Vicious Minds (Children of Vice 4)

I nodded, tossing the grapes back on the table. “Could Ethan make mistakes? Yes. But Ethan being slower than Dona on business? No bloody way in hell. If Donatella could find out Tobias was betraying us with Moretti…”

“Ethan already knew.”

“And the only reason he didn’t end them both is because of…”

“His love for his little sister.” She snickered. “He let Moretti grow strong, used his daughter, allowing him to relax and think he was going to get a hold on our family. When Klarissa is murdered—”

“He loses his shit and wants revenge. His betrayal becomes clear to everyone, and so does Tobias’.”

“And just when all of this happens, he’s out of town and leaves his little sister to take of it…and Tobias, so he doesn’t have be the one who killed her lov….” Her voice trailed off when I gave her a look. I didn’t want to hear that shit. She smirked, knowing it too.

“He let Moretti get bigger to expose Tobias so that Donatella would do it herself,” she said to me. “And we knew one of the reasons he chose Ivy was so he could use her to bring Wyatt home.”

“One lover to take down each sibling?”

“Oh, you don’t have an issue calling them lovers when it is for your son?”

“Do you want to have this fight? Because I’ll have it, and that can take up the rest of our night.”

Amused with herself, she moved to sit back with me, picking up her tablet and typing.

“Well?” I asked.

“What are the odds that he’d lose his wife so soon after he used her to bring his brother back home?” she questioned.

“Slim.”

“And what are the odds that poor wife never got a church wedding in front of everyone, or even added to our family registry?”

“Slimmer,” I answered as she pointed up to television to show me our family registry. We were both listed as dead, and Ethan was still listed as single.

“They weren’t legally married.” I didn’t know how to feel about this. I just looked at her. “And no one checked?”

“Why would they check? They were all at the sham ceremony. They saw him sign whatever documents right there. Why would they think he didn’t file them?” she asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“You’re happy about this—”

“Should I be upset?”

“What are the odds that a bomb goes off in our church, which gives them a reason not to marry there, and a cover for this sham wedding?” I snapped, and it was only then did she realize. “Our son nearly burned my goddamn mother alive! As well as the rest of our family.”

“They lived, didn’t they?” She shrugged and tried to hold back a laugh.

“There is a line, Melody.” I grumbled, getting up.

MELODY

He was flaming.

He was conflicted.

I didn’t blame him. On one side was his first born, on the other side was his mother. Liam loved Evelyn, to hurt her is to die, and yet he’d never hurt Ethan. If he did I’d kill him. Not without great pain and regret but I kill him nonetheless.

I picked up the grapes and watched as he stood like stone, his fist clenched. Finally, as I was mid-chew, he turned to me and asked “What is the point of this?”

“His siblings—”

“No.” He shook his head. “Ethan…we cannot believe he would go through so much for his siblings and then hurt his grandmother. Ethan loves my mother, he loves her at the very least the same as he loves his siblings, but I know it’s more. She is the one person he listens to and talks too. He would not drop a church on her head for anyone.”