“There will be times where I’m still going to be an asshole to you,” I said when he took my hand. “However, I promise to move forward, brother. I will not hold the past against you any longer. I will no longer hate you for it. I still dislike your wife, but I don’t hate you.”

“Can you just do that? Can you let go of the hate?”

“Automatically, no. However, you’re the reason why my wife and I had mind-blowing sex last night and will continue to. That’s enough to make me at least want to have a beer with you. After now, we never speak of this moment again, and let Declan know.” I had told him the truth, and he looked . . . lighter, like someone had taken the world off his shoulders for once.

“Thank you, Liam.”

“Well, the first few beers are on you. That shit hurt!” I winced and grabbed my chest before walking away.

Walking back to our cabin, I found myself feeling lighter as well. Things in my personal life were finally making sense. All I had to do was kill Vance, Saige, Amory, the police, and then take over the rest of the country, plus Europe. All of which was possible thanks to my wife. Thanks to my Mel.

As if she could read my mind, the moment I walked in I found my beautiful wife dressed in my shirt, sitting on our bed with files and a laptop around her.

“The life of a mafia couple.” I smirked, taking off my jacket slowly while trying not to wince at the pain.

“It’s a bloody but necessary one,” she said, handing me a file as I lay back down.

“They are calling you Bloody Melody now.” I smirked at her, flipping through what looked to be more coded letters from Saige.

She stopped and frowned. “That doesn’t strike enough fear into the hearts of men and woman everywhere.”

“Oh, it does. They fear and respect you. Maybe more than me.” I pouted, and she smiled, bending down to kiss my lips.

“You could blow up the police commissioner’s house for trying to break into our downtown factory.”

She smiled, causing me to rise up quickly. Maybe a little bit too quickly but I ignored the pain.

“What the fuck?” I shouted, searching for the file she was talking about, but she simply handed me the laptop.

“That is our meth lab in Orland Park, isn’t it?” she asked, even though we both knew it was.

“How the fuck did he get in there?” I snapped, watching as the idiot and his men broke into the factory. So much for personal rights.

Mel picked up Saige’s coded letters. “Apparently Vance is tipping them off as a way to keep us distracted.”

Taking the letters, I raked through them quickly.

“This could be a trap. Saige could be writing these as bullets for us to pick up and shoot ourselves with.” I didn’t know this Saige well enough yet. But from what I did know, she was a snake in the grass and someone needed to cut off her head before she fed and grew.

“I thought the same thing and had Fedel contact Ryan after we first got off the jet. Apparently, Saige forgets things constantly and needs to write everything down. Amory has her computer coded weekly so no one can hack in. Ryan is a big help with that. But I’m not ruling out anything yet. Right now we do still have a police rat outside our door,” she replied looking at the computer screen.

“Declan put a bomb under his house,” I said, reminding myself. Mel flipped the channel to the small and modest family home in the Chicago suburbs. He must have kept it even after he lost his family. It was kind of sad.

She handed me a cell phone, and I smiled. Pressing send and watching the house go up in flames was like watching fireworks during New Years. Now it wasn’t so sad anymore.

Flipping back to the factory, I dialed the site number and pressed send once more for the heck of it, and Mel turned to me wide-eyed.

“What the fuck did you just do?” she gasped, staring at the screen.

“Too many people knew about the place. We were having meth-heads show up at the door. I had everything moved from there a month ago.” The commissioner would have found nothing anyway.

Mel smiled, but in a flash it was out as we spotted the commissioner’s stupid, Smokey the Bear sidekick helping his boss out.

“Some rats just don’t know when to die.”

Kissing her neck, I pulled her toward me. “In due time, love. In due time. We will make them all suffer.”

“And then we kill them?”

I grinned. “Then we will kill them. One by one, until all that’s left are bloodstains.”

As she relaxed into me, we watched the police officers who weren’t so lucky get burned alive. I counted six running around like chickens with their heads cut off. However, I wasn’t sure if there were any still inside the burning building.

“He’s going to try to pin this on us.” Mel smirked, drinking my brandy.

“I hope he does. Now I have a reason to go annoy Judge Randal.” What’s the point of having a judge on the payroll if you never get to use him?

“And Senator Colemen,” she added and looked to me. “You know, I’ve never killed someone in pajamas before.”

“Neither have I. May we always remember our first,” I replied, taking her lips with mine. This was how it should have been from the start. She and I setting the world on fire together.

TWENTY-ONE

“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves,

and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.”

~ Agnes Repplier

CORALINE

Day 3

“I can’t do this!” I choked out before puking into the bowl once again.

“Cora, you’re doing well, and I’m not going to be the one to tell the Boss you gave up after only three days,” Adriana said, holding my hair back.

Pushing her away, I backed up against the tub. “My skin is so beaten up, it changed colors. I can barely stand. I can’t do this. I can’t. I’m in so much pain all the time, Adriana. Please, let me give up.”

Adriana sighed, kneeling in front me. She took my hands and pulled me to my feet.

“You are stronger than you think, Cora. In three days, you have come so far. Yes, I know you are in pain. But you aren’t the same Cora. So suck it up, get dressed, and go to dinner so we can get to work tonight,” she demanded, handing me an outfit to wear.

Grabbing the clothes, I glared at her. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” She smirked, before leaving.

It hurt like a bitch getting into those clothes. My arms felt like they were being burned off. If I hadn’t just thrown up everything in my stomach then I would have just gone to bed, but I was so damn hungry. Washing out my mouth, I rinsed before heading down the stairs slowly.

“Coraline?” I jumped at her voice.

Not Olivia.

“Yes, Olivia?” I turned to her when we reached the dining hall.

She looked me up and down but didn’t say anything. Stepping into the dining room, both Evelyn and Sedric stopped speaking and just stared at me.

How did Mel handle all the staring? Whenever people stared at her, she simply walked prouder.

Taking a deep breath, I walked slowly to my seat. Placing the napkin in my lap, I grabbed some food and pretended they weren’t there.

“Okay, Coraline, enough. What is happening to you? Are you all right? I’m worried,” Evelyn asked, causing me to jump.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” I replied, filling my plate.

“The way you wince when you breathe means you, at the very least, have a bruised rib. Not to mention the busted lip you’re hiding under makeup. But those are only the wounds we can see. I’m willing to bet Declan’s life on it, so tell me the truth, Coraline,” Sedric demanded as he cut into his lamb.