Vicious Minds (Children of Vice 4)

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It took me a second as I watched through the small crack in the door. She was hunched over in pain. “Shot, bleeding, in pain, and having a miscarriage, I found you. So save him, please…please, Wyatt, please. Save him, please,” she begged, back to crying.

If it wasn’t serious, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was waiting for these two…chicken heads…to fucking do something to save the man I loved, I would have laughed. Miscarriage? She thought she was pregnant?

No, Ivy, that pain you are feeling is the early stages of sepsis. You’re dying. I’m using the man who you think you love to kill you. The poison I’d instructed Ethan to give her plus the stress was causing her bleeding, among other things. If she’d gone to a hospital, she’d know that. But I knew from the first time I saw her in jail that she didn’t trust or like hospitals, so why not use that to my advantage?

I listened and watched, ignoring the pounding in my chest. He’d be fine. He had to be. I hadn’t given him permission to die yet.

“For some reason his blood has thickened. It’s the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. Was he taking anything?” Wyatt asked her, and I nodded as if he could hear me. Like I said, he didn’t have my permission to die.

Chapter 17

“A queen—a queen who bowed to no one, a queen who had faced them all down and triumphed.”

~Sarah J. Maas

CALLIOPE - AGE 26

Boston, Massachusetts

Wednesday, September 20th

“You didn’t kill her,” he stated, his annoyance and confusion clear in his voice.

“I didn’t.” I glanced up from my tablet as he came into the kitchen. His blood, now dark red and starting to dry up, was still on the ground. He stood shirtless with a bandage wrapped around his stomach, and he limped slightly as he held his wound. Getting up, I walked over to him and he said nothing, putting his arm over my shoulder. I tried to help him walk forward but he took the opportunity to hug me instead. I stood still for a second before hugging him back tightly, trying to avoid his wound. Taking a deep breath, I let go of him.

“Why didn’t you kill her?” he asked as I helped him to the dining chair. “I was expecting to wake up to her body and instead she’s convinced she’s had miscarriage which I have no doubt is impossible.”

Reaching into my black bag, I pulled out a baggie with red pills and handed it to him. He didn’t even ask what they were or even for water. He popped them into his mouth and swallowed. I took a seat across from him.

“I didn’t kill her because of Wyatt.”

His eyebrow rose, waiting for me to explain.

“Wyatt’s fragile now. He needs to be focused. If I killed her, he’d be more worried about you than doing what he needed to do. I hate to admit it, but Ivy helped give him the push he needed. He feels bad for her. That works to our advantage,” I answered, which only made him frown.

“Let the record show that you are the one keeping her at my side.” He reached his hand out to me across the table. I took it and he held on tightly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you didn’t want to come home with me.”

“Good thing you know better.” I winked, relaxing into the horrid looking chair. “I want to come. Gigi needs to come. But I can’t help it. I know the future I want, so I have to—”

“Follow the best plan in your mind to get there or you cannot rest,” he finished for me, nodding his head because he understood.

“Exactly.”

“I understand, but I won’t wait another week. You and our daughter will be by my side by the end of the month. No more excuses, no more delays. I’m done with it,” he said sternly his green eyes never wavering from mine. I was sure the exhaustion I saw in them wasn’t just because of the bullet and most likely mimicked the exhaustion in my eyes.

“Yes, boss.” I whispered, squeezing his hand.

He exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment before he smiled. “What did you give me?”

“It feels really good, doesn’t it?” He grinned and nodded. He looked…cute. High and cute. “Call it a kiss of life.”

“Can we package it up and sell it?” His business side reared its cunning head. Callahans… they truly wanted to own the world. It was insane, and it was what drew me to their family in the first place, that hunger for more.

“We’ll talk about my rate later. There is so much I want to change and add to the family business.”

He opened his eyes and looked at me. “You’re holding out on me?”