Ruthless People (11 page)

“You embarrassed me! This relationship, this marriage will not work. I will burn the
fucking contract so I can put a bullet in her myself.”

He stepped forward, his eyes darker than a brewing storm. “
You
embarrassed yourself today. Did you not think that a woman, a Boss, like Melody,
could have easily bombed the fucking plane? Yes, I knew where you got the intel from,
you fucking idiot. I checked their files, too, while you were busy chaining your fiancée
to a pool chair.”

“But she didn’t do it, probably because she was weak and didn’t want to kill innocents,”
I snapped back, trying my best not to point a gun in his face.

He pointed at the crumbling wall, which now exposed us. “Did that look like weakness
to you, or are you so blinded by the thought of power that you have forgotten everything
I have taught you?”

I sighed deeply, dropping the gun on the table before I pulled the trigger. “Everything
I did today, you would have done as well.”

“Yes, but I would have made sure it didn’t hurt my wife first. Congratulations, you
have proven to Vance and his brothers that you are just as merciless as they are.
You won the pride of your men, and you pulled off a job no one will tie to you,” he
snapped angrily. “But if you had heeded my words and tried to make peace with Melody
instead, you would have used your access to the Giovanni files and did your homework
on what happened to Melody and her mother to bring you both together in the first
place.”

I froze, not understanding what Aviela Giovanni had to do with this. She had died
years ago.

“Think about it, then go back to her and grovel.” With those words, he left the room.

Taking a seat at one of the only computers not blown to the heavens, I pulled up the
very files he was bitching about, and my blood froze.

MARCH 19: FLIGHT 307 CRASHES INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN; ONE SURVIVOR, SIX-YEAR-OLD MELODY
NICCI GIOVANNI.

“Fuck,” I murmured to myself as I read the title, but it only got worse.

NOTES:

According to young Melody’s memory, there were four men on the plane who stood up
mid-flight and started shooting and demanding Aviela Giovanni, wife to the Boss, to
show herself. Mrs. Giovanni, with the help of her bodyguard, placed Melody into one
of the overhead compartments right before they were both shot and killed. The men,
who were later identified by the
V
tattoo on their arms, were Valero. After the death of Mrs. Giovanni, they proceeded
to kill everyone on the plane. It was due to her tears and whimpering that the men
found her. Landing the plane on the surface of the sea, they filled the chambers with
smoke before dragging young Melody onto an awaiting boat.

Melody explained that, because she was praying, they decided they would let God decide
her fate and threw her back into the ocean holding on to a piece of wreckage. As they
drove away, they told her that if she survived to join the Valero when she was older.

The Boss found his daughter the next morning clinging on to one of the broken wings
of the plane. The plane was torched beyond recognition, and the body of Mrs. Giovanni
was never recovered.

Melody was alive, but suffered from hypothermia, and developed extreme Achluophobia,
which she still has not recovered from. With therapy, it might lessen with time.

COVER-UP:
PLANE CRASH DUE TO ENGINE FAILURE.

“Fuck.” I sighed running my hands through my hair. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Mother of fucking
fuck.”

My mind was so messed up. I couldn’t think straight, all I could see was a younger
version of my fiancée, clinging to a wing in the middle of the fucking Atlantic Ocean.

In the dark. Just how I fucking left her. “Fuck.”

My father was right. I truly needed to grovel, but even that wouldn’t change things.
It wouldn’t be enough. Nothing would be enough, and I had nothing left to give.

I had no idea I was even moving until I found myself standing outside my bedroom,
dreading the thought of going in. My bedroom was my sanctuary, and now, it was going
to be place of my death. But, I needed to man up and deal with the consequences of
my actions.

Inside, she stood at the foot of my bed, dressed in gray with a gun and a knife strapped
to her thigh. She seemed to be taking it all in, from the dark reds and gold of my
bed and walls, to the wooden floors, large windows, lion-skin rug, piano in the corner,
and flat screen plastered on the wall. She turned around slowly, and I really wished
I could hear her thoughts. It wasn’t a woman friendly room. However it was wasn’t
meant to be.

“We had a machine onboard recording their conversations. It’s now somewhere in the
ocean. A team and I will be getting it back,” she told me as she tried to leave the
room, but I grabbed hold of her arm first.

“I can go,” I said as she glared up at me. “I should go because it’s my fault. I’m
sorry. For everything, I . . .”

“Look who finally did a background check. If you want to come, I can’t stop you.”
She ripped her arm from my grasp. “You are everything I thought you would be—a child
in a grown man’s body. You’re brash and wild, and you don’t seem to get the gravity
of our situation. You don’t impress me, Liam Callahan. So get that poor little girl
out of your head, because I am not
her
.”

Closing the small space between us, I glared down into her brown eyes, wanting to
rip them from her oval-shaped face.

“I am brash? I am wild? So says the woman who blasted her way into a private meeting
nearly killing her future in-laws. You do not know me, Giovanni. Do not be fooled
by my wit or charm. It has taken all my strength not to kill you.”

“What wit? What charm? You’re nothing but talk, and I do not need to know you, Callahan.
I just need to marry you.” With that she held her head high and left.

I would not bow down. She would not bow down.

The gravity of our situation was starting to eat away at me. I needed this to work.
The Irish needed this to fucking work. But how the hell was I going to handle a lifetime
of her—a hot-blooded Italian Boss?

Step one, accept she was a damn boss.

Step two, hide all the knives, guns, and maybe the pillows, too.

NINE

“One murder makes a villain,
millions a hero.
Numbers sanctify, my good fellow.”

~ Monsieur Verdoux

MELODY

There was something about Liam Callahan. He was immature, rowdy, and impatient. Those
were just the kinder things I could think of, and yet I knew he smelled like cinnamon,
spices, and apples. I had taken the time to reflect on his scent, even enjoyed it.
Ugh
. On top of that, I enjoyed how he looked up close. The way he flexed his muscles
out of habit and cracked his knuckles when he was tense. I had noticed that in just
two days. I had a whole arsenal of men under my control and many were attractive in
some way, shape, or form, and yet there was something about Liam Callahan.

When he stepped out of his room, he was dressed in dark pants paired with a black
and green vest with the letter
C
on the breast. He looked surprised to see me, as if he wasn’t sure why I was here.
On his arms were bruises and marks from our fight. The idiot should have treated them,
but instead, he had to be a man’s man and leave them.

“Took you long enough, Callahan. Did you need to fix your hair?”

He glared at me before smirking. “It’s called sex hair for a reason. That’s the only
way I fix it. You done being a bitch?”

Fedel came down the hall, before I could respond.

“Ma’am, the helicopter is ready. Monte is fine, and we are ready to aid,” he said,
waiting for orders.

“I already contacted Monte, and he’ll tell you what to do.” His eyes widened, knowing
what I meant. He just lost his title as right-hand man, the fucker. “Next time, Fedel,
when I tell you to fall on your sword, do it without hesitation. You waste my time
and insult my intelligence with a statement like, ‘we’re outnumbered.’ That is all.”

He nodded and left quickly, leaving Mr. Sex Hair and me alone. Liam stared at Fedel’s
with narrowed eyes then turning his glower on me.

I cut in before he could speak again. “The helicopter is lifting us to Delaware. The
flight is an hour. From there, we are taking a speedboat north. The GPS is picking
up the signal fifteen clicks from shore. However, the Valero are already aware of
your stunt and will most likely have men in the water trying to recoup any lost drugs.”
Stepping forward, I made sure he understood I was not playing. “First, you see what
I’m doing, telling you every detail of this? Yeah, that is what you should have done.
Second, this is my operation now. My men. So if you fuck up, I will slit your throat
and then fill you with bull—”

His eyes lit up like fire before he grabbed me and threw me against the wall. “Every
moment you waste roaring at me, is a moment against us, Captain Bitch-a-Lot. As smart
as your plan is, it would be better to have snipers in the air. Something I thought
of before I even stepped out here.”

I just grinned. Even with his arm on my neck, he thought he was so fucking smart.
“You are so right. Which is why I already have Neal and Antonio locked, loaded, and
waiting. Anything else you assume I didn’t think of? When will you get that while
you’ve been number two for daddy, I’ve been number one?”

He said nothing, just glared.

“You should release me, Captain Dipshit or lose your arm. Your choice.”

I didn’t wait, I broke free. I was tiny compared to him, so all I needed to do was
drop down and roll out of his grip. He had so much to learn, and this was his time
to do it.

Due to the fact that I had shot up Sedric’s house, the party they had thrown in my
honor had ended and everyone departed.

Outside were four motorcycles, two of which were taken by Declan and Monte. The other
two for Liam and me—mine white, and his green and black. He looked at me as if I was
a china doll, and all I could do was roll my eyes before jumping on my bike and taking
off as soon as one of their people opened the gate. Only a second had gone by before
I saw him skyrocket past me, almost cutting me off, the sour brat, so I sped up beside
him. We raced through the backstreets of Chicago, the lights from the buildings up
above us all blending together in a single streak. No matter how much gas I gave while
weaving in and out of traffic and intersections, he was always winning. I could only
get in front of him for a second before he would shoot past me out of nowhere. It
was as if he was toying with me.

By the time we got to the silver, luxury-style helicopter parked privately at the
airstrip, Declan and Monte were right behind us. Liam was already off his bike, arms
crossed with a grin on his face, as if he had waited hours—the asshole.

Saying nothing to him, I walked right onboard to find Antonio and Neal salivating
over sniper rifles like kids on Christmas morning.

At least I don’t have to worry about Irish and Italian feuding between them.

“I’m glad to see your loyalty is
still
so easily bought, brother.” Liam glared at him as he took a seat.

Or not.

Neal froze, and I saw a speck of anguish go through his eyes. Liam must have seen
it as well, because he didn’t stop whatever mental assault he was delivering. It was
like he could see into his brother’s soul.

Can all siblings do this?

“Jinx,” I
said
as loudly as possible.

Liam, Declan, and Neal all looked around to find the person behind the name, but no
one came. A second later, the helicopter’s engine kicked on and a soft voice broke
out over our headphones. “
Benvenuto a bordo
,
⁸
ma’am. I will have us to Delaware in forty.”

Monte sat before me in the seat Fedel normally would be in and turned to Liam, who
also sat across from me. “Jinx is our master aviator. If it goes in the sky, he can
fly it.”

“That’s his name?” Neal asked, “Jinx? I feel safer already.”

Monte sneered. “If he’s good enough for the Boss, he’s good enough for you
cane
.”

Antonio snickered.

“Cane? What the fuck did you just call me?

So much for no feuding.

“It means dog.” Liam glared at me.

Was he waiting for me to do something? His brother started it.
Rolling my eyes, I looked to Monte who muttered something under his breath. Neal hunched
over like a
cane
and
focused in on his rifle.

I knew Antonio could shoot to kill in any sort of condition. The wind and darkness
of the evening wouldn’t be an issue. It wasn’t the first time he had done it in such
conditions. However, I was testing Neal, and if he didn’t pass, this would be the
last time he worked closely with me. At least until he became better. I already had
an idea of Declan’s skills. Seeing as he was the one who had “hacked” into my computers.
I made it easy for him, but he still did it quicker than I expected.