If only my life was that fucking easy.
“Sir, we’re ready,” one of my men, Eric Reese, called from behind me. Eric wasn’t family, but pretty damn close. He was one of the few of my men with more than half a brain, and full loyalty. The rest were in this out of fear, or for the money.
Nodding, I walked through the door that lead to the secret office my father had built into the walls to make sure no one would “accidentally” find it. The room was filled with monitors and maps, all focused on where the inbound airplane would be.
“Are you sure you want to do this Liam?” my father asked as he stared at the dot indicating the plane’s current position. It would be crossing into American waters soon.
“It’s fucking brilliant,” Declan said, waiting excitedly. “The Valero will never see it coming.”
“I wish I could see Vance’s fucking face man.” Neal grinned. “This is going to set him back a fortune.”
Eric nodded. “You should send him a wedding invite, just to sweeten the pot, mate.”
They were all right, and yet my father still did not seem to approve. Well, fuck him then. Vance Valero had no idea anyone knew about his secret plane, and still allowed a few unlucky everyday folks board it. He must have figured no one would be ruthless enough to kill a few innocents to get to his men onboard. After today, though, it going to cause him regret. Not only would he lose men, but he would also lose half a million dollars in cocaine and heroin. That would be a bitch.
The moment I saw the plane appear on one of the video monitors I gave the go ahead. “Do it.”
Declan smirked, but before he could push the button, Neal beat him to it like they were fucking kids.
“I’m the fucking oldest, cousin,” he said, before grinning like a mad fool. A moment later, there was red, orange and yellow flames filling the sky. Metal ripped from metal, ashes fell into the sea and all I could do was revel in the greatness of it all.
Sitting back in the chair my father had once claimed, I allowed myself to dream of the future for one moment. The men in the room roared in victory over our accomplishment. The Valero had been fucked by me today. This, plus our wedding announcement, would make it clear that Liam Callahan had arrived, and I planned to make them eat shit for the rest of their lives. I would control the east and the west and, once that was done, all of fucking Europe. Who said you couldn’t have it all?
Even Melody, through all her bitching and shooting, had come in handy. Finding the flight plans was almost too easy. She had been keeping notes on it for months and never did anything. Some fucking Boss.
She could have cut Vance off at the knees, but instead, she did nothing just to save a few people’s lives. She didn’t understand. We ran the fucking Mafia, we spared no one, we took what we wanted, when we wanted it, and we killed to get the job done. All those people were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I would make sure to have my mother . . . or maybe make Melody, open a charity in their names. Right now I—
Bullets exploded through one of the walls before I could even finish my thought. They pelted us like rain, destroying anything and everything in their way.
“Fuck!” Neal screamed in pain as blood poured from his arm.
“Open the fucking door and blow the motherfucker away!”
Declan froze just as a bullet went right past his head and embedded itself into the monitor behind him. My father fell back as a bullet connected with his chest and Eric held on to his wrist. The rest of the men in the room scrambled to follow orders but froze when the door opened.
“Tell me it wasn’t fucking you, and you still get to come to the motherfucking wedding, sweetheart,” Melody screeched, looking me dead in the eyes.
Kill her. Put a bullet through her pretty fucking head and toss her off a motherfucking bridge, my mind yelled as I glared down the barrel of my fiancée’s semi-automatic.
I tried to stay calm. I even prayed for the strength not to lose it, but all I could see was red. Glancing over to Eric, who stood closest to her, he took charge and put a gun to the side of her head, causing her to lower her gun.
“You little bitch, have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Carrot top,” she said, still staring into my eyes. “You better pull the trigger now. You will regret it if you don’t.”
He glanced at me, but in a split second, Melody swung around and used the butt of her gun to bash his face in, knocked him off his feet, and held her gun to his balls.
“I said you would regret it,” she hissed. She pulled back and hammered into his jewels with the butt of her gun.
My father frowned, stepping forward as I reached for my gun. There comes a time when enough was fucking enough. “Ms. Giovanni, I would ask that you not to kill anyone in my house.”
Monte, I believe the man’s name was, walked forward pointing his firearm at Eric as Melody turned to my father, gun held right at his face.
“Sedric, I like you. I really do,” she said with no emotion in her voice. “But step out of the way or I will kill you before I kill your son.”
“His mother is fond of him, and I am fond of his mother, Ms. Giovanni.” The motherfucker smiled, as though this bitch had not just insulted us, as if she hadn’t almost killed family. “Melody, I understand your anger, and you are justified in it—”
“The fuck she is!” I shouted, holding my gun up as well. Never in my life did I ever want to put someone down so fucking badly.
“Liam Callahan. For the next forty-eight hours I still rule. Stand down!” Once again, the blood in my veins was demanding blood to be spilled, and so I shot right past her head and at Monte’s arm.
Melody eyes glowed with rage, but before her bullet could hit me, my father went for her hand. He twisted her wrist and struggled with her until the gun was out of her grip and he had her arm behind her back.
“Melody, listen to me,” my father said while she snarled like a damn lion. “As the head of the Callahan family, I apologize for my son’s idiotic move today and the memories it must have recalled of the damage that was done to you. But, I need you to breathe and walk away from this now. Not as a woman, but as a Boss, to regroup and think. If you found this room, you must know where Liam’s is. He will be there momentarily, and you can speak Boss to Ceann na Conairte.”
When she nodded, he let her go, and she left with Monte, who held on to his arm, and Fedel, who hadn’t moved from the destroyed wall. When she was gone, my father didn’t even have to speak, he glared at our guys and they left faster than she had—leaving me with the man who had just spit all over my victory. Once again, all I could see was red, and for the first time in my twenty-four years of life, I wanted my father’s blood.
“You embarrassed me! This relationship, this marriage will not work. I will burn the fucking contract so I can put a bullet in her myself.”
He stepped forward, his eyes darker than a brewing storm. “You embarrassed yourself today. Did you not think that a woman, a Boss, like Melody, could have easily bombed the fucking plane? Yes, I knew where you got the intel from, you fucking idiot. I checked their files, too, while you were busy chaining your fiancée to a pool chair.”
“But she didn’t do it, probably because she was weak and didn’t want to kill innocents,” I snapped back, trying my best not to point a gun in his face.