Текст книги "Ruthless People"

Автор книги: J. J. McAvoy

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

“How is your leg?” I asked, trying my best not to smirk. Melody and her handiwork.

“Doctor said it will be like this for another four or five months. I think your wife hates me, sir.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed even though the pain ached in my chest.

“Don’t take it personally. She hates everyone equally. At least she didn’t stab you.”

“The men were thinking of starting an injured by BM club,” he said, and I stopped.

“BM?” What the fuck were they calling my wife?

“Bloody Melody,” he answered quickly.

It fit. The moment she found out, though, they were all going to prove that name right. Shaking my head at him, I continued forward.

“None of you call me anything do you?” If they did, I would kill them myself.

Eric tensed, and I didn’t even bother pushing. When I stepped into the dining hall, everyone shut up immediately. My eyes narrowed in on Declan, who was hunched over a bowl of food and looking a little pale. Next to him was Neal, who appeared to be in much better shape, even with a broken nose, a black eye, a spilt lip, and what looked to be a choke hold bruise on his neck. He would live.

“Don’t you just love my wife?” I asked them loudly, causing the men to either laugh or grin like fools.

Antonio stood up with a mug filled with what had to be alcohol. “Lunga vita alla Regina!”

“Fada beo an Banríon!” My men yelled back in Irish.

Long live the queen, indeed.

They had been here, what, two days? Maybe three if I’d slept for as long as I thought, yet here they were, drinking and laughing at one another.

Grinning along with them, I nodded over at Neal and Declan who were both glaring at me. Rising, they followed as I walked from the dining hall to the shade of the trees. Declan moved slower than usual, as did Neal.

“So how are you?” I asked them, trying not to laugh.

Declan stepped forward, nose flared and eyes wide. He was pissed.

“You fucking two-bit asshole of a dick! You are fucked in the head. Your wife stabbed me! She fucking stabbed me, Liam! Have you ever been stabbed? This bitch”—he pointed to Neal—“was the one who fucking shot you, and he only gets tasered! All I did was try to calm her down. What kind of bullshit is that?”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Even though it hurt like a son of a bitch all I could do was laugh. It was so fucking funny. I hadn’t ever laughed like this before my Mel came along.

“Why did you even try in the first place?  She shot me in the thigh when she was calm. I’m surprised she didn’t do more.”

Declan shook his head, and I could see the rage building in his eyes. “I fucking hate you all!”

With that he walked away. Slowly, the big baby.

Neal stood still, not saying a thing and waiting for me to live up to my side of the deal. Part of me had hoped he would fail so I could hate him, but it was time to move forward. He did what I asked. Sighing, I reached out for his hand.

“There will be times where I’m still going to be an asshole to you,” I said when he took my hand. “However, I promise to move forward, brother. I will not hold the past against you any longer. I will no longer hate you for it. I still dislike your wife, but I don’t hate you.”

“Can you just do that? Can you let go of the hate?”

“Automatically, no. However, you’re the reason why my wife and I had mind-blowing sex last night and will continue to. That’s enough to make me at least want to have a beer with you. After now, we never speak of this moment again, and let Declan know.” I had told him the truth, and he looked . . . lighter, like someone had taken the world off his shoulders for once.

“Thank you, Liam.”

“Well, the first few beers are on you. That shit hurt!” I winced and grabbed my chest before walking away.

Walking back to our cabin, I found myself feeling lighter as well. Things in my personal life were finally making sense. All I had to do was kill Vance, Saige, Amory, the police, and then take over the rest of the country, plus Europe. All of which was possible thanks to my wife. Thanks to my Mel.

As if she could read my mind, the moment I walked in I found my beautiful wife dressed in my shirt, sitting on our bed with files and a laptop around her.

“The life of a mafia couple.” I smirked, taking off my jacket slowly while trying not to wince at the pain.

“It’s a bloody but necessary one,” she said, handing me a file as I lay back down.

“They are calling you Bloody Melody now.” I smirked at her, flipping through what looked to be more coded letters from Saige.

She stopped and frowned. “That doesn’t strike enough fear into the hearts of men and woman everywhere.”

“Oh, it does. They fear and respect you. Maybe more than me.” I pouted, and she smiled, bending down to kiss my lips.

“You could blow up the police commissioner’s house for trying to break into our downtown factory.”

She smiled, causing me to rise up quickly. Maybe a little bit too quickly but I ignored the pain.

“What the fuck?” I shouted, searching for the file she was talking about, but she simply handed me the laptop.

“That is our meth lab in Orland Park, isn’t it?” she asked, even though we both knew it was.

“How the fuck did he get in there?” I snapped, watching as the idiot and his men broke into the factory. So much for personal rights.

Mel picked up Saige’s coded letters. “Apparently Vance is tipping them off as a way to keep us distracted.”

Taking the letters, I raked through them quickly.

“This could be a trap. Saige could be writing these as bullets for us to pick up and shoot ourselves with.” I didn’t know this Saige well enough yet. But from what I did know, she was a snake in the grass and someone needed to cut off her head before she fed and grew.

“I thought the same thing and had Fedel contact Ryan after we first got off the jet. Apparently, Saige forgets things constantly and needs to write everything down. Amory has her computer coded weekly so no one can hack in. Ryan is a big help with that. But I’m not ruling out anything yet. Right now we do still have a police rat outside our door,” she replied looking at the computer screen.

“Declan put a bomb under his house,” I said, reminding myself. Mel flipped the channel to the small and modest family home in the Chicago suburbs. He must have kept it even after he lost his family. It was kind of sad.

She handed me a cell phone, and I smiled. Pressing send and watching the house go up in flames was like watching fireworks during New Years. Now it wasn’t so sad anymore.

Flipping back to the factory, I dialed the site number and pressed send once more for the heck of it, and Mel turned to me wide-eyed.

“What the fuck did you just do?” she gasped, staring at the screen.

“Too many people knew about the place. We were having meth-heads show up at the door. I had everything moved from there a month ago.” The commissioner would have found nothing anyway.

Mel smiled, but in a flash it was out as we spotted the commissioner’s stupid, Smokey the Bear sidekick helping his boss out.

“Some rats just don’t know when to die.”

Kissing her neck, I pulled her toward me. “In due time, love. In due time. We will make them all suffer.”

“And then we kill them?”

I grinned. “Then we will kill them. One by one, until all that’s left are bloodstains.”

As she relaxed into me, we watched the police officers who weren’t so lucky get burned alive. I counted six running around like chickens with their heads cut off. However, I wasn’t sure if there were any still inside the burning building.

“He’s going to try to pin this on us.” Mel smirked, drinking my brandy.

“I hope he does. Now I have a reason to go annoy Judge Randal.” What’s the point of having a judge on the payroll if you never get to use him?

“And Senator Colemen,” she added and looked to me. “You know, I’ve never killed someone in pajamas before.”

“Neither have I. May we always remember our first,” I replied, taking her lips with mine. This was how it should have been from the start. She and I setting the world on fire together.

TWENTY-ONE

“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves,

and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.”

~ Agnes Repplier

CORALINE

Day 3

“I can’t do this!” I choked out before puking into the bowl once again.

“Cora, you’re doing well, and I’m not going to be the one to tell the Boss you gave up after only three days,” Adriana said, holding my hair back.

Pushing her away, I backed up against the tub. “My skin is so beaten up, it changed colors. I can barely stand. I can’t do this. I can’t. I’m in so much pain all the time, Adriana. Please, let me give up.”

Adriana sighed, kneeling in front me. She took my hands and pulled me to my feet.

“You are stronger than you think, Cora. In three days, you have come so far. Yes, I know you are in pain. But you aren’t the same Cora. So suck it up, get dressed, and go to dinner so we can get to work tonight,” she demanded, handing me an outfit to wear.

Grabbing the clothes, I glared at her. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” She smirked, before leaving.

It hurt like a bitch getting into those clothes. My arms felt like they were being burned off. If I hadn’t just thrown up everything in my stomach then I would have just gone to bed, but I was so damn hungry. Washing out my mouth, I rinsed before heading down the stairs slowly.

“Coraline?” I jumped at her voice.

Not Olivia.

“Yes, Olivia?” I turned to her when we reached the dining hall.

She looked me up and down but didn’t say anything. Stepping into the dining room, both Evelyn and Sedric stopped speaking and just stared at me.

How did Mel handle all the staring? Whenever people stared at her, she simply walked prouder.

Taking a deep breath, I walked slowly to my seat. Placing the napkin in my lap, I grabbed some food and pretended they weren’t there.

“Okay, Coraline, enough. What is happening to you? Are you all right? I’m worried,” Evelyn asked, causing me to jump.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” I replied, filling my plate.

“The way you wince when you breathe means you, at the very least, have a bruised rib. Not to mention the busted lip you’re hiding under makeup. But those are only the wounds we can see. I’m willing to bet Declan’s life on it, so tell me the truth, Coraline,” Sedric demanded as he cut into his lamb.

“I’m taking a self-defense class,” I answered, waiting for them to flip out. However, only Olivia seemed shocked.

“Why in God’s name are you taking a self-defense class?” It seemed like a stupid question.

“Because I would like to defend myself?”

“This is about Melody isn’t it?” she snapped. “She is killing this family and tearing us apart from the inside out.”

It’s not like we were perfect before.

“What would Declan think Coraline? What if you were to get hurt? You have no idea what you’re doing. You aren’t some—”

“Shut up!” I yelled, standing up angrily. “What I want to do with my life and my body is none of your damn business. The only person’s opinion that matters is Declan’s. We get it, you’re bitter that Mel stole your thunder and that the magazines no longer give a shit about you. But it doesn’t mean you have to take it out on me. Go look up baby names or something, and leave me the hell alone.”

When I was done, I blinked a few times, unsure of where that came from. Taking a seat again, I kept my head down and finished eating.

“Sorry for cursing, Evelyn.”

“Not at all. It seems like you have been holding that in for a while.” She laughed when I looked up.

Sedric frowned. “Who is giving you these lessons? Are they trustworthy?”

“Adriana, Mel’s—”

“The slave girl who follows Melody around like a lost dog?” Olivia snorted, drinking her wine.

“Olivia, that is enough,” Sedric snapped, and she stood up straight immediately. “Coraline, when do you train again?”

“Tomorrow at five,” I answered, smiling at Olivia.

“Very well, I shall see you both then.”

Shit.

Day 5

“Do it,” I told Adriana as I sat in front of the mirror.

“Are you sure Cora?” Evelyn asked, looking at my hair.

“It is just hair. It will grow back, right? Adriana almost ripped my ponytail out during our fight yesterday,” I said. After everything, Evelyn and Sedric were both watching as if it were some damn sport. Sedric didn’t really speak. However, he would frown every time my body collided with the floor.

Adriana demanded I learn how to use my size to an advantage, so everything I learned had been quick jabs and kicks. She made me jump up and down for an hour straight before having me kick her hands. But I could barely even stand up, let alone kick. When I puked, she gave me water, some bread, and a six-minute break before putting me to work again.

“Here I go,” Adriana said, and I closed my eyes. All I heard were the scissors snipping away at my hair.

“Evelyn, your nephew will still love me if I’m bald right?” I joked.

“Um—”

“Evelyn!” My eyes flew open, and I stared at my reflection. I looked so different. Not bad different, just different.

Evelyn gasped. “Adriana, you must cut my hair from now on.” She messed with some of the edges of my hair until she met my eyes in the mirror. “You look beautiful, and Declan, will fall in love with you all over again.”

God, I hoped so.

“Now you, Adriana.” I smiled, standing up as I pulled her down.

“Cor . . .”

“Nope, we’re doing this, and if you don’t, I will cut your hair while you sleep,” I threatened, causing her to roll her eyes.

“I don’t sleep,” she joked.

“Why doesn’t that shock me?” I smiled, grabbing the flat iron.

“I think we may have some contacts. Let me see if there are any for your prescription,” Evelyn said quickly, walking out of the room.

“Sexy Adriana is under here somewhere.” I grinned. “This is going to be like one of those teen movies.”

Day 7

I pressed my dress down for what had to be the ninth time since we stepped out of the car. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. I was so excited to see him. However, the first person to step out of the jet was one of the men I didn’t recognize, followed by Mel. She looked me over as she made her way toward me.

However, I couldn’t pay attention because there was my Declan. His eyebrows squished together as he looked at my hair.

“Do you like it?” I asked him as I brushed the back down a little.

He reached over and played with a little before looking back to me. “I’m kind of shocked, but you look cute.”

Cute, not beautiful, but I would take that for now. It was better than nothing.

TWENTY-TWO

“It is surely easier to confess a murder over a cup of coffee

than in front of a jury.”

~ Friedrich Dürrenmatt

LIAM

“That’s right, you little shit, come closer,” she said as she eyed the deer standing a few dozen feet away.

“Relax your arm and breathe,” I told her, resting my head right beside hers.

“My arm is relaxed, and you’re doing enough breathing for the both of us,” she replied like the smartass she was.

Backing away from her, I rolled my eyes. “Well then, go ahead, kill Bambi.”

She released the arrow and just like I figured, it went right past the deer’s head, causing it to run away in fear. She watched it disappear into the forest in silent rage before turning back to me. Handing me the bow and arrows, she pulled out a gun, and I tried not to laugh.

“I could kill it so much better with this!” she yelled, and it was cute, especially since I knew I wasn’t the source of her rage.

“That’s not the point.” I lifted the bow to the sky, pulling it back and releasing the arrow. It went straight through a bird’s heart. Mel simply rolled her eyes, pointing to the sky and shot three times.

“Three birds for me, one for you. What’s the point again?” She smiled, looking down at the . . . fuck.

“We just killed Mockingbirds.” I frowned, kneeling down to stare at the four birds now half-blown to pieces on the ground.

“Please, tell me you’re joking.”

Smiling at her once more, I stood and released another arrow into the tree, watching another one of the beautiful birds fall to its death.

“Show off.”

“I found the one weapon my wife can’t use.” I grinned as she glared at me. “I think I’ll show it off as much as possible.”

“I’m a people hunter! Who hunts people with arrows?” she snapped, and I opened my mouth to speak but she glared.

“If you say the Green Arrow I will shoot you in the other thigh,” she added, and all I could do was smirk at her.

“All people are animals, love. They freeze when they are afraid. They cry out in pain as they die. A hunter is a hunter, and if you can kill a deer, you can kill a person. It’s that simple,” I replied. “Plus, I wasn’t going to say the Green Arrow, maybe Hawkeye or Katniss Everdeen, but definitely not the Green Arrow.”

Her eyes became wide, and she turned away from me, heading back to camp. It wasn’t hard catching up to her.

“You are such a child,” she said, but I could see the smallest grin on her lips.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, taking her hand and pulling her to me. She looked at her hands and then to me. I knew she was somewhat uncomfortable, but she didn’t pull away.

“What? Aren’t you going to ask me to go steady first?”

“Maybe if we were in the nineteen fifties.”

“Have you ever been on a date?” I asked her, causing us to stop.

“I don’t date, and you better not try any of that romantic shit on me either,” she said.

“Girls like romantic shit.” I smiled. She always made me smile, and I wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to hide it from her or the world.

“I’m not ‘girls.’ I’m Melody.”

“We can compromise,” I said, leaning against one of the tress.

She crossed her arms and stood straighter. “Or I could shoot you.”

“Violence is not the answer, love. Well violence against me isn’t the answer,” I replied, thinking quickly. “We can have private dates. You and I in our bedroom, where only I can see you being kind.”

Before she could speak, I pulled her toward me and pressed her up against the tree, kissing her ruthlessly, only to break away.

“On special occasions, we can kill the cops or anyone else who gets in our way in our pajamas again. We can watch as they bleed out and burn, drink wine and have each other over and over again. After all, we are both people hunters,” I whispered into the distance between our lips.

She kissed me, pressing her whole body against mine and broke away with a grin. “You sure know how to charm a woman.”

Her words made me so hard I lifted her up and pinned her against the bark. God, I loved my wife.

“Sir, ma’am,” a voice called out from behind us, and right then and there, I wanted to snap his neck. The darkness in Mel’s eyes told me she wanted him dead as well.

Breaking away from me, she turned to Fedel who stood with his back turned. “What!”

He didn’t turnaround. “The jet has been fueled and will be ready to depart. Neither of your phones were working, but your father, sir, has tried to reach you. The police commissioner is giving a statement to the press about the fire in an hour. They also came by the house this morning.”

That bitch came to my motherfucking house again? He was just asking to fucking die!

“Are the men ready?” Mel asked, adjusting her clothing, but she didn’t need to—she always looked the same—beautiful, deadly, and fuckable.

“Yes, ma’am. Monte and all the others who drove left last night,” he answered quickly. He was definitely more afraid of Mel than he was of me. I was going to have to balance that scale as well.

“Leave us,” I demanded, and he was gone. Turning to my wife, I tried to breathe calmly, however I wanted the cop fucker dead.

“I’m going to kill him,” I told her. “I’ll find out—”

“It won’t work. You have to break him.” She sighed, stepping in front of me. “Killing him is only half the battle. He is becoming a model for the rest of the force. He is becoming a hero. He is going to give some uplifting speech and try and reinstate a hope for better future. It’s time we do what we promised to do if he didn’t back down.”

“We make Chicago bleed,” I said, and she nodded.

“When the crime is in the ghettos, no one gives a shit. When the crime makes its way to the suburbs, people demand better from their police officers.”

“They begin to distrust them. When they do, we will step forward and remind them why they love the Callahans.”

“I will have Declan and Monte hack the records and find all the police officers who have families.” She smiled, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted the city and the state to cry out in agony.

“Not just the police,” I added as we headed back to camp. “I want the names of every judge, politician, and businessman who does not support our family. You step in front of us, we blow a hole through you and every last person who ever knew you.”

There would be blood, and lots of it.

MELODY

“People of Chicago, I come to you now because I know you are afraid. I’m from Chicago. I know this city like the back of my hand, and I know that we can get back to the glory days. It’s why the Chicago PD is working overtime to make our cities safe. If you see anything, we will protect you if you come forward. It’s time we take our city back from those who believe we have given up. From those who think we are just going to allow them to keep—”

“His voice makes me want to shoot myself.” I groaned muting the computer in front us. “Maybe we should kill him now. Don’t we have snipers in the area?”

Liam drank my wine as he relaxed as well. “You and I both know that would be a bad idea. Tomorrow begins the reign of terror, just hold off another twelve hours.”

Sighing, I looked to the computer screen where the idiot was still speaking.

“Does he really believe anyone is going to talk?”

“They would have to be pure idiots,” Liam said. However, Fedel stood up and placed another file in front us.

“What is this?” I asked, but the moment I opened it, a grin spread across my face as I handed it to Liam, waiting to see how he would react.

“Jesus Christ, you did this in church?” He laughed, lifting up the hospital photo of Natasha. I should have just killed her.

“I was told you saw her for breakfast,” I stated, and he looked up to me, eyes wide, before turning to Fedel.

His jaw set as he threw the photo back on the table. “You had me followed?” he hissed.

“The morning you were being an ass,” I paused and, grabbing the brandy, added, “the morning you were being a giant ass, I had you followed and your ex-girlf—”

“She was a bitch I fucked in the past, not my ex-girlfriend,” he snapped.

Leaning in, I made sure he could see my eyes. “I’m not sorry, not even a little bit, and I don’t care who she was. She wanted to be a part of your future, and I made sure she knew what would happen if she crossed that line again.”

His nose flared but he simply glared at Fedel. “Why are you showing this to us?”

“Ms. Briar filed a police report to Sam, claiming, ma’am, that you were the one who attacked her. Brooks is waiting for your directions,” Fedel replied.

“Kill her,” he demanded. “I warned her when she ambushed me before.”

“That would look bad.” I sighed because I really did want the bitch dead. “If she were to be killed, it would be too obvious. She has family. They would realize it, and that is just too many loose ends for one whore.”

I just wasn’t sure what to do with her.

Liam pinched the bridge of his nose before lifting up the photo again. “A broken nose and jaw, large abrasions across the forehead, with trace amount of bleach in her throat.

“Bleach in her throat?”

I shrugged. “They must have used bleach in the toilet bowl I stuck her head in.”

He tried not to smile, but I could see his lips twitch up. Shaking his head, he placed the file back down.

“Ninety percent of those wounds could have been self-inflicted. After all she is a very unstable woman with a history of stalking and violent acts in a fit of jealously,” he said, seriously, looking over to Declan, who looked much better than he did earlier in the week. He was lucky I had only used my small knife.

“Declan, make sure all records of Natasha Briar list her as mentally unbalanced. Fedel, have Brooks flag her as mentally ill as well by whatever doctor she visited—pay him well enough to make sure he stresses the need to get her ‘help’—and by the end of the week, make sure she should be in West Ridge.”

“West Ridge is the worst mental hospital in the state, if not the country.” I smiled. If Natasha wasn’t crazy now, she would be.

“I know. We can kill her after the dust settles.” He smiled back.

“How romantic. I hate blondes.” I laughed along with him. However, I stopped when I heard a snicker.

“Poor Olivia.” Liam turned to Neal. I didn’t bother giving him a glance.

“I don’t give a shit,” I replied, looking out the window. “She should be happy I took it easy on him.”

Liam shook his head. “You broke his nose—something I’m starting to see you’re good at—and damn well choked the life out of him, then tasered him.”

“Are you defending him? I did worse to Declan, and he didn’t even shoot you.” He was too calm about this, and it pissed me the fuck off.

“I second that,” Declan muttered just loud enough so we could hear him.

Liam rolled his eyes. “We’re going to war, remember. After tomorrow, hell is going to break loose. We are family, and we need to make sure our personal shit is together. Besides, you stabbed Declan with a knife the size of a dagger.”

“Are we seriously discussing the type of weapon used to stab me in the chest?” Declan asked, and it was my turn to roll my eyes.

“It wasn’t even really your chest. It was much closer to your shoulder-blade. The worse you needed was stitches, you big baby,” I added, and Neal snickered until I glared at him again.

“I have a much bigger knife waiting for you,” I snapped.

“If Neal ever shoots anything near me again, I will take off his head and mount it on the fucking wall.” He seemed to mean it, but I wasn’t sure.

“I still hate him,” I replied, drinking.

“Looks like I’m not the only romantic one.” He grinned, however, it was interrupted by a cellphone. Neal answered it quickly before handing it to Liam.

“Father.” Sighing, Liam placed it on speaker before setting it on the table. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Liam asked, sitting up straighter. I didn’t understand why men always felt the need to prove something to their fathers.

“Liam, Melody, I’m sure you both took time out of your busy schedules to watch the news. The police commissioner is becoming a problem.” Sedric’s voice sounded hard, like he was trying to control his anger.

“Yes—”

“We are handling it, Sedric. Is that the only reason you called?” I asked before Liam could make a fool out of himself. He looked me dead in the eye, as if I’d lost my mind.

There wasn’t a reply at first, just a deep breath. Did I tick off Sedric? Too fucking bad.

“Evelyn just received an invitation to a wedding being held here in Chicago for a Saige Rozhkov and Amory Valero.”

Liam’s eyes narrowed as we looked at each other. Nodding, he took a deep breath.

“We will be attending. If that is all, Father, we must be going,” Liam replied, ending the call before he could get another word in.

Rising from our seats, we both walked into our private cabin at the back of the jet. The second the door closed, I began to speak.

“You are the head of this family, not your fucking father. You do not sit up straighter for him. You do not even give him all your fucking attention. And you sure as hell do not answer his questions like you are still second-in-command. The only person who gets that amount of respect is me. You are a leader, so lead. You share with him when you motherfucking feel like it. Not when he calls and barks. You may be his son, but you are not his child. You are Ceann na Conairte, and I am the Boss, even to our fathers. If you embarrass me or yourself like that again, I will rip out your throat.”

LIAM

She’s right. That was the very first thing that went through my mind after she left. I was the Ceann na Conairte, not my father. I had seen him as such for so long that it was almost second nature to show him that same respect. Stepping off the plane, Mel stood before none other than Coraline.

“What in Jesus fuck happened to my wife?” Declan asked from behind me.

“What happened to her hair?” Neal asked, staring at the shorthaired girl standing in front of Mel.

Without answering either of them, I walked to my wife only to be met with another shock.

Is that the ugly duckling? Adriana stood beside Coraline, her nest of a hair tamed, her glasses gone, and her face covered in light makeup. She wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, but she didn’t deserve the ugly duckling title anymore.

“Adriana, ride with us,” was all Mel said when I reached her. “Cora we will talk later.”

Once we reached the car, the driver opened the door for us while Adriana took a seat up front.

“I’m guessing you had something to do with this?” I asked Mel once we were on our way home.

“She came to me. I had Adriana do what she could,” she replied, not in the least bit worried about how this might turn out. Declan . . . well Declan really couldn’t do shit, and that’s probably why she wasn’t bothered.

Sighing, I turned to the woman up front. “Well, what can my sister-in-law do?”

“She was difficult the first day, frustrated with herself and the world on the second. The third day, she puked up half her weight, and then the rest of the week she got a lot of the basics down. She will need more practice, but she is getting used to carrying a knife. Mrs. Callahan was right about the gun. She tried it, and almost blew her hand off.” I could hear the amusement in her voice. However, my mind couldn’t picture Coraline doing any of those things.

“And her hair?” Mel asked.

“She got a little carried away with the whole becoming a warrior thing. She demanded to listen to Rocky during one of the morning sessions. Then at night, she wanted to listen to Eye of the Tiger on repeat. Eve—Mrs. Callahan found it fitting.”

Mel sat up. “I thought I told you to keep this discrete.”

“I tried, ma’am. The second and third days were the hardest for Coraline, and she was so sore she couldn’t hide it during dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Callahan believe it is just self-defense. Olivia Callahan tried to tell Neal, so I had her phone jammed, ma’am.”

Mel frowned but nodded, even though no one else would be able to see her but me.