“Okay. Okay, no drugs.”
Once again, we fell into silence. I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind. I still couldn’t believe she was pregnant. I mean, yes, it was more than possible. We jumped each other whenever we were alone. I was addicted her.
She glared at me and I wanted her, she sneezed and I wanted her. She was everything, and it had been more than a year since we lost…but the science behind how made sense. It was just a lot.
“What do you want to do, Mel?” I asked.
She didn’t answer right away.
“Do we have to tell them?”
“No, we can wait.” Until we were more comfortable with the idea…until I knew what to do. I had so much to plan and think over.
“Mel,” I whispered, walking over and taking her hand. “I love you. I love who you are and what we do, but it has to be different. I can’t…you cannot fight this battle. You can’t go up against Aviela. Not now. Not like this. I can’t lose our child again. You have to step back…”
“Liam.”
“Mel, I’m not debating this with you. I swear by all that is holy, I will make Aviela pay. I will make them all pay. But…”
“Let me speak,” she snapped as she sat up, only adding to her discomfort. Trying my best to help her, only gave her the chance to push me away with her one good arm.
“Mel…”
“Will you stop interrupting me? It pisses me off and you know it. What the fuck is the point of me telling you shit that ticks me off when you don’t fucking listen anyway?” she hissed through her teeth. Her brown eyes narrowed into slits and I tried my best not to smirk. She was sexy when she was pissed at me.
Even with her bruised lips, tangled hair and bandages, my wife still looked hot as fuck.
“Hormones already? Should I just buy the smoothie store?” The look on her face would have scared any man, I on the other hand found it funny by now.
She reached over and grabbed the first thing she could, and threw it at my head. Sadly, it was her own phone. I dodged it as quickly as possible and it broke apart upon impact with the wall.
“You are an ass, Liam Callahan. First, this isn’t ‘hormones,’ it’s me. Me with three bullet holes in my body, an asshole of a husband…. and meeting Aviela.” She said the last part softly. “The woman who gave birth to me, and also happens to be insane. I’ve had a rough few days, my reaction is completely normal,” she said,
But her reactions weren’t normal to me. If this was anyone else, my Melody would have stitched herself back up yelled at me for being late and then demanded that we hunt down who ever the son of a bitch was right then. Her reaction...well, she was hurt. What was worse was the fact that she didn’t even realize how much.
“What do you need?” I asked her gently, causing her fist to clench up.
“I need to be looking down at my mother the way she looked down at me,” she said as she turned away from me, but I made her face me.
“Mel. I’m never judging you. I don’t need you to be strong every moment of forever. I need you to let me in now more than ever.”
“She shot me, Liam.” Her voice cracked. “With no remorse or hesitation, she shot me with ease. She said that I was nothing more than an unwanted side effect of her job. But I should have known right? Everything we had found out about her said that she was a cold-hearted bitch, but I really didn’t think she would shoot. I don’t know why. I heard her voice and it sounded like the same woman who used to read to me at night.”
I wasn’t sure what to say in reply. What could I say? Part of me didn’t believe Aviela could pull the trigger either. For God’s sake, it was her daughter, her own flesh and blood. Melody and I did not draw lines in the sand, but that was something that I could never dream of doing.
Placing my hand over her stomach, Mel sighed and leaned back into the bed before covering my hand with hers.
“Mel…”
“Fine.”
“What?” I whispered.
She looked me in the eyes. “For our child and for your sanity, I will not chase Aviela. But I want you to. From now on, she’s your mistress.”
“Excuse me?” I tried not to cringe. Maybe she was on drugs.
She laughed, pulling me to her until I was once again lying on the small cot they dared to call a bed. It felt like a prison mattress.
“Aviela is your mistress in that I shouldn’t know anything about her. Everything involving her will be kept secret from me. Even with the men. If they tell me anything about ‘mistress,’ you threaten to cut their balls off and make them wear them as earrings,” she explained softly.