping trips—more like I was taking them. But they were happy and they treated me better, so I kept buying. Now here I was at twenty-two, still trying to buy affection. But it didn’t work so well when everyone around you had just as much money, if not more.

I didn’t know who the real me was. But I knew I wanted to kill this Coraline. Not all of her, just most of her. I wanted to be who I was when I first met Declan, free, alive, happy. I wasn’t sure when I lost it. I think it was just a few months after we got married. I saw a darker side of him, and I got nervous, I became afraid and walled myself off from him.

The more blood I saw, the more wounds he came back with, the more I walked away, which was stupid, because he confessed on our third date who he was and what he did. He told me he loved me enough to let me walk away. He said that if he went on one more date he wouldn’t be able to handle it if I left him. I didn’t want to leave him, so I stayed, and then I kicked him in the gut for it later. I accepted this life, and I didn’t want it to rule me. I wanted to walk on the same water Mel and Evelyn did. Evelyn would walk through fire for Sedric, she would kill for him, and I wanted to be that way. I wanted to be a real Callahan woman.

Day 2

I walked straight into Adriana’s room to find her placing knives on her bed. She looked up at me then to the time and smiled.

“Four-thirty in the morning. I’m impressed. Ready for the blood, sweat, and tears?” she asked.

“Yes.”

TWENTY

“Maybe this is why so many serial killers work in pairs.

It’s nice not to feel alone in a world full of victims or enemies.

It just seems natural. You and me against the world . . .”

~ Chuck Palahniuk

MELODY

I couldn’t stop shaking, me, motherfucking, Melody Giovanni, now fucking Callahan, the girl who did not blink when she sold her first ounce of coke at sixteen in a back alleyway. I was the girl who murdered a cartel member at seventeen because he stole a pound of weed from us. However, here I was, and I could not stop shaking. I did not shake. I did not bend. I did not fucking flinch at the sight of blood, drugs, or at the sound of a fucking bullet! Yet here I was, watching as one of Cascadia’s doctors looked over Liam, and I was bloody shaking! What the hell was wrong with me?

I was trying my best not to scream at the fool hovering over Liam, who hadn’t moved in nine hours. If it weren’t for his chest rising and falling, I would have thought he was . . .

This stupid doctor had five seconds to give me an update or I was going to reach up and pull his tongue out of his ass!

“Mrs. Callahan—”

“You’re wasting words,” I hissed. “How is he?”

“He’s fine. Luckily, the bullet wasn’t lethal. In fact, I’m not sure exactly what it was. He has two bruised ribs, but they will heal. He is on medication for the pain, but other than that he is fine and should get back to moving around in a couple of days,” he replied, stepping back when I moved to the edge of the bed.

Liam looked so . . . peaceful. There wasn’t a wrinkle or any discomfort in his face. I felt the urge to run my hands through his hair. Part of me wanted to lay with him. A big part of me wanted to lay with to him. It was like my mind knew that was the only way the shaking would stop. However, I couldn’t. Instead, I turned around and walked out the door. Knowing he was okay, knowing he would be fine meant that I could do what I had been itching to do from the moment Fedel came to me.

I stepped outside, allowing my eyes to roam the yard of men who were all waiting for the same update I had been. My gaze stopped at the fool’s, and it was like the lion was out of the cage.

“Neal!” I roared, causing every man in his right fucking mind to part like the fucking Red Sea as I walked to him. He didn’t move, he didn’t even look surprised, but in a moment, he was going to look like he was in a hell of a lot of pain.

But I couldn’t get to him, though, Declan blocked my path and grabbed my arm.

Who did this motherfucking bitch think he was?

“Melody—”

Before he could finish, I punched him straight in the throat, kicked his back legs so they buckled, and brought him to his knees. Grabbing his hair, I yanked it back and pressed my knife to his neck.

“I will end you Declan Callahan, if you ever stand in my way again.” I pressed the blade even harder against his Adam’s apple.

“You aren’t thinking clearly—”

He didn’t seem to get that I wasn’t fucking joking. Pulling the knife from his neck, I stabbed his shoulder. His eyes widened as I backed away, allowing him to fall to his ass before letting out a roar of pain.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Neal yelled at me, rushing toward Declan. However, I stood in front of him.

“Yes, because if I was fucking sane right now, if I was Melody Giovanni instead of Callahan, I would have fucking killed him for stepping in my way! But I can’t kill Liam’s cousin and his brother in the same day,” I yelled, and he looked me over, unsure of what to do or even say. I would help him find his tongue.

“Did you shoot Liam?” I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear him say it.

“Melody—”

“Did you fucking shoot my husband, Neal?”

“Yes.”

I felt a moment of peace before I found myself lunging at his neck. He saw it coming and grabbed hold of my arms and lifted me as if I was a fucking newborn.

“Melody, it was an accident!” He yelled, but look at what long legs I have . . . only to strangle him with.

I wrapped them around his neck like a python, and squeezed until he had to let my arms go to grab hold of my legs. When he did, I flipped off him and kneed him in the crotch. He bent down and the stupid, tall, bear-like motherfucker gasped in pain.

“You, Neal Callahan, are the accident!” My fist smashed into his face.

His head jerked, and I felt the pain in my hand, but I didn’t stop. “You, Neal Callahan, are scum. You do not deserve my respect.” Another punch in the fucking nose.

“You do not deserve your last name.”

At that, he grabbed my fist, stopping it before spitting the blood from his mouth and rising to his feet. He glared into my eyes, and his own were burning. “Watch yourself, sister, or you may get hurt.”

He did his best to tower over me as if he was trying to say something with his size.

“What? Because you chew on steroids for breakfast I should be afraid of you?” I spun into him so quickly he didn’t have time to comprehend what I was doing until it was too late. It was one of the few things I had learned from my failed attempts at dance lessons as a child. Let your partner lead. It was probably why I failed at it. I did the leading. However, it worked for Neal, who was too big to stop me from spinning into him and grabbing his gun before spinning out.