“Mommy!” He laughed outright, his body twisting and turning away from me, which only made me tickle him more.
“Someone is up past their bedtime,” I said as I sat up and ran my hands through his messy brown hair.
“You promised to come home early,” he said with a frown.
“Blame the teachers,” I said, cupping his face.
“I w—” He coughed before he could finish his statement. But it wasn’t just one cough. He grabbed on to his chest, his whole body leaning forward.
“Ethan? Sweetheart?” I grabbed on to him, his face slowly turning purple. “ETHAN!” I yelled.
“Momma…” he gasped, blood coming from his nose.
“ETHAN! ETHAN! LIAM! LIAM! HELP ME!” Picking him up, I ran towards the door when—
BANG
BANG
BANG
The gunshots never ending, all of coming from…
“WYATT! DONA!”
“Ma’am, we’re under attack!” Fedel yelled and rushed into the room.
“Attack, who?” Fuck, none of that mattered. “Take him! Take care of him now!” I basically threw Ethan into his arms.
“Ma’am, it’s not safe!”
“SAVE MY SON!” I screamed, spit flying from my lips as I ripped the family photo off the wall beside Ethan’s desk. Behind it, I’d stashed my assault rifle, and Glock along with three magazine clips. Strapping them, I didn’t even hesitate before kicking in the door to Wyatt and Dona’s room.
Blood.
On the walls, the floor, but worst of all—all over them.
“Urgah…” A sound that didn’t even seem human came from lips—my eyes on fire as I stared at my children. My babies. “No…no. No. No.”
It was the only word I knew as I ran to them. Wyatt’s body over Dona’s, both of them slumped over the bed.
“Wyatt, sweetheart,” I whispered, petting his head. “Come on, this isn’t funny…get off your sister. Dona baby, push your brother off okay?”
They didn’t move.
They didn’t breathe.
They just lay there…like dead things.
“No…No…” Lying on top of them, I hugged tightly. I didn’t understand. What happened? What was happening?
BANG
BANG
BANG
Again the shots rang out. I didn’t even bother to pick up the guns that I’d dropped. But even opening the door felt impossible; my body felt as if it was going numb. I wasn’t sure if I was fainting or crying, but my vision blurred.
“Mel, run!”
It was only because it was him. Liam. His voice made everything clear again and I wished it hadn’t. I didn’t want to see him like that. On his knees, a gun pointed at his head. His green eyes wide with fear, but for himself, not me.
“Mel, go! GO!” he screamed before the man smacked him across the side of the face with the butt of his gun. His lip ripped open, blood dripping down to the Persian carpet I had been forced to buy at one of those damn charity drives with Evelyn.
“Mel—” He never looked away from me, even as he took another hit.
Stop, I thought.
“Stop,” I whispered.
“Please stop!” I finally yelled.
“Please? What have I told you about saying please, Melody?” The man turned around and when he did, all the air in my lungs evaporated.
“Dad?”
“Am I? Because the daughter I trained, the daughter I raised, she isn’t this weak? Melody Nicci Giovanni, the daughter of Iron Hands, Bloody Melody—that is who you are. What? You thought just because you defeated the Russians, your mother and your grandfather, that it was over? That you’d just ride off into the sunset with your Irish family! THERE IS NO SUN FOR YOU, MELODY! There is no place you can hide. There will always be someone after you. How many goddamn times do I have to teach you this lesson?”
“This isn’t real.” I shook my head and backed away. “I’m going to wake up now.”
“If this isn’t real, then you wouldn’t mind?” he questioned once again—this time with the gun pressed into Liam’s head and I knew this wasn’t real. I knew it, but I couldn’t stop my heart from racing.
“Look at you. I should have never let you into this family. They’ve made you weak. You are a boss, Melody. You belong to the Mafia. Not the Brady Bunch. Get your head out of the fucking clouds and act like who you are.”
BANG
His body fell over sideways, blood pooling out in front me…his eyes never looking away.
“LIAM!”
My eyes opened as I snapped up from bed, gun in hand, my heart still pounding against my chest, my whole body coated in sweat.
“Mel? What is it?” Liam sat up on his elbow, his eyes still half shut.