Vicious Minds: Part 2 (Children of Vice 5)

“No, sir.”

“Come on, Gigi. Mommy has so much work to do,” Calliope said, stretching her hand towards Gigi. “I’ll see you downstairs, O’Phelan, to go over what I’ll be needing.”

“Bye, Papa! Don’t forget your promise!” Giovanna waved to my grandmother and me before following her mother out, skipping next to her.

O’Phelan, stood unfazed. “I’ll inform the staff. Is there anything else, sir?”

“No. It will be in your best interest not to keep her waiting,” I said, and he just nodded before leaving.

Right on cue, Wyatt began his bitching. “Did I hear right? Did you just hand over our house to a woman we’ve known for less than a day?”

“Technically, I’ve known for her much longer than a day, hence the daughter,” I added, knowing they didn’t see the depth of that.

“I mean…you know what I mean!”

“Will you all care to not have this conversation in a hallway?” I said, already walking away. They followed.

Because of course they would follow.

This morning had fucked everything up.

Calliope was supposed to explain this because quite frankly, she loved to create stories and lies, and she was much better at it than I was. She sprinkled in just enough truth to make the lies go down easier.

“While Wyatt, was not tactful, Ethan. I have to agree,” my grandmother spoke up softly as we entered my study. “Are you sure about this? Her? You cannot just spring a new wife on us on top of having a daughter…a few weeks after your last wife was murdered?”

“My last wife?” I asked blankly as I took a seat behind the desk. “Who are you talking about?”

“Nana, he’s lost his fucking mind. Clearly, that woman did something to him.” Wyatt went on, shaking his head as if his neck was broken. “Ethan! This crazy chick stormed in here, poisoned the whole family, hid your daughter from you, belittled and insulted everyone at breakfast, and your thought process is ‘let me marry her and give her authority?’ Are we selling the drugs you are currently high on?”

He was very fucking lucky he was injured already because being my brother would not stop me from taking something and beating him over the head with it had he been healthy… Still, he was pushing that luck.

“Ethan,” my grandmother said gently, and I didn’t know why she was using such a soft voice like I was a child. Like I was asking for her permission or needed to be talked to in such a way. “I understand that you want to clean up the last couple of weeks—”

“Who’s going to question me?” I asked her.

“That isn’t the point, Ethan,” she repeated.

“No, that’s everything,” I said to her. “The family registry will say that I was married to Calliope, and we’ve been officially married for five years now. That will be the story, and no one in this family will question it. We will all say it over and over again until everyone believes it from the bottom of their hearts.”

“Okay, sure. You can make the family say it, but the public? The other families? Are we forgetting Ivy?” Wyatt snapped. “You want all of us to pretend she didn’t exist? She existed. She was here, in this very room. She came to church with us—”

“Ivy is dead. What does it matter if you remembe

r her or not?”

He sighed. “I do not understand. After everything…everything you went through, you are going to throw her to side like that?”

Apparently, he was going to need help with this. “Wyatt, she’s already been thrown to the side. You threw her, remember? Half of the people who care will think I was just using her, as you wanted them to think. You kicked the ball down the hill, so there is no undoing it now. We have to live with it, like everything else. Because that is what we do in this family. We conquer, we save face, and we press on. My daughter trumps everything else now.”

“Even your own happiness?” he questioned.

“I chose what makes me happy. That is not your concern,” I said before looking to my uncles, who poured themselves a drink and now sat quietly watching. “Any objections?”

“Is there even an objection?” Uncle Neal questioned.

“No. I am just making sure you know,” I said.

“I’ve made my decision on Calliope and Giovanna. I’m not changing my mind. You and everyone else will have to deal with it.”