The Untouchables(105)

“Damn it,” she whispered.

“You got farther this time. Baby steps, remember? You just got off the chemo,” I whispered, hugging her to me as I sat back on the bed.

“I just want to be better already.”

“You will. Just don’t push yourself too much.” I knew she wouldn’t listen, but I would be here. Each and every time I would be right here reading whatever repetitive classic she needed me to. And if it meant having her by my side just a minute longer, I’d do it forever.





THIRTY-ONE

“Nothing thicker than a knife’s blade separates happiness from melancholy.”

—Virginia Woolf





MELODY

“Mrs. Callahan, are you sure you don’t need a doctor?” Scooter, the know-it-all cop, asked me as I rested against our Range Rover.

The whole opera house had been cleared just a few moments ago, but none of the guests had left. The only thing more tragic than an opera was our real lives. With dogs, the pigs were there with their flashing lights, silver badges and yellow tape; all of them taking pictures of Antonio’s body as he lay there, cold and lifeless. He wasn’t supposed to die. My men died when I fucking said they died…at least if the world worked as it should.

“Mrs. Callahan?”

“We’re fine, officer,” Liam said. “I think it’s time I took my wife home.” He came to stand beside me.

“Mr. Callahan, if you have anything to add to this investigation—”

“Like I said before, we were leaving the opera when our bodyguard was shot,” Liam hissed, opening the car door for me.

“That’s what we’re trying to get at. There is no reason for anyone to kill your bodyguard. That bullet may have been for you, Mrs. Callahan. This type of shot was the same used on the President.” Scooter stood up straighter, as he grabbed hold of my car door.

“On the news they said that was the First Lady…” I started when he cut me off.

“It was, but she has an accomplice we have no information about. If you could just come down to the station, maybe help to find the connection—”

“You’re a cop, not a detective, if you have any more questions for us, please contact our lawyer. Goodnight, Officer,” Liam stated, helping me into the car before slamming the door closed. “Drive.”

Fedel didn’t need to be told twice. It felt odd leaving a man behind. Antonio had been with me for years—with Fedel for years. Antonio was a mentor to both Fedel and Adriana. I knew Monte must have called her. It wasn’t the type of news you broke over the phone, but Adriana would want time to separate herself from us.

Next to me, Liam was so tense he felt frozen, and all I could do was stare into the darkness of the night sky. Chicago was used to death. I was used to death. Neither was I grief stricken nor was I in shock; I was just fucking angry. I felt powerless, and it was a feeling I wasn’t familiar with. This was bad. We need to retaliate quickly or we would have anarchy. The reason our men trusted us and were loyal to us was for the simple reason that we were the biggest and baddest animals. Aviela was making us look weak. This has to end, I just wasn’t sure how. How could she be so fucking good? How could she kill, get into our house, know where we were going? Who knew that much?

I sighed as we pulled to a stop in front of the house. When Fedel opened the door for me, I didn’t even wait for Liam, or anyone else for that matter, to help me. Seeing Evelyn and Sedric along with Olivia and Neal all huddled in the middle of the foyer made me want to scream. I didn’t want to deal with this shit right now.

“Thank God you’re alright.” Evelyn sighed, making beeline for my stomach as I took off my coat and handed it to the maid.

“That depends on your definition of alright, Mother,” Liam stated, walking in and standing beside me. “May I ask what you two are doing back here?”

“We live here,” Olivia snapped.

“Olivia…”

“Liam, I’m sorry, it’s a force of habit. My father is done campaigning and is back in Chicago so we…”

Neal grabbed her hand, stepping forward in the hopes of shutting her up. “Declan and Coraline will be back in the morning. I figured you would want the family together before we get even with this bitch. Tell me what…”

I couldn’t listen to them for another goddamn second. They were just so fucking idiotic, why waste my energy on the waste of space. Walking past them, I pretended they weren’t even there while walking up the stairs. The bottom of my feet hurt like a bitch’s ass at a BDSM club. All I wanted was my bed, but sadly I knew I couldn’t go there just yet. I didn’t usually go to Adriana’s room. It was sort of beyond decorum, but what hell, I made the fucking rules. Pushing into her room, I knew wouldn’t see her.