Ruthless People (Ruthless People 1)

I need to put a “do not disturb” sign on the door.

“Yeah, so please don’t tell him. Maybe one day when we are old and gray . . . no not even then. He would be senile and probably worse. He acts just like our grandfather sometimes, and our grandfather is an insane, perverted arse of the highest degree. He lives in Ireland and prefers to stay there, which is good. He would understand why I lusted after you. It’s hard not to. I think every man with a working dick does. But I’m the only one foolish or stupid enough to stay it out loud.” He laughed because he was stupid.

Very stupid. No wonder Coraline is pissed at him.

“It’s gone now. Not that you’re not attractive because you are, but I think . . . I know . . . I’m lusting after my wife a whole lot more. You had something to do with that. I don’t know how you did it. Maybe it’s just for the fact that you exist. But you did it. You took my lamb and made her a tiger. She isn’t a lioness like you, but she is deadly in her own right. Plus the new hair style gets sexier with each passing day,” he said.

Closing my eyes, I went back to sleep, trying my best to drown him out.

LIAM

Day 18

“I thought I said no one was to enter Finland?” I asked them as I drank straight from the bottle.

Antonio nodded. “You did, sir, but she spotted one of our men in the airport before they had a chance to leave. They had no choice but to bring her along.”

Sighing, I stared at the blonde woman known as Vance’s favorite mistress, Hera Pompilio. There was nothing I could do about it now. She wasn’t the big fish I wanted but I could use her as bait.

“May I?” Declan asked, stepping up to the mirror.

“Knock yourself out.” Maybe he could use his gentlemanly shit on her.

When he walked in, her dead eyes stared right through him.

“Are you the man who killed my son?” she questioned softly.

Declan simply raised an eyebrow. “I’ve killed many sons, ma’am. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Amory Pompilio Valero. Age twenty-seven. Six feet, two inches tall. Blond hair, blue eyes, he—”

“No, I did not kill him,” Declan said. “That honor was left to my brother and two cars. I was under the impression Amory’s mother died when he was young.”

“That’s what you get for being under everything.” She smirked. “I was always made to be Vance’s wife. No other woman could carry his child, not even his stupid wife. I told him he should kill her and marry me, but he told me he couldn’t. That he made some deal, but I knew it was lie. He took Amory from me and gave him to her. She was so beyond herself with happiness. Every day taking care of my son, I hated her. The day Amory called her Mother, I rammed an ice pick through her heart. Vance was pissed so he broke four of my ribs and my jaw. But he loved me too much to kill me.” She laughed so effortlessly, I wondered if Natasha could use a roommate in the asylum.

“Sad,” Declan said, but I knew he didn’t give a fuck. “Why were you in the airport in Finland?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she just checked her nails.

“Hera, what you tell me could be the difference between a painfully slow death, or a quick one. One where you could be with your son, again,” Declan told her.

“So my options are death or death? Fuck you and fuck my son. I wanted to get him out of this life before, and he told me he could handle it. Now he’s . . .”

“Now he’s in pieces somewhere in the Great Lakes.” Declan smirked. “I’ll take credit for putting him there.”

“You are all so damn proud of yourselves. A bunch of murderers, liars, thieves, and cheats.” She frowned. “Your women hate you, you know. They hate you, and they hate what you do. They don’t want this life. They wanted the money and the fame, but they didn’t want the drugs, blood, and the horror.”

Declan grinned, looking evil. “You don’t know my wife. If you did, you wouldn’t be so quick to speak. And you sure as hell don’t know the Boss. So sweetheart, tell me what I need to know and we can move on?”

She leaned in. “Fuck y—”

Rising from his seat, Declan walked around the table until he was right in front of her face. Hera did her best not to look like she was going to piss in her pants, but she failed.

“Do your worst. But believe me, Vance has done worse.”

Declan grinned, holding a knife to the side of her face. “Everything he did was healable. After all, in the end, all you have is your looks. Imagine what Vance will think when he sees his favorite toy cut and sewn back together like Frankenstein. My stitches aren’t that great with live patients.”

“What could you possibly need to know, huh?” she yelled. “We went to Finland to hide. Amory fucked up. Vance spent months, if not years working on different ways to raid this fucking place. He had everything planned to a T, even the day. But Amory couldn’t wait. He didn’t want to listen, and because of that, he was killed. Is that what you want to hear? Or do you want to know that Vance is losing his mind? Amory was the last straw. Vance killed one of his brothers because he thought he had betrayed him. The other brother is in the wind. Everything is fucked. He’s going to know you have me, and he’s going to hide again.”

Declan turned to me and smirked. It was almost sad how quickly she talked.

“You were in the airport. He’ll just think you abandoned him.” Declan ran the knife against her cheek.

“I would never leave him,” she whispered. “He knows that. He knows that no matter how many times I say I’m leaving, I always come back.”

“You’re a fool. He doesn’t love you, and because of that you will die alone,” was all Declan said before he slit her throat, her body stilled for one moment before falling to the ground.

“Have every flight in and out of Finland monitored,” I said before leaving. It was getting late, and I was going to miss my favorite moment of the evening.

I tried not to run, but this was the only spec of hope I would have all day. It was what got me through the day. Rushing into our bedroom, I smiled when I saw the bed was empty. I entered the bathroom, and smiled at the sight of my Mel bathing herself.

It was only four days ago she had found the will to bathe herself at all. It was a small step, but it was something. Taking a seat by the foot of the tub, I just watched her.

“Would you like me to do your back?” I whispered, and she froze like she hadn’t realized I was in the room with her.

She looked up at me through her hair and handed me the loofah. It was another small step. She was on her road back. As she leaned on my free arm, I felt my heart leap. Slowly I rubbed her back, and smiled because I had hope; the dark nights were ending.

MELODY

Day 23

“So I have a confession to make,” Neal said pacing in front of me.

Great another one, I thought as I cut into my steak.

“Liam wanted me to take this to my grave, but you won’t speak. We’ve tried everything so maybe you will be so pissed at him and me that you will snap out of it.” He stopped and looked me dead in the eyes, but I just ate slowly.

“I shot Liam because he asked me to.” He waited for me to react, but I couldn’t muster the emotion.