The Untouchables(118)

“So what you’re saying is that you’ve always wanted me dead.” I wished Orlando had taken her out the moment I was born.

“NO!” she snapped, slamming her hand on the table, spilling her wine across it.

Good ole Nelson was there in a flash, cleaning. She didn’t even look fazed.

“I’ve always tried to save you, Mel bear. I knew he would take you and form you into a monster just like him. Just like my father had done to me. But then I had you, and I never wanted to leave you. For years, I stayed in hell for you. To watch you, until one day, I couldn’t take anymore. I took my chance. I got you and I planned on leaving, disappearing to where Orlando and Ivan couldn’t find us. We were going to be happy and free. But Orlando came looking for you, and my father for me. I knew Orlando would turn you into a monster but Ivan—his granddaughter, a Giovanni?—he would have thrown you with snakes then sent your body to Orlando. I chose the lesser of two evils.”

“So you’re telling me that Ivan didn’t know I was alive all this time? I doubt that. From what I can tell, he knows everything about all the families. So why now, mother dearest?”

“He let you be because I took my punishment and he figured you wouldn’t be able to make it once Orlando died.” She smiled, reaching over the table to take my hand. “But you did. You overcame it all and you fucking showed him how stupid he was to underestimate my daughter.”

“You’re not my mother. I’m not your daughter. Let go of me and finish your fairytale. What was your punishment?” I pulled my hand back.

Her hands clenched together as she readjusted herself. Unbuttoning her shirt slowly, she opened it, and everywhere were scars and dozens of small brown circular wounds that looked to be cigar burns. They littered her pale shoulders, stomach and I knew it reached her back. The distance between knife scars and burns was short. Luckily for her, none of them looked new. If I wasn’t chained to this seat, I may have felt bad…maybe.

“When he was done and satisfied, he let you go, not caring what you did. Orlando was destroying his himself and his “empire” was beyond repair. But I watched you. Your first kill was Atticus Flanagan, an Irish mutt who stalked you down at the seaport. You surprised him and he ended up face down in the lake. You were, fourteen?”

“Thirteen.”

“You sold your first kilo at—”

“I was there. I know, Aviela. Why are you fucking with my life now?”

“Because you stupidly laid down with the mutt and his dirty little family. Ivan wanted you dead instantly, but I convinced him that he couldn’t take out the head of the Italian mafia. Imagine all the chaos. All the wars as people tried to replace you. He thought I cared about you, that’s why I shot you. I needed him to believe that I could kill you if I wanted to. Ivan is all about balance, about keeping the underground under ground. But you are my daughter. You had to reach higher, you had to control the president of the United States. You reached a little too close to home for him.”

“Ivan is in the White House?” Shit.

She didn’t answer. “I told him you wouldn’t win and street wars weren’t worth killing you. I made sure to kill the President just to secure his wife. She would have the pity vote, yet you still out-played me. So like I said, you’ve made my life so much harder than it needed to be. This is the only way I know how to protect you now. We’re going to have a do-over. We’re finally going home.”

“I have a family, Aviela. A son who he needs me! I won’t fucking run from a fight and I sure as hell won’t run from him. ”

“You’re not in a fight. You never even got in the damn ring. Ivan has you. He’s the only untouchable one in this game. In an instant he can take your son and burn you like he burned me. He would kill Liam. But this is a win-win. He gets his balance, the Italians will break away, leaving Liam less powerful. Liam will be devastated, but live for your son. He won’t even be able to control President Colemen. Once that man gets power, he will block out your husband. Your son will live, and because you’re like me, you can watch from afar and learn to be okay. Your child will be okay, Mel bear. He’s alive because you loved him enough to stay away.”

She’s ri—

I pushed that thought out of my mind, and leaned against the chain so she could see my eyes.

“I will get out of this. I will kill you, and I will protect my family the same way I always have. I’m Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan, I don’t run away. I destroy everything in my path, which includes you.”