Do not kill in the lord’s house. Do not kill in the lord’s house.
“I’m sorry, it’s Evelyn,” Coraline whispered. “We’re late for the charity brunch.”
“We’re Callahans, we’re never late. Everyone else is early and impatient,” I stated as I grabbed the phone from her and turned it off before taking my kneeling stance back at the altar.
But no sooner had my knees touched the pillow did Olivia’s phone go off. I turned towards her again, and the fear that crossed her face meant that she saw the hell I would unleash on her if she didn’t shut her phone off immediately. She did, which only made my private phone go off.
Looking up at the cross, I sighed. “You see what I go through?”
LIAM
“When did you get so good at hand-to-hand combat?” Declan snickered as I dodged Neal’s fist.
“I’ll do my best not to take that as an insult.” I grunted, blocking my face before jumping back and landing one to the side of Neal’s face.
He and I danced around the ring, staring down each other like hungry lions.
Over the last year, this had been my and Neal’s thing. After years of not speaking to each other, except when needed, we were working ourselves back to brotherly status. I wasn’t sure how long that would take, but every Saturday, while my beautiful wife was at confession and her charity, we boxed. When Neal was in his fighting mode, there was no speaking, just calculated attacks. He was almost like a robot. But in the moments in between our attempts at killing each other, there was a look or a smirk that passed between us. That smirk said far more than any words. We were in a much better place than we were a year ago.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked, ducking down slightly as Neal’s fist came towards my jaw. “My wife tries to murder me every other week. A few of those times, have in fact led to combat…amongst other things.”
“One day your dick is going to fall off. I’m just not sure what will castrate you first; the sex, or the fighting before the sex.” Declan laughed.
“The sex,” my father said from the sideline. “You do know the walls are thin enough that every sound carries, right? We all can hear you.”
“I know, I just don’t give a fuck.” I tried to punch Neal once more, but he blocked. “It’s my damn house, if we want to make love in the center of the dining table at dinner, we shall.”
“Please don’t,” he said.
“She puts a bullet in your thigh and you make love? I still don’t understand your relationship. After a year, she still hasn’t warmed up to you,” Declan said as Neal kicked into my side.
Of course he would think that. My Mel didn’t show much emotion other than anger or fake kindness in public. However, it was different when we were alone. We had gone from murderous fuck buddies, to husband and wife. She let me hold her, which often led to more sex. But even after that, we’d fall asleep in each other’s arms. She didn’t say ‘I love you’ as often as I did, but when she did, it made me want to stay in bed with her forever. Love wasn’t her thing. She struggled with it. How could they expect someone who never really received love to express it to others? I wasn’t going to push her any more than I already had.
“How can you understand my relationship when you’re just beginning to understand your own?” I grunted out as Neal bore down on me. The damn giant.
“Prick,” he yelled. “We’re in therapy.”
“Something I still do not agree with,” Sedric snapped. “I don’t understand why you allowed such a thing, Liam. Matters within the family should be handled by the family or a priest, if you insist.”
“It has been helping. We’re finally talking and not yelling anymore. There was so much I didn’t see or simply overlooked. I’ve learned loving someone isn’t enough,” Declan said, and I could see Neal smirk for a split second before I knocked it off his face.
“I allowed it. That wife of his destroyed a million dollars worth of equipment, with a baseball bat…my baseball bat. I almost preferred it when she gave all our money away to charities,” I answered just before Neal took me down.
“She gives because of her parents—it’s the only way she feels needed. She likes being there for others because at least then they see her. If I told you how her parents treated her…” He sounded worse than me, and I was the one who was getting my face pounded in.
“Couldn’t you have spoken to me and your aunt? We would have helped.”
“Both of us would have felt like you were being judgmental. We know you wouldn’t, but we wanted to speak to someone on the same playing field as us…”
“We’re Callahans, no one is on the same damn playing field as us!” I yelled out, flipping over and returning the favor to Neal.
“Fine, someone under us then.” He rolled his eyes. “Either way, it’s working. We were even going to have sex for the first time in months, before your wife came in like the fucking Terminator!”
“Please, file your complaint with the office of ‘I Don’t Give a Fuck’ and I’ll be sure not to get back to you!”
It wasn’t my fault their sexual needs came at the wrong time.
“Well, your highness, I was wondering if we could handle her parents as retribution,” he said, forcing me to look up at him. Sure enough, he was as serious as ever.
Neal took the opportunity to punch me in the jaw and put me in a chokehold. I tried to fight my way out, but he had the upper hand. Sadly, I was going to lose this round.
Thank you, homicidal Declan.
I tapped out and Neal released his hold on me.
Sitting up, I took a few deep breaths before I rose and walked over to the edge of the ring. “We aren’t killing her parents,” I said before squirting the water into my mouth then pouring some over my head.
Declan glared at me. “I said handle, not kill. Besides, they fucked with her…”
“They fucked—past tense. The wounds Coraline has from that will heal. Have you even asked her if she wanted them dead?” I glared back and he shook his head. “And this is why you’re in therapy. Stop acting for your wife and act with her you idiot. Coraline isn’t the same mouse of a wife you had before. You can thank my wife for that, for whatever good and bad that causes. Nevertheless, if Coraline wants something, she will ask you.”
“She would want to handle them.” His eyes darkened.
“They’re her parents,” Neal finally spoke out. “Regardless of what they’ve done, they’re still her parents. Yes, she remembers the bad, but she will always remember the good as well, however short it was. It’s not as easy to kill family as everyone makes it seem.”
“This moment of wisdom was brought to you by—” I was cut off as a water bottle came flying at my head. I caught it and laughed.
“He’s right though,” our father replied. “We can’t just keep killing everyone...especially our in-laws.”
True, we were running out of places to hide the bodies. I snickered at the thought.
“Speaking of killing, Fedel has informed me that they found another one of the men who raped Olivia,” I said bluntly, and I felt them stiffen. Neal however, looked like stone. I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it because Mel and Olivia weren’t.