The Untouchables (Ruthless People 2)

“Try using Skype next time.” I glared at him.

He glared in return before turning to my parents. “You should have taken my advice and beat the wit out of him as a child.”

“You can’t beat out personality, Shamus,” Evelyn said respectfully. “I kind of enjoy it actually.”

“Of course you do.” He sighed, turning to my father. “Son, do I not get a welcoming?”

“Welcome, Shamus,” was all Sedric said.

“Grandfather…”

“Speak when spoken to, child, or did all those seizures distort your brain as a youth?” he asked, reminding me once again why I hated him.

“They helped me become head of this fucking family, so, with respect, I’m asking you to get out of my chair,” I hissed through my teeth.

“And what a man you are. Allowing your home to burn down, your wife to lose her child, and losing millions in the process, I applaud you. I bow down to your greatness, child.” He snickered and Melody stood forward, but it was my turn to glare at her.

This was not her fight.

“Mr. and Mrs. Callahan,” Mina burst in. “We need to leave for the rally. Senator…” She froze at the sight of the blood on the carpet.

“We were just leaving, Mina. You’re dismissed.” I didn’t even bother to turn towards her.

When the door closed, I stepped forward, leaning across my desk. “My family and I will be leaving. I suggest…”

“Beautiful, I will come along.” Shamus smirked, cutting me off once again. “What is the point of being so done up if no one can see me?” He rose to his feet, blowing the smoke from his pipe in my face.

He walked forward only to stop right next to Mel to present his arm.

“I’d rather hang myself while on fire,” Mel told him, but he took her arm anyway.

“I wasn’t asking, my dear. There is no need to be so hostile, we’re family,” he said as he led her to the door. He, like all Callahan men, had charm, and it disgusted me.

“You called me a cow. Twice,” she said with no emotion.

“I’m sure you’ve been called worse.” He winked and the look on Mel’s face worried me. She didn’t hate him.

Sedric stood in front of me as he tried to figure out the words to say. But, like always, when it came to Shamus Callahan, there were no words. My mother kissed my cheek as I leaned against the desk. One by one, they all left as the clean up crew came in.

“There better not be a fucking spot left behind.” I finished off the rest of my brandy before leaving.

MELODY

“Where is Liam?” I asked, stepping out of the car. I had been waiting for half an hour and that prick still hadn’t come into the car.

The maids, who I didn’t even bother to get to know, stood outside waiting. They weren’t supposed to leave the driveway until we left. None of them looked uncomfortable, but that was years of training at work.

“Ma’am,” one of them said. “He went to change in his room and never came back out.”

“You’re dismissed,” I told them, as I walked in. I had no idea what the hell his problem was, but he needed to put on his big boy pants and deal with it.

The moment Sedric brought up Shamus, Liam went ridged. I knew of Shamus; he had killed, stolen and bribed his way into the history books...but then again, we all had. The things he had done were things that I myself had studied and copied. He impressed me, and I was not an easy person to impress. Shamus was deadly, cocky, and an asshole. He demanded respect, which he earned, but I would never give him that satisfaction. He was in my house.

The moment I stepped into our room, I followed the music drifting through the air from Liam’s closet. His closet had to be as big as mine, if not bigger; the ass loved his suits.

On the far center wall was a black upright piano.

Walking up behind him, I grabbed his hair and pulled it back, bringing my face to the side of his cheek. “I hate being stood up, Liam.”

“Ask my grandfather to take you,” he snapped like a child.

Letting go of his hair, I sat on his lap. “That was passive-aggressive. What the hell is wrong with you?”

He sighed, pulling me closer to him as he kissed me. I kissed him back before biting his bottom lip.

“You aren’t going to use sex as a way out of this. As much as I enjoyed putting your grandfather in his place, I need to know what level of bitch to be,” I told him truthfully.

“I loathe Shamus with a burning passion,” he whispered as he held me tighter.

“I see that. Why?” There had to be some reason he held such hatred.

I found it sexy. However, he was in pain, and he was growing on me. I wasn’t sure when we had changed into this lovely couple, but with each passing day, he was becoming a bigger part of my soul. Part of me was still worried about it.

“Shamus has always believed in survival of the fittest. My father thought the city was one of the reasons I was so sick. He took us all to Ireland and the very first time I met him, he looked me up and down and said, ‘In the wild, animals eat their young if they’re sick.’ He and my father got in a fight…though it was more like my father yelling and Shamus smoking in his chair. He told my father that if he were too weak to put me down, he would do the honors. That a man in his position couldn’t have a child like me; that he should be happy he was given another son and could raise Declan to replace me if he wanted to.” His grip on my thigh tightened, but I let him squeeze as hard as he needed.

“But you did survive, and you are the fittest,” I whispered, holding onto the side of his face.

He kissed my palm. “Shamus likes things done his way. He wanted the company to go to Neal and my father actually refused. My father has gotten quite good at refusing my grandfather. He was never supposed to marry my mother. She, after all, wasn’t a pure breed. Being half-Irish is as good as being Italian.” He leered at me, leaving me torn between kissing him and breaking his face open.

“My full blood Italian can kick any Irish—”

“Yes, I know, love. You’re a badass.” He grinned as he squeezed my ass.

“Didn’t Evelyn have Neal when she was young?” She had to have been sixteen or seventeen at the time.

“She had us all when she was young. My grandfather swears Sedric got her pregnant on purpose. He knew Shamus wouldn’t approve of his only living son marrying anyone other than his choosing. However, after Evelyn became pregnant, there was nothing he could do,” he explained. “We are good Catholic folk, you know,” he said in his accent.

“Tá tú ar leathcheann,” (You’re an idiot.) I said, as I got off of him.

“You love me, you hate me, make up your damn mind, wife. I’m getting whiplash.” He smirked, rising as well.

“You’re getting a whip? What kind of kinky shit are you into, Callahan?” I asked, causing him to push me up against his mirror.

His expression darkened and his lips hovered over mine. “Let’s find out. God only knows what I have in this closet.”

I pushed up against him. “You mean the cheerleading uniform for the Chicago Bulls you have hidden behind your gray suits? Or the very whorish nun outfit you have in the hidden compartment under your socks?”