The Untouchables (Ruthless People 2)

Monte glared at the man.

“I would take a page out of the Passion of fucking Christ, chain him to the wall and take his skin off with whips…and for the heck of it, I’d roll him in salt.” He spat at his feet.

“You can do better, Monte.” I smiled, drinking my milk.

“Crucify him upside down?” He grinned, looking down at me.

“I see someone’s been going back to church.” Monte wasn’t a very religious person, but every once in awhile, he would spend weeks at church. I wasn’t sure why, but hey, whatever worked for him.

The rapist mumbled, fighting against his chains as if that was going to help him. I wanted to watch him suffer slowly.

“I’m sorry, you have balls in your mouth. I can’t hear you,” I told him before taking a bite. He glared, barking out something I didn’t understand.

“I think he is insulting you, ma’am. May I demonstrate?” He seemed eager.

“Sadly no, it’s Olivia’s kill and she’s going to kill him, even if takes her all night.” I frowned. “But we can suggest it as an option. I’ve never seen a man crucified before.”

LIAM

I do not have time for this shit.

“Olivia Callahan, get your ass out here and kill this motherfucker, I have shit to do,” I yelled at the oak door. I could still hear her sobbing.

“You’re not helping!” Neal yelled at me, but the moment his eyes met mine, he backed down, as he should.

Staring at the two hundred year old oak door with the hand-carved family crest that my mother had imported from Ireland, I thought about how easy it would be for me to just blow a hole through it and drag her out. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I could feel my father’s eyes on me. He wanted to see how well I could handle the family. He was always watching me and it pissed me off sometimes.

Sighing, I took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Olivia, I don’t understand your pain, nor will I ever. Nothing I can say will reverse the shit you went through. However, right now you have been given a chance at justice very few people in this life get. You are a Callahan. We don’t cry, we don’t get even, we bend the scale in our favor and leave it there. I have too much to do to sit here and listen to you disgrace this family. If you’re not out of there in five seconds, Neal will divorce you. He won’t want to, but he will do it because I will make him. And his next wife won’t be such a fucking wuss.”

“You’re an asshole, Liam Callahan,” she yelled, bursting out of the room before storming down the marble hallway. Neal shook his head at me, his jaw clenched, before he followed after her.

Declan and my father just stared at me. “Is there a reason why you bitches are staring?”

“Nope, I will go…make myself useful.” Declan said and under his breath. I could have sworn the motherfucker muttered, “The mad hatter strikes again.”

MELODY

Hearing the door open, Monte and I turned to find Olivia, her face puffy and red, her eyes focused only on Harvey.

“I want to be alone with him,” she demanded.

Nodding, I looked to Monte, who walked right past her.

“That means you as well,” she snapped at me. Obviously, she forgot who had pushed her to this point.

“You’re funny,” I told her. “Now, hurry up and kill him, I’m running low on snacks.”

“Mel.”

“Olivia.” My voice dropped no longer joking.

Sighing, she didn’t say anything. Instead she took a chair allowing it to drag against the floor—metal on concrete—before she stopped and took a seat near me.

“I don’t know how to kill him. I want him to suffer. I just don’t know…” she added as she stared at Harvey, who only stared back like he was begging with his eyes.

“Easiest problem you could ever have.” I said, giving her a s’more. She stared at me like I was insane. “When a pregnant woman offers you food, you take it and smile.”

I knew they knew. The way Declan was treating me in the car, he had to have known, which meant Coraline knew, and if Coraline knew, they all knew.

Taking it, she took a bite and smiled. It was fake, but whatever, I was being nice, the least she could do was accept it.

“Monte said you should crucify him,” I told her.

She thought about it, sniffling slightly before shaking her head. “Too much effort and people. I want to be the one to kill him. It’s not a group project.”

It took me a second, but I smiled like the Grinch after he stole Christmas.

“Olivia, have you ever drilled through a man’s flesh?” I asked.

“What?” she coughed

“Neal, maybe you can show her,” I called out, knowing full well they could hear us, before standing up.

A moment later, Neal came with not one, but two drills. The emotion in his eyes—or better yet, the lack of any emotion in his eyes—was beautiful.

“She kills him,” was all I said, grabbing my plate and glass to leave. I wanted to stay, but drills always became so damn messy.

Liam stood outside the door, shaking his head at me.

“What?” I asked, turning to watch from the safety of the window.

Coming up behind me, he wrapped his hands around my waist. We were in public and it was odd to me that I wasn’t pushing him away. But for some reason, whenever he was near, I felt calm. I felt relaxed.

“You’re ruthless, wife,” he muttered.

“Someone has to be, why not me?” I replied, leaning into him as I watched Neal hold Olivia’s hand. She went for the bitch’s belly button. That was going to hurt.

“What had you so stressed earlier?” I murmured, but he didn’t answer. He just rubbed my stomach slowly. “Liam…”

“Everyone out,” he declared and I hadn’t even noticed everyone, but in a flash they were gone.

Turning me to him, he kissed me and I reacted by dropping my plate and glass before I regained my senses and pushed him away, slapping him across the face.

“Fuck, Mel!” he snapped, grabbing his face. “You need to check that shit before our kid comes.”

“You need to stop distracting me when I’m talking about work, damn it. What the hell is going on?” I yelled back.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. “Firstly, your mood swings are driving me insane. Secondly, it’s about your grandfather.”

I froze. “Orlando’s father died years ago.”

“Not him. Ivan, Aviela’s father. He signed as witness on the marriage contract between my father and Natasha’s mother. For some reason, he wanted them married.” He frowned, staring at Olivia and Neal. He looked jealous, like he would rather be drilling into a man’s spine than dealing with this.

Standing beside him, I watched silently. “Why? What does he gain from your father marrying Natasha’s mother?”

“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “But the only way we will find out anything is to see the Briars. We have to go to Ireland.”

I couldn’t help but groan. “You do know they will most likely retaliate for everything that happened to Shamus.”

He turned to me, leaning against the window just as blood splattered upon it. “They will. But we have no other choice. We need to find out what’s happening.”