What the fuck did this motherfucker do?
He grinned at the phone with a strange mixture of pride and worry. “I might be biased, Calliope, but I do prefer living.”
“Then why would you gamble with your life like this by crossing me? You of all people should know better than that.” Even though her voice wasn’t cold or even harsh, it was perfectly pleasant, I knew with absolute certainty that she was murderous. Reaching to my side I gripped my gun.
He sighed. “Calli, why don’t we talk when you—”
“You abducted my daughter, Grandfather. I have nothing to talk to you about.”
He fucking did what? I was ready to put a bullet in his skull but he just went on talking.
“Abducted is a harsh accusation! We went on a small trip—”
“You took my daughter out of the country without telling me. I am her mother, her guardian. That is abduction. I’m disappointed because you promised me you’d never let me down, remember?”
Did he really abduct her? I couldn’t tell by her tone.
“I promised I’d never betray you unless the circumstance made it impossible not to,” he explained.
“Do tell. What circumstances would cause you to do this? I’m all ears.”
So am I.
“I have Alzheimer’s,” he replied. She went silent and so did I. “Seems like I’ll be joining your grandmother in that rocking chair soon.”
“Ethan.” She said my name and I glanced a
t the phone, realizing this was it. He did truly abduct my daughter. “I’m positive you’re listening, so hear me very clearly. I’ll be in Chicago in six hours.”
“Calli—”
“Your disease, Grandfather,” her tone was gentle and calm, “is not a good excuse for this. And it means I can no longer trust you with my daughter.”
“I look forward to seeing you, Calli.” I hung up the phone on her and my gaze shifted to the man I was very tempted to kill, but I’d leave him till Calliope and I could talk about this clearly.
“You should get more men,” he muttered, pulling out a flask from his coat pocket and taking a long swig. “Because the two out there won’t last half of a second.”
“Should I call the national guard?” I asked emotionlessly, even though I knew he was more than right.
“Can you?” he asked seriously. “If it was your mother, and you were taken away as a child, how many men do you think it would take to stop her?”
“There will only ever be one Melody Nicci Giovanni-Callahan,” There is only one Calliope Callahan, and both of them were not to be crossed.
“I see your pride won’t let you accept this, so I’ll tell you. I’ve been dying to tell someone…Calliope is part of the i Libitinarii.”
I could tell by the way he grinned at me, from the pride his voice that as it was clear the old fool really just loved the sound of his own voice and seemed to want to let all her secrets out. What he didn’t know was that despite his stupidity, he had been a great help to both Calli and I…well at least to me. Both of them were now here much earlier than we’d planned. I’d take it no matter how it came to pass.
It was now time for my family to meet the only woman on this planet crazy enough to make me love her.
WYATT
“You’re fucking with me,” I whispered but he didn’t say anything. Instead he opened the black box and pulled out our father’s favorite brandy—Camus Cuvee—from the silk cloth inside and I knew then. “You’re not fucking with me. The mother of your daughter is a part of Italy’s former secret intelligence murders, i Libitinarii, created by Mussolini. The same i Libitinarii the Italian government has sworn on every bible, church, Pope, and saint has never really existed?”
He poured himself a full glass without ice and took a seat behind his desk. He kicked his feet on top of the desk and took a sip. I glanced over at my uncles who sat quietly on the couches. Across from them were our cousins. Darcy simply shook his head at me and Sedric’s mouth dropped open. So I went on.
“And she’s on her way here because her senile grandfather kidnapped her daughter to bring to you because he wants you to take responsibility for your fucking actions despite the fact that this woman apparently isn’t a fan of yours.”
“I think it’s more about him getting to be part of this family again. He was a big fan apparently,” Ethan answered, drinking again.