wasn’t broken anymore.” Turning to the bitch as she turned blue, I glared into her eyes.

“Never
If you are in this family you are broken, don’t kid yourself. come near me again or I swear on the head of your mother and father, I will
kill you.”
“He made me feel safe again, happy again. But there is still this part of
me that I can’t fix. I hate people. I hate men . . . all men outside of this Dropping her on the ground, I took my seat again, pulling out a cigarette
family.” as my father handed me a lighter while mother frowned. It was the only
thing that could calm me down now. Neal held on to Olivia for dear life.
That is the very definition of broken!
Declan kept staring at Coraline as if she could disappear at any moment. I
“And I hate women in some ways, because I hate myself. So when I saw knew they were still fighting or whatever the fuck they were doing, but they
you walking as if you were on water, I hated you the most. Neal tried to would be fine. Despite the fact that she wasn’t looking at him, she did allow
knock some sense into me. He said you’re the queen and I’m the princess. him to hold her hand. The only ones who truly seemed calm were my
After that, I was able to handle it until Evelyn told me you were pregnant.” parents, but I knew it was simply due to the fact that they had done this
She laughed bitterly. before. It wasn’t the first time we had lost a child because of the Valero, but
You are insane Olivia. Leave me alone. it would be the last. I would make sure of it. I did my best not to think about
“I wanted a child of my own. Neal and I tried over and over again, and it. But it left a burn in my chest and made my blood boil.
here you, the woman dripping in blood and sin, were going to have a child. The moment the surgeon came out, we were all on our feet.
So I cursed God. I told Him that He was an egotistical, bigoted asshole. “Don’t waste words. How is she?”
Where was the justice? All the shit I had gone through and I just wanted a
child. You kill, you steal, you lie, and yet, He gave one to you. But here I “Mr. Callahan, your wife is fine and is now in her room. We did
am regretting it so badly, Melody,” she whispered the last part. everything we could for the child, but . . .”
Turning away from him, I nodded at Declan and Neal who already knew
“I never ever meant to hurt you, and I swear from this day forward I will
no one but family and her doctors were to enter that room.
always love you like I should have from the very beginning.” If she knew
me at all, she should have known I didn’t want or ask for her love and that I “Thank you, doctor.”
knew it was bullshit. She wanted to make herself feel better not me. “Blake, sir, Dr. Nickolas Blake,” he said quickly, shaking my hand. I
I was tired of listening to her. So I just slept. tried to leave but my mother held on to me.
“Everyone go. We need a moment.” She said it in such a way that none
of us could even bring ourselves to argue. I had never heard so much anger
roll off her tongue. She and my father shared a quick glance before she
pulled me off to the side.
“Mother, whatever it—”
“Right now, this very moment, will define you and your marriage
forever,” she said. In her eyes, all I saw was pain. “The wife you once knew
is not going to be the same woman you see when you walk into the room.
Imagine that Melody ‘the Boss’ is simply asleep and how you react will
define how long she remains so. She needs to mourn.”
LIAM

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 She doesn’t know my wife. She didn’t even shed a tear after her father have been impossible. No way would any man, true mafia gangster bow
died. down to a woman, and yet there you were. And the men were bowing so
“Mel isn’t the crying type.” low they were almost kissing your white shoes. Do you know that’s a thing
on Twitter?”
My mother slapped the back of my head, something only she could do.
“You’re not listening to me. Your wife was attacked. Her child was stolen Please go away Olivia, I thought to myself once again, and again I failed
from her. She isn’t the same ‘type’ you remember. At least not now. You to say it out loud. So she went on . . . again.
have two choices—pull away or hold on to her even when her words and “Hashtag, Melody Callahan,” she whispered. “You’re trending. You’re
actions hurt you. Because they will, believe me they will. Do not make the always trending, and you don’t even know it.
same mistakes your father and I made.” “Anytime we step out in public, you’re on Fashion Police, or some other
“You came through it,” I whispered. Here they were, so many years later, random magazine, being praised. But you don’t care because you’re a
as in love as ever. fucking Boss. So of course, I was jealous. The stunningly beautiful, always
She smiled, but it didn’t make her eyes shine like usual. “I asked for a fashionable, deadly frightening Melody Callahan? How the fuck are any of
divorce. I had the papers drawn up and even called my cousin in Canada. us supposed to stand next to that?”
Your father agreed. Had you not gone to the hospital, we wouldn’t have Why won’t you go away?
made it. He couldn’t handle my mood swings or all the names I called him. “I shouldn’t care right?” She sighed. “But I do care. You’re everything I
I couldn’t stop myself from blaming him. We made it. But we made it wanted to be and then some. The object of every man’s desire, and yet
through the hard way. So this, son, is your defining hour, and how you react never a person. I was born beautiful, and I don’t mean that in a cocky, ‘I
now will either break or make your future. Whatever pain and anger you are love myself’ sort of way. I was born beautiful, and guys always liked me
holding on to let it go before you see her or you may just lose her.” for it. But there was one guy who liked it a little too much. I was a freshman
She kissed me on the cheek before leaving me standing there, unable to in college. I was actually saving myself for the one, and I knew he wasn’t it.
even speak. I couldn’t even breathe. Walking into a nearby supply room, I So instead of paying attention in school to those stupid flyers and posters
let the tears fall for the child I would never get to meet—who I would never that all read ‘No means No,’ he . . .”
get to know—and I tried to not let myself grow angry with her. What was She sobbed, and I just wanted to sleep.
fucked up was the fact that my anger at Mel overshadowed my anger at
“He pulled me into his dorm room, and no one did anything because I
Saige. I told her not go. I told her to get in the fucking safe room, but she
was the pretty girl who most likely did get around. His friends were there
didn’t listen. She never listened.
and they all—” She stopped, staring at her tattoo, running her finger over it
Slapping my cheeks, I took a deep breath before walking back out again. so many times I stopped counting. “When they finished, they laughed at the
No one made eye contact with me until I stood right outside her door. Neal fact that I was the loosest virgin they had ever had. When I got home, I had
and Declan were smart enough to look away. never cried or scrubbed myself so hard. The next day I pulled out of all my
It felt like hours before I found the will to walk in, and to my surprise, classes and finished the rest of my college career from the safety of my
Mel was sitting up. She looked so dazed, like she had gone to war and come bedroom.”
back, but nothing was the same as it once was. Evelyn kissed her forehead, I wasn’t sure what she wanted from me, but I enjoyed the silence as she
while Coraline gave her a small hug. Olivia stayed back. She stood next to lost herself in her thoughts. Sadly, it was short-lived.
Sedric with her head hung low as if she were some servant, and the sight of
“I got this tattoo a month before I found Neal. A Dara knot, I wanted to
it pissed me off.
be strong again and it made me feel that. I think that’s why I found Neal, I

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 He stood up when Adriana came in with a bowl of something. I couldn’t “Out,” was all I had to say before they left, and it was in that same
really hear what they were saying, and I didn’t care. I wanted to go back to moment that I knew my mother was right. Never in all our months together
sleep, but my body wouldn’t let me. had I ever see Mel jump at my voice.
“Love,” he whispered above me, but I didn’t reply. Taking a seat beside her, she shook her head at me as she fought the tears
Sighing, he lifted me up with ease and placed me on his lap, as if I were building in her eyes.
some chi . . . child. “Say it,” she whispered.
“Love, eat. It’s just soup,” he said as he started rubbing his thumb “Say what?” Anything she wanted me to say I would say.
against my bottom lip. “Mel, love, I’m begging you. Open your mouth, or I “Say it was my fault. Say I killed our child. Say it was for the greater
will force it open.” good, because I would have been a horrible mother anyway.”
I listened and he looked disappointed, like he wanted me to fight him. Anything but that. Taking off my jacket, I laid next her, pulling her into
But I was tired. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep. The only way I my arms.
could do that was to listen and allow him to feed me, one spoonful at a “This was not your fault, and you did not kill our child. You would, and
time. will, be a great mother,” I whispered, kissing for forehead.
“Then why do I feel this way?” She held on to my shirt as she fought
back her sobs.
DAY 9
I couldn’t answer, mostly because I couldn’t think of what to say. I felt
“It’s morning, Melody,” Olivia said as she opened my curtains so wide the
so guilty for thinking that this was her fault just moments ago. This was
sun blinded me. I didn’t want the sun. It was too happy. Too full of joy and
Saige. This was the Valero, and they would pay dearly.
life, it didn’t know when not to shine. It should know that it was a dark day.
It should know not to come my way. I wanted the moon. I wanted the night. After Mel had gone to sleep, I let go of her and stepped out into the
I wanted the darkness. hallway.
But I was too tired to yell at her. Instead, I simply rolled away from the Neal, Declan, Monte, Fedel, and my father all stood waiting. I didn’t
sun. trust any of them. That’s what Patrick had done. He had broken the band of
trust that we kept in our innermost circles.
“You know I was jealous of you,” Olivia said, taking a seat on the edge
of the bed. “I’m still kind of jealous. I’m always jealous. I don’t try to be. It “How did this happen?”
comes from having divorced parents I guess. You’re always fighting for “Patrick was the one who found the lead on Cross, the man Melody was
attention, and they’re always giving it to you because they feel guilty. But interrogating.” Declan stated. “He had a CS-5 jammer implanted inside of
with you it was a different type of jealously.” him. With that, it blocked half of our defense codes and sensors. From
Go away Olivia, I thought but didn’t speak. there, Patrick opened the gate from the inside. He’s been working for them
for mouths. We have no idea why he betrayed us. All they needed was a
So she went on. “When I first heard that Liam was getting married, I was
person willing to die, and Cross was that person. With the botched surgery
kind of hoping she, you, would be like Coraline, the old Coraline, willing to
he had to get the jammer inside of him he did not have long anyway. It was
let me have the spotlight and come to me for advice. I think I wanted to be
simple.”
Evelyn in away. I wanted to be the heart of the family. But you weren’t like
Coraline, or even Evelyn. You were a mafia boss. You, a female, ruled the “Getting into our home should never be simple,” I said, pinching the
Italian mafia. When Neal first told me, I thought he was joking. It should bridge of my nose. “I want him found and I want to know how no one else

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knew. Then I want you to call every Irish or Italian man in the damn like I was cutting her out, or that I didn’t need her. Because I did, I needed
country able to build our house. We aren’t moving.” her badly.
“Liam we can stay in the summer home—” “Declan and Monte have been trying to get through the Valeros’
“We are not moving!” I yelled, breathing through my nose before taking firewalls. Their system isn’t as strong as ours, so instead they created a
a step back. “I will not be chased out of my home like a poverty stricken freakin’ hundred different firewalls. They can hack it, but it will take time.
street rat. There is plenty of house left. Pick a room and deal with it, Right now they haven’t had any luck. They are working through the
Father.” eleventh firewall now.” I waited to see if she would say anything but again,
there was nothing.
He raised an eyebrow at me, grinning before he nodded.
“So far we’ve spoken to seven Valero members, and they have all said
“As for Vance and Saige, take photos of Amory’s body and send it to
the same thing. Vance and his family have gone into hiding like some
them. When you’re done, throw Amory’s body anywhere you fucking
fecking caffler. The two bit arsewipe took his manky whores . . .” I paused
please. Ship him to the moon for all I fucking care. Just make sure Vance
for a moment and groaned. “I’m so pissed off I’m sounding like my
knows those pictures are all that he will ever have left of his son.” Part of
grandfather on St. Patrick’s Day.”
me wished I hadn’t killed Amory outright and used him for some leverage
to bring down his father.
“When are we hitting back, boss?” Fedel asked me, and I do believe that
was the first time he had ever called me his boss.
“We start now.” I glanced over to them all. “Declan, gather every
motherfucking hacker and suck him dry. Anything you can destroy, do it.
The rest of you, your orders are the same. Shoot to kill. I don’t care if
they’re in the street or their damn beds. We’re ending this if I have to bomb
all of Russia to do it.”

MELODY

He made me smile. I didn’t know if he could see it, but he made me smile. I
did wonder why he tensed just slightly when mentioning his grandfather.
“Anyway,” he said without less of an accent. “They’re in hiding. We
have all their bank accounts being monitored. The moment we break
through the firewalls, we will drain them dry. For now, if any of them
withdraw even a penny, we’ll know about it. We’ve already burned all their
known crops on both hemispheres and bombed twenty-nine meth labs. If
there are more, we will find them. They aren’t getting away from us. They
have no other choice but to die.”

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 “Kill him.” He was wasting words and didn’t know anything.
Drowning out his screams, I closed my eyes and took in the hum of the
drills. They, for some reason, relaxed me. But sadly, it ended all too soon.
Antonio checked his pulse, then turned to me splattered in the man’s
blood. “He’s gone, sir.”
I sighed. “When I said kill him, I meant do it slowly.”
T W E N T Y- N I N E
It just went to show if you wanted someone killed right, you had to do it
yourself. Declan handed me a file, I looked through it quickly before rising.
“What number is he?”
“He’s the seventh we’ve lost during questioning. Weak-ass bitches,” “The family that mourns together
Declan answered, opening the door for me. survives forever.”
Frowning, I nodded. “Find me more. I want them all dead. I want Vance,
Saige, and all the damn Valero to know I’m coming for them.”
As I left, they dragged the fool’s body away. Neal’s forte was not torture,
and neither was Declan’s really. That had always been left to my father and
me. We were good at it, and in a sick, fucked up way, we enjoyed it. But
~ J.J. McAvoy
after what happened, something changed within them both. Neal was fueled
by the rage of knowing what could have become of his wife. Declan had
lost Coraline in a way. Gone was the shopaholic woman who never seemed
to understand the world around her, and in her place was a murderer. She
had gone through that and still didn’t want to speak with him. He took her
punches, and then unleashed it on whichever poor fuck came against us.
But I understood. Walking through the construction site that was now my
home, I knew what would await me when I opened the door to my room.
Coraline looked at me shaking her head in sadness before leaving.
Taking off my shirt, I threw it next to the clothes Adriana had laid out for
Melody. None of them seemed to have been touched since this morning. SEDRIC
Kneeling next to her, I brushed back her hair. “Have you eaten?”
She said nothing. She didn’t even look at me. Five days of this and I
It was déjà vu. No father ever wanted to watch his son suffer as he had. Our
feared it was just the beginning.
sons and daughters were supposed to move forward. Make new mistakes.
“Adriana, I need food. Anything Mel would like, now.” I snapped the Forge new paths and conquer new mountains. Yet Liam was fighting my
phone shut before sitting on the floor in front of her. battle. I should have killed off Vance years ago. I should have prevented all
At least she’s breathing. That was the only comfort I had. Flipping this, but I failed.
through the file in my hand, I just started reading, I didn’t want her to feel Allowing the smoke to fill my lungs, I stared up at the sky.

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 “Sedric.” Jumping at the sound of my wife’s voice, I looked back to find
her glaring at the joint in my hands. LIAM
“Sorry,” I whispered, preparing to throw it out, when she simply took it
from my hands and took a long drag.
“Where are Vance and Saige?” Neal yelled. The prisoner he was speaking
Smirking, she handed it back to me. “Only tonight. After today, it should to dangled from the ceiling in front of us as I cut into my steak.
be allowed.”
“Go fuck yourselves,” the fool choked out.
“This reminds me of college.” Smoking on the roof after a long, hard
Neal looked to me, and I simply nodded while taking a bite of the bloody
day of sex. There was some studying every once in a while also, but still.
beef in front of me.
“I was pregnant, remember? I couldn’t smoke.”
Taking the drill from Declan, Neal held the point to the man’s
“Oh, right.” I laughed as she hit me, but I just held on to her. collarbone.
“Will they be okay? Can they get through this?” she whispered. “Last chance. Where are Vance and Saige?” Neal asked again.
“I don’t know. It’s only the first day.” Before the fool could get out his insult, Neal drilled, ripping through
skin, muscle, tissue, and bone. He screamed like a pig on its way to the
slaughterhouse . . . mostly because he was. Neal stopped only when we
could see the drill head on the other end of the man’s body, then he pulled it
out and moved to the other shoulder.
“Where are Vance and Saige?” Neal shouted into his face. “I swear to
God I will drill through your penis next if you don’t start speaking.”
The fool spit up all over himself as he gasped out for air. “They’re in
hiding.”
“No fucking duh!” I snapped, wiping the corners of my mouth. “I want
to know where they’re hiding. I have people burning your crops, bombing
CORALINE your labs, and killing your brothers. There will be more blood. There will
be retribution. It can end with your bosses, or it can end with your whole
family. Choose carefully, there are many more of you, and we have a lot of
I really didn’t know how I got to the maternity ward. I was simply walking drills.”
and next thing I knew, there were babies as far as the eye could see. They
Handing me a glass of brandy, Antonio walked past me and held up
were all enchanting and peaceful. Looking at them almost made me forget
another drill to the man’s belly button.
that the world sometimes sucked.
“Where are Vance and Saige?” Neal asked one last time.
“They are cute, aren’t they?” Declan whispered next to me.
All eyes in the room were on him. “I swear to God—”
“Shouldn’t you be guarding Mel?”
“God doesn’t come to this part of the house, so swear to me,” I told him,
He smiled. “Neal, Fedel, and Monte are all standing watch.”
leaning back in my chair.
I said nothing, and he looked at the babies.
“I swear . . .”

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Beach and watching the Young and the Restless. But instead, he has us all “I keep trying to wonder what ours will look like. Liam was so happy.
on lockdown. Can you believe that? We’re on house arrest!” He was kind of high all time.”
I said nothing. Again, I said nothing.
Sighing, Coraline fell onto the bed next to me. “I killed someone.” “Cora—”
I said nothing. “What Declan?” I snapped. “You want me to give you the time of day
“Right, that’s probably not a big deal to you,” she whispered. “But for because you sat outside my door and played music? But you wouldn’t give
me it’s a huge deal. He came out of nowhere and I just reacted. Adriana told me the time of day even after I let you fuck me any way you pleased.”
me to always carry at least two knives on me at all times, so I did. I still do. He took my hand and kissed it before taking a step back, not speaking
And that day I just pulled them out . . . and killed. But you know the most any longer. When I looked through the glass, a few of the babies were
fucked up part?” crying.
Again, I said nothing. “See what you did?”
“I didn’t care,” she said. “The prick came into my home and tried to hurt
me. And when I threw the blade right into his jugular, blood went
everywhere. But all I could think was, ‘fuck this asshole better not have
AIDS.’ That’s fucked up right? I’m a good person. I was a good person.
Before, I would be freaking out, praying over him or something, and yet all
I wanted to do was kick his ass because he might have just given me
AIDS.”
Nothing. I said nothing.
“Mel, please speak to us. It’s been five days. At least say something.
Anything,” Coraline begged me, but I couldn’t.
Shifting onto my side, I tried to go back to sleep. I just wanted the DECLAN
darkness. I just wanted to sleep. It was the only time I felt anything.
“We love you, Mel.” It was the last thing I heard before the darkness
I couldn’t help but smile at her. Even now as she cursed me out, as she
returned . . . thankfully.
should have, I smiled. She had killed someone. She was in the east wing
when the bombs went off, and she fought her way to the safe room. A knife
right in the motherfucker’s throat. If I didn’t know better, I would say I was
falling in love with her all over again. But the truth was, I had never
stopped loving her. I never could. I could wait her out. I could take every
jab as long as I got her in the end.

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 T H I RT Y
OLIVIA

Staring at my phone, I read Neal’s text message over again. It was all that
was keeping me together right now. “I want to see your face when I kill you!
I love you and the moment I can, I will be at your side. I’m so sorry I I want to see the light leave your eyes!”
wasn’t before.
I tried to breathe. I tried to think. But all I could feel were the hands of
those men. I almost fell out of my seat when Adriana took a seat beside me.
“You were raped once weren’t you?” she asked me, and I did, in fact, ~ Voldemort
stop breathing.
“What? Why would you say—” Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film,
“Don’t insult me by lying.” She smiled sadly. “I know what a rape J.K. Rowling
victim looks like, and I also know what it feels like when Melody saves you
from it. She takes you and she makes you unstoppable. She gives you your
power back. She brings you back to life. So the next time a guy thinks he
can ever lay a hand on you, you can show him what it feels like to piss off
God himself.”
With that, she left me wondering who her Harvey was and what had she
done to him.

MELODY

Day 5
“Liam can be such an ass sometimes,” Coraline said as she fluffed my
pillow. “You should be resting in the summer house drinking a Sex on the

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