A Bloody Kingdom (Ruthless People Book 4) (22 page)

CORA

4:15 PM

There was a joke among the Irish that the Callahan’s became powerful by selling their souls to the devil. Whether they were born a Callahan or married into the family, the price was the same. Even though it was said over pints of beer and laughter, I didn’t think it was a joke—or at least, it wasn’t for me. When the elevator doors opened and I was once again back at the wretched cancer ward, watching as men, women, and children went by, their heads bald, their eyelashes the only hair on their heads, I knew I was going to pay for all the shit I had done or would do for the sake of this family…one day, if not today.

“Room 591,” I said to him, following him as he walked, almost ran, past each one of the doors down the hall. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone, just kept walking until we stopped right in front of the window, allowing us to look in.

He paused, his eyebrows coming together. “Who is this?”

“Does it matter?”

He didn’t reply because it didn’t matter to him, but he still wanted an answer.

“Imani Wilson,” I replied, watching her sleep.

“Your cousin,” He remembered, finally meeting my gaze. “I thought Declan had her sent to North Mount Psychiatric Hospital after she tried to—”

“Rub me?”

“Yeah.” It felt like a lifetime ago, Imani, her boyfriend Otis—who Declan had killed in my honor—the chaos that was my life right before I married Declan and realized the world was even more fucked up than I’d thought. “She has ovarian cancer as well…because of that, I had her moved to this hospital. She starts chemo in the morning. If she does, every cell in her body will be shot. The doctors say she is in perfect condition with the exception of her ovaries. She is AB negative, thirty, and I have a say over medical decisions; it was part of the deal for me paying for her treatment.”

For the first time since I had come into the hospital, Liam stood straighter, a small but evil smirk on his lips, his expression cold.

“Which means should she die, you have a say on who gets her organs or not,” he said it more to himself than to me, already reaching for the doorknob when I stopped him. “Cora—”

“I’ve handled it already,” I replied, nodding to the doctor behind the nurses’ station. He didn’t say a word to me, he just came up to Imani’s room and walked in.

“How?” Liam questioned me, watching as the doctor changed her drip.

How did I get him to break every oath he ever took?
“Two million in gambling debts. That’s how coldblooded and ruthless people can be…” I had no room to judge him, though.

“I love this city.” The smirk on his face grew to a full-blown devilish grin.

I wished I felt worse. I wished I cared more about Imani, but I didn’t. If she died, the world would go on. No one would care. If Melody died…war would break out, and that didn’t just put Declan in danger, but our kids. No one else meant more to me than them, so if I had to do this for them, I would.

It’s a dog eat dog world, and I had sharpened my teeth a long time ago.

LIAM

4:23 PM

It took two minutes for Imani die, ten minutes for Cora to fake grieving before consenting, and another minute for them to come for Melody.

Once again I found myself in front of an operating room staring at doors, barely breathing.

“Boss.”

“Not now, Fedel,” I replied. I couldn’t think.

“You have to see this.” He handed me the tablet, but all I saw was a pixelated image of an alleyway, maybe a street corner.

“What am I looking at?”

“The shooter.” He zoomed in, and the pixels slowly came together until I was staring at none other than…

“Is that—”

“Liling Tàiyáng.” He nodded, and I could see he was shaking, but whether it was from anger or excitement I wasn’t sure. “Yesterday the boss wanted me to look into her and Emilio. She thought there was no way she as just a dimwit heiress, nor would she marry down. No sooner had I put feelers out, trying to get information on her and Emilio, when she goes and shoots the boss. I don’t think Emilio thought she’d catch on to who he was so quickly and panicked trying to get rid of her.”

Mel was right: she was a monster, parading around like everyone else.

“Liam.”

We both looked up to find Mina still in her bloodstained clothes from that morning.

“What is it now?”

She didn’t answer, instead lifting her phone to show a current press conference taking place on the news. A banner scrolled across the screen: NEW MAYOR SPECIALLY ELECTED.

Ladies and gentlemen of Chicago, due to the tragic events that have taken place in our city in the last forty-eight hours, the district attorney and various associates across the city have chosen an interim mayor, as we cannot be a city without a working government. He may be young, but he is the best-qualified
person for this position. Please welcome Chicago’s new mayor, Emilio Esteban Cortés…

“The little cunt.” I hissed through my teeth. They had planned all of this. Liling hadn’t just shot Mel out fear, she’d done so to clear the table. Normally in these situations, the governor would appoint the mayor.

“What do you want me to do?” Fedel questioned. “Declan was stopped by Ju-long and was told this was all some sort of misunderstanding.”

If this was a misunderstanding…I wondered what would happen when we finally started to understand each other.

SIXTEEN

“Certain motherfuckers think they can fuck with my shit, but you can't kill the Rooster. You might can fuck him up sometimes, but bitch, nobody kills the motherfucking Rooster. You know what I'm saying?”

~ David Sedaris

ETHAN

10:08 PM

I was good at Italian…when everybody spoke slowly, I could understand. I wanted to know because I hated when people spoke around me and I couldn’t get what they were saying. When the adults did that, spoke in other languages, it was because they didn’t want us to know what they were saying, and if we couldn’t know, it was because it was about us.

Cracking the window open slowly, checking back to make sure Dona and Wyatt didn’t wake up, I crawled out onto the roof, sliding on my stomach until I got to the edge of it, staying low so the men in the yard wouldn’t see me. There were so many, all of them dressed in black, holding big guns, just walking back and forth across the lawn in front of the gate. The men at the gate stood there with dogs. It reminded me of those war movies I saw on the history channel.

“Achoo!” Somebody sneezed under me.

“
Salute
,” another man with a much deeper voice replied.

“
Grazie
,” he said back, and I wasn’t sure but I thought he said, “They say it’s bad.”

“Yeah. Hard to believe the boss dying like that. She’s one tough bitch.”

I frowned, not sure who they were talking about.
The boss? A bitch? What?

“To think Melody Nicci Giovanni dies in the street like a dog.”

Mommy? What?
I tried to slide over farther when all of a sudden I was yanked back into the house, the grip on my ankles and the back of my shirt not letting up until I was flipped onto the bed.

“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” Uncle Neal hollered right in my face. He was so angry he looked like the Hulk; a vein was even sticking out in his neck. The only time I had ever seen him like that was when someone called Nari a bad name. He took a deep breath when I backed away from him. “You could have gotten yourself killed, Ethan.”

“No, I do it all the time.” I frowned; I was good at climbing up stuff.

“That’s—” He started to yell again, but just shook his head at me instead, bending down in front of my bed. “That’s not what I meant. You need to stay inside until we know it’s safe okay?”

“Safe from what?” I asked, but he didn’t answer. “Uncle Neal. Safe from what? Did something happen? Where is my mom? They said something happened to my mom.”

Uncle Neal was a good liar, but Uncle Declan and Dad were better liars, so I could tell when he was lying.

“Your mom’s fine. She’s just working late.” That was his lie, and I didn’t want to be a baby. I didn’t want to get upset or angry, but that pain came back in my chest. It hurt, it hurt more than when Wyatt said he hated me.

“Ethan—”

“You’re lying.”
No. No. No. I don’t want to cry. Big kids don’t cry. Dad never cries.
Wiping my face as fast as I could, it wouldn’t stop.
Damn it!
“My mom! What happened to my mom! Is she dead?”

“No—”

“Then let me call her,” I said, reaching to my bedside table for the phone my dad had given me for emergencies only, but he took it from me.

“Ethan?” Wyatt woke up, rubbing his eyes. “What’s going on?

“Nothing’s going on, go back to bed, Wyatt.” Uncle Neal lied again, this time taking me by the hand and dragging me out of the room.

“Let go! Give it back!” I tried to pull away.

“This is the first time you’ve acted like a little brat in a long time Ethan. I’m disappointed.” It wasn’t Uncle Neal who said that. Turning back, I froze, staring up at my Nana, my nose running no matter how much I tried to suck it up. She crossed her arms, frowning at me.

“You’re the oldest, so when your father isn’t around, you’re the one he counts on to take care of your siblings. If he saw you right now, he’d be disappointed,” she added when Uncle Neal let go of my arms. I fell right in front of her.

“They…they said my mom was dead. It’s not true, right?” I whispered.

“No, she’s not dead. But—”

“Ma, don’t.” Uncle Neal cut her off, but she ignored him, brushing her hand on my face.

“Your mom is hurt, Ethan.” She smiled sadly, and for some reason I couldn’t move. “I’m telling you this because your brother and sister will find out and when they do, they are going to need their big brother to be strong.”

“But…but is she okay?” Nobody could hurt my mommy. Dad always said she was the strongest. No one was stronger than her.

“She’s going to be. Your mother is Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan, do you know what her name means?”

I shook my head. “It’s just a name.”

“Melody, to sing, Nicci, of victory, Giovanni, the one shown favor, Callahan, wise. It’s not just a name. It’s who she is. And you are Ethan, strong and enduring. No one in our family makes a mistake when naming their children. Be strong when everyone can’t be. Endure even when it feels like it’s too painful, and you will never let your parents or yourself down.”

Wiping my face, I got up, coughing until my throat didn’t feel shaky anymore. “Sorry, Nana.”

“My precious, you never have to tell me sorry for anything.” She hugged me. Nana always smelled like vanilla and it made me feel better. “Now off to bed.”

Nodding, I walked back into the room to find Wyatt poking his head out the same window I had.

“Wyatt, no.” I ran over to him, pulling him back.

He frowned. “What is going on? Why are we here? Where are Mommy and Daddy? Why were you crying?”

“I wasn’t crying.”

He crossed his arms. “You suck at lying.”

“Shut up.” I pushed him out of the way, closing the window and stepping on my bed to lock it at the top.

“Ethan tell me, it’s not fair, you know—”

“I don’t know.” I jumped back onto the bed. “I don’t know what is going on. They said Mom got hurt—”

“What?!” he yelled, and I clasped my hand over his mouth.

“You’ll wake up Dona—”

“I’m already awake.” She rolled over, gripping her pet elephant to her chest. “You guys are noisy.”

“Sorry, Dona—eww!” I pulled my hand back when Wyatt licked it.

“That’s what you get!” He snapped at me. “What’s wrong with Mom?”

“I don’t know! But she’s going to be fine—”

“How do you know?”

“Because it’s Mom!” I screamed back at him. He stopped for a moment and I took a deep breath just like Uncle Neal had. “It’s Mom. She’s going to be okay, so stop yelling at me. I don’t know anything else.”

“Aren’t you guys hurt?” Dona asked, still not getting out of bed. “I hurt all over.”

It was only when she said it that I felt my legs start to wobble and my back was just painful. Wyatt lifted up his shirt and all over his skin were purple bruises.

“Aunt Cora said not to move around too much or it will hurt more. You guys don’t listen.” She shook her head at us, turning over.

“Thanks, Dona,” Wyatt grumbled, stumbling back over to his bed. “You are an amazing sister.”

“I know.” She giggled.

“Sarcasm, ever heard of it?” He threw a pillow at her.

She took it and threw it right back. “Nope.”

“Guys we need to go to bed—” Two pillows hit me square in the face, and they just laughed. Grabbing them both, I glared. “Oh, this is war.”

MELODY

9:07 PM

“Mrs. Callahan?”

“Mrs. Callahan?”

“Mrs. Callahan, can you hear me?”

Yes, and your breath smells like stale hot dogs and bad coffee.

“Mrs. Callahan?”

Who is this?

I tried to lift my eyelids, but they felt like they were taped shut.
Why can’t I move? What the fuck? What’s going on? Where am I?

“Mel, baby.”

Liam?

I relaxed when I felt him beside me, stroking the side of my head, his hand in mine.

“Mel, I need you to open your eyes for me all right? Just for a second?”

When I tried again, my eyes snapped open and I had to shut them quickly, trying to turn away from the light blinding me.

“Ugh…” I tried to tell them to turn off the lights, but my throat felt like sandpaper on a cat’s ass.

“Thank fucking Christ.” Liam kissed the top of my head.

What is this?

Again, I opened my eyes. Everything blurred together as if I were drunk until I saw Hot Dog Breath above me. His hair was red, his eyes were brown, and he was far too close for my comfort.

“Mrs. Callahan, I’m Dr. Fortmen. Do you remember what happened?” he asked, shining a light in my eyes.

Stop it!
I wanted to yell, but the only thing that came out of my mouth sounded like a grunt.