I wanted to take off the giant yellow sun hat and throw it at him, but that would bring too much attention to myself. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried to breathe. The past four months had been an all-out war. The Valero were coming at us with everything they had. We expected as much. However, with the cops now watching us more than ever, our actions were limited. The Valero were most likely behind that as well, but right now, I was ready to bomb the police station, kill the Valero, and move on. But instead, I was in a stupid five star restaurant, waiting on the motherfucking real housewives of Chicago for some charity shit.

“First, that is a lot of fucks. Second, your hat is nice.” He smirked as I glared. “And we will find an opening soon. However, right now the plan we came up with last night is the one we’re sticking with.”

“I was high off sex and couldn’t think straight,” I snapped, drinking the sorry excuse for tea they offered me.

“But that is where all our master plans are created.”

“Really? Isn’t that where you came up with the plan to pump more heroin into Boston? Now the mayor is involved.”

He leaned back in his chair with no care in the world. “That’s only because his idiot daughter went and overdosed. He’s busy blaming dealers as if we held the needle to her arm. His bad parenting is apparently our fault. Mayor or no mayor, it was a good idea. The demand is growing.”

“Liam.” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “We keep going like this, we are going to be stretched too thin. We can’t fight Chicago and Boston with Valero still screwing us. The mayor is going to be doubling down his efforts to trace it.”

“Fine,” he hissed, leaning in. “We stay neutral for now. We have a shipment coming in tonight that I will redirect and hold. But the moment the Valero are out of the picture, we are pushing hard.”

“Deal. In the meantime, we can up the weed. The shit is almost legal anyway, and both coasts are addicted.” Weed was as good as gold now. We sold to medical pharmacies where it was legal, and small street gangs where it wasn’t.

“Then it’s settled . . .” He paused causing me to look over at the door where Commissioner Andrew fucking Patterson made his way toward us.

“Who do you call when it’s the police who are stalking you?” I sighed, looking over to Liam, who glared at the man approaching.

“Us.”

Commissioner Andrew fucking Patterson placed two sliver badges on the table, causing Liam and me to share a quick glance.

“Shiny.” Liam snickered, taking a sip of his coffee. “Is there a reason why you are putting that filth on my table?”

Patterson looked like he had aged at least ten years in the last four months. “The officers your men killed today were fresh out of the academy.”

“You should be careful of what you accuse people of Commissioner,” I hissed, looking around the room once more. No one could hear us, but he was being fucking stupid.

“You even had their families killed, didn’t you?” He laughed bitterly, ignoring me completely.

“Commissioner—”

“A six year old girl now has no family, thanks to you! I know you’re the ones behind Pope and Jeffery! You people are sick! You will burn in hell!”

“Commissioner! Have you lost your mind?” Liam yelled, standing up as two guards walked toward us.

“Maybe I have!” the man yelled as the guards held him back. “But you won’t remain untouchable forever! One day, someone is going to make you all pay for your crimes.”

“Get this man out of here, he is upsetting my wife!” Liam screamed as the guards pulled him away.

Upsetting me? Fuck that, this shit was funny as hell but I could play the damsel in distress. I guess.

“Fuckin’ Callahans wouldn’t be in power forever! Just wait, someone is gonna pay you back tenfold, and I will laugh, you monsters!” he said, like the joker was on ʼshrooms.

“Get him out!” Liam roared again, while I placed my hand to my heart like a good damsel in distress.

When he was gone, the manager ran toward us, bowing so low you would think he was trying to kiss Liam’s cock . . . jeez. Since when did we live in Japan?

“I am so sorry, Mr. Callahan, please . . .”

“It’s not a problem. Please, just keep that man away from our family,” Liam said before taking a seat back down. He waited for the room to return to order before staring at me with hard eyes.

“You were the one who ordered it?” he asked me in Irish.

“Yes,” I replied back, unsure about why he looked like I was the one he wanted to kill.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You let the girl live.”

Sitting up straighter, I glared back. “She wasn’t home, and I wasn’t going to hunt her down. She is six fucking years old.”

“Then you should have waited until she was home,” he hissed, moving to the edge of his chair. “I don’t care if she was six or twenty-six. She is his family and therefore should be dead—”

“You make it seem like that one girl has any power,” I snapped back at him. He needed to calm the fuck down before I stabbed him here and now.

He stared at me as if I had lost my mind. “She is the daughter of a cop, a blue blood. She isn’t a threat now, but what about in twenty years when she is out of the academy? She will be like a bloodhound looking for revenge. Children grow up, and unless you know something I don’t, we are going to be around in twenty years. I will not have the past bite us in the ass. After all, look at you. You were six once, and what happened to you then changed your life forever. You are the last person I thought I would ever have to explain who we are or what we do.”

He stood up and kissed me on the side of the check harshly for those who might still be watching, before whispering in Irish, “Stay here, my mother has arrived. I will take care of it.”

He fucking sounded disappointed in me. Who does this motherfucking bitch think he is? Did he just sit me? I was the fucking Boss, and I sure as hell didn’t take orders. Coraline, Olivia, and Evelyn walked in with a whole group of other charity woman before I could beat his head in. Each one of them smiled and laughed as though they were breathing a different sort of air.

“Ladies, isn’t my youngest, handsome?” Evelyn said, giving Liam a big hug.

Liam laughed but it was his fake laugh, the one he did for crowds. “The most handsome, some say.”

They all laughed at him while I eyed his skin, wondering where would be the best place to impale him.

“The cockiest as well.” Evelyn grinned.

“I shall take that compliment.” He winked at a few of the older ladies, forcing me to act like an embarrassed wife and smack him in the chest. I was not in the mood to play this stupid game.

“We’ve had our breakfast. Honey, don’t you have business to take care off?” I dug my nails into his skin but the bitch didn’t even flinch.

“You all had breakfast already?” Coraline asked us, looking to our table as waiters cleared it and added a new table to make room.

“Sorry, ladies, only God knows when I would see her again after she disappears with you all. I had to at least start my morning with her.” Liam charmed is way into the cougars’ arms. They eyed him like he was a god himself. Both their facial expressions and his words made me want to puke.

“Young love.” Olivia laughed, causing me to glare at her.

“Goodbye, Liam.”

“It’s already begun.” Liam laughed, kissing my hand. “I know when I’m not wanted.”

The women aww-ed as he left, and I tried my best to actually look flattered, but my face just wouldn’t have it. Evelyn, Olivia, and Coraline all seemed to notice. Smiling at them, I took a seat as the other women all took theirs.

“Ladies, welcome to the Seventeenth Annual W.E.W.—Women Empowering Women,” a peppy blonde announced once the ladies were seated. “I would like to thank Mrs. Coraline Callahan for once again hosting us all here. Thank you so much for everything you do.”