LIAM
I do not like malls, or boutiques, or grocery stores; in all honesty, restaurants, church, and our charity were the only places you could really ever find me spending time with other “citizens.” If I ever needed to go shop for any reason, I called ahead and made sure they were closed to all other customers. My suits were tailor-made and the tailor came to my house. The rest of my clothes Melody had gotten for me, and I knew she also did not frequent malls. I supposed it was the product of being raised rich or maybe just our own ego. Either way, it was how we were…why did it matter? Because I was hunting, and like all hunters, I needed to understand my prey in order to trap it.
“And this is the necklace he ordered correct?” she asked, lifting the yellow-green heart-shaped diamond double halo pendant up to her face.
“Yes, this is the custom necklace Mr. Callahan ordered. He picked out the diamond himself,” the seller replied, moving to take it back from her. However, she pulled back, a wicked grin spreading across her face. She wore a casual fitted white dress and her black hair, which was always up in all the pictures I had seen of her, was now down and in loose waves.
“Whatever the price, I’ll double it.” She had already moved to place it around her neck.
“And I’ll just double my bid on top of that.” I finally stepped into the front of The Ocean Mile Jewelry store, popping the jelly beans I had in my hands into my mouth. Her black eyes widened as she stared at me before turning back her to guards. “Gentlemen, the lady no longer needs your assistance. You are free to take your leave.”
Not only did her guards leave, but the jeweler did as well, locking up behind the counter before rushing back behind me and into the back room.
“Just so you know, my wife prefers pear cut diamonds; she’d never be caught dead with hearts around her neck.” I leaned on the showcase, popping another jelly bean in my mouth. “But you don’t really care, you just want to upstage her in any way you can, and since Emilio won’t let you shoot at her again, you think a diamond necklace will work in annoying her, Liling? Pity, my wife assumed you were smarter. I, on the other hand, was positive you were just a wannabe mafia princess.”
Her nose flared at me and within a second she lifted a gun, pointing it right into my face. “You honestly think I wouldn’t have a weapon? Pity, I thought you were smarter than that. Emilio, on the other hand, thinks you are useless.”
I glanced down at the gun still in my face. “You gonna point that thing in my face all day or are you going to shoot?”
“You don’t think I would?” She pulled the trigger and, of course, nothing happened.
“You truly are an epic idiot aren’t you?” I stared at her in pure awe before laughing. “Jesus, no wonder Ju-long didn’t want to step down, both his children are imbeciles—”
“You son of a bitch!” She charged at me, but before she could do anything but make animal noises with her mouth, I smacked her arm away and grabbed a fistful of her hair before slamming her head right through the glass case. I didn’t really hear her screams as I dragged her face along the glass edges, cutting into her porcelain skin before throwing her on the floor, my shoes on top of her chest.
“You’re a disappointment,” I spoke down to her. “But you’ve also explained so much. All of this, all the planning, you really have no idea what is going on, you are just a mindless puppet who is jealous of my wife. All I had to do is let it slip to a few people that I was getting my wife a necklace and here you come crawling like a rat to a cage. You try to dress like her, change your hair, your walk, your makeup—all to be a woman you can never be. How sad is your fucking life? Did your father not love you enough, is that it?”
“He—”
I took out my gun and shot her in the wrist. “AHH!”
“On second thought, I really don’t give a fuck about your daddy issues. Hell, I don’t give a fuck about any of your issues.” As I pressed my foot harder into her chest, she gasped out. “I’m sorry, did that hurt?” I questioned, firing again into her other arm. “You’re going to have to forgive me, it’s been a rough few weeks.”
“Melody couldn’t fight me so she sent you—AH URGH!” She screamed out when I simply moved my hand back and shot into her legs. When I took my foot off her chest, she rolled onto her side, curling into a ball when I crouched next to her.
“You shot my wife.” I sneered, the anger I had been trying to hold back bubbling to the surface. “That right there is the difference between you two. My wife would have killed you with her own bare hands. However, I believe that is a waste of time for the governor, don’t you?”
“Emilio—”
BANG.
“Ur—”
“It was a yes or no question, Liling. Who the fuck do you think you are to shoot my wife? The mother of my children, the head of the Italian mob—”
“For now!” She spat at me.
“As you know, this gun is loaded,” I stated, pressing the gun to her skull. “If you don’t answer my questions, I will unload in your skull.”
“Fuck you! FUCK YOU! You’re going to kill me anyway—”
“Liling, you will find out there are worse things than dying, just like your brother did…I promise you.”
MELODY
The moment I stepped through the doors, all I heard was applause; it came from the security team, the staff on the ground, and even a few guests on a tour of the state building.
“Welcome back, Governor!”
“We missed you, Governor!”
Mina stepped up right beside me as we walked and I waved politely as we made our way back to my office—the office I hadn’t returned to in almost a month now. My doctor and Liam were still telling me to take it easy, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had too much to do, mostly figuring out who the fuck had voted Mayor Cortés into office and why.
“Welcome back, ma’am.” Bruce, my secretary, stood up from his desk, a cup of coffee already in his hands.
“Thank you, Bruce, but no coffee—”
“It’s herbal tea, it’s the best for the heart.” He nodded to me and I took it but didn’t drink. “You have about thirty calls from various other mayors and officials. I had the fruit baskets and gifts sent to the car since I know you hate your office being cluttered. No one but the cleaning crew has gone in there since you…er, left. If anything is out of place let me know and…” He sighed. “I’m just glad you are back; this place was like a graveyard.” He leaned in closer. “We even had a few people trying to jump ship and buddy up to some people. I have their names highlighted.” He handed me a piece of paper as if to let them all know he was snitching on their asses proudly.
“As always, good work, Bruce.” I nodded to him, taking the list and walking back into my office.
Just like he’d said, nothing was out of place as I walked across the blue carpet, moving behind my Bubinga desk and sitting back into the chair.
“Missed it?” Mina asked, taking a seat across from me.
“It’s just a chair.”
She tilted her head, a smile on her lips. “This is just a chair.” She pointed to her seat before pointing back to mine. “That is a throne. You sit there, you control this state.”
“When are they coming?” I changed the subject even though she was right and I loved the fucking chair.
Beep.
“Ma’am.” Bruce said over the phone. “We have the city council members here. They say they have a meeting, but I have nothing on the books.”
“Let them through,” I replied. Mina rose from the chair and walked around the desk to stand beside me.
One by one, twelve members of the city council all stepped inside my office, none of them looking happy to be there. It was like children having to come to the principal’s office after getting caught cheating.
“Please sit—”
“They can stand.” I cut Mina off. “At least, until someone explains to me how a nobody from nowhere suddenly became the mayor of the largest city in Illinois overnight. It seems impossible. In fact, I can see no way this could have happened unless you all are hiding something. I know you, Steven, have been gunning for the job yourself. And you Diane, you even planned to support him. The rest of you all swore to me that you would never cast that vote unless I approved. So is this your way of telling me you no longer stand behind me? If so, I’m hurt, but you’re going to hurt much, much more. ”
“The son of a bitch is blackmailing us.” Steven sighed.
“No shit, but with what?” I snapped.
“The Duncan case.” One of them spoke up and I had to close my eyes and inhale deeply, my nails digging into the arm of the chair.
“And how does a nobody know about a case that should no longer exist because your lives depended on making it go away!” Idiots! Fucking IDIOTS!
“We don’t—”
“She’s in a meeting!” Bruce yelled when the door opened and like the devil himself, Emilio pain-in-my-fucking-ass Cortés walked in with a large smile on his face.
“Am I late? I figured since I was most likely going to be the topic of discussion on your first day back, Governor, why not come over in person?” He walked right up to my desk, sat in one of the chairs across from me, and kicked his feet up. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a stick of gum. “Now, where were we?”
“Bruce, it’s fine.” I nodded to the door, my eyes on the snakeskin shoes he had on my desk. “We were on the Duncan case.”
He gave a long whistle before speaking.
“Oh man, you all fucked up on that one. Burying toxic waste near homes will definitely get the people riled up. And you, Governor, knowing about it and covering it up? It might not have happened under you, but still, come on, aren’t you supposed to be better than that? Isn’t that why the people of this city elected you into that pretty chair—I’m sorry, throne.” He winked at Mina…so apparently my office was also fucking bugged. “If you run for president, I’m sure it will come up and be all kinds of bad press.”
“You all may leave,” I said to the city council, and they didn’t need to be told twice. All of them rushed to leave as quickly as possible. “Mina, you too.”
“Mel—”
“Go.”
“I’ll be right outside,” she said, grabbing a file off my desk before walking off. It was only when the door shut softly that I stood up and pushed his feet off my desk. “It’s Bubinga wood.”
“What the fuck is that?” He made a face and I didn’t understand at all.
“Who are you, Emilio, and what the fuck do you want with me? You won’t say anything about the Duncan case because you used it as leverage for the privilege of being worth a damn.”
“That’s where you are wrong. I don’t really give a fuck about being mayor anyway.” He shrugged, blowing a bubble with his gum before rising from his seat and moving to my window. “Who wants to be the mayor of this goddamn city anyway? It’s been trying to ruin itself for decades, then some doe-eyed idealistic comes along thinking he or she can clean the streets they’ve had a hand in making dirty to begin with—”
“Do you have a SparkNotes version of your speech? It may come as a shock to you but I actually have work to do,” I replied.
Turning back, he smiled like he was truly happy; maybe he was insane. “This is why everyone loves you, right? Your witty one-liners, your tough girl act. What was it like hearing that someone shot at your kids? I mean, you all were raised with silver spoons in your mouths; it must have been shocking to realize you weren’t invincible.”
“First, I’m a woman, not a girl. Second, it is not an act, and third, I don’t feed my children with silver spoons. Silver is for second place; they use gold.” My eyes narrowed on him.
He nodded to himself and for the first time since he had walked in, his stance and posture were upright and serious, his eyes sharp and his voice deeper as he said, “I hope they kept the spoons then because when I’m through with you, they are going to need something to live on.”
“Are you threatening me in my office right now?” I asked when he came closer to me. He didn’t stop until he was far too close to my face for comfort and my self-control…any closer and I would kill him.
“I’m saying I hope we have good, indecent, and bloody fight, Melody. Don’t hold back, because I won’t, and I play dirty as hell. You have so much to lose now: a husband, three children, nieces and nephews, your reputation…the list keeps going and going. I’m going to have fun. God and I are the only ones who know what I have in store for you.”
“So this is a game to you? Or is it revenge for the fact that your father Marcos was taken out like a bitch, and you had to crawl and beg for someone to notice you? Did you live a hard knock life? I can have someone come and play the violin while you tell me your sob story,” I replied as he glared but didn’t say anything, backing away toward the door.
“Tell your husband I said thanks; Liling was getting far too clingy for my liking and now the triad has no one else to look to but me.” He closed the door behind him, and it only took a second for Mina to come back in.
“The son of a fucking bitch—ahh.” I hissed, reaching up to my chest as it burned.
“Melody you need to relax!” Mina rushed to me but I pushed her away.
God damn it! “Ahh…”
“We need to go to the hospital.”
“I’m fine.”
“Mel.”
DAMN IT!
I was going kill him. I didn’t care what he had. That night, wherever he was, I was going to kill him and deal with whatever happened next.
LIAM
“Again.”
I watched as she lit up like a Christmas tree, electricity flowing through her body, her hair rising away from her body.
“Stop,” I ordered, and when they left her, she slumped in her chair. “Do you know there was a study where they asked regular people to electrify other regular people, with different voltage strengths? They started off with the weakest voltage and the person being electrified would give a quick groan or grunt but seemed okay. Then they told to raise the voltage and it seemed like those people were in real pain. Yet out of dozens of people involved in the experiment, only a handful refused to increase the voltage. Most of them just kept doing what they were told.” I waited for a second before nodding to Fedel. “Again.”
She shook for only a second before I said, “Stop…again…stop. You see, I think there is something in people that makes them innately susceptible to commands. Some people are just followers, while other people, a rare few, are born to lead. You weren’t born to lead, Liling. You thought you were, but you just aren’t the same. Is that why Emilio was able to get you so wrapped around his fingers?”
She cursed me in Chinese, not bothering to lift her head up. Two hours of this and she still wouldn’t speak; either she didn’t know anything or she would rather die than say anything.
“Liam.” Neal came into the room, turning his body away from her and holding the tablet out in front of him. “This was just published online.”
“What the fuck am I looking at?” I could clearly see Melody and Emilio, in her office, their faces so close together it looked like they were about to kiss.
“He’s starting,” Liling said, laughing behind us.
“The press is going to hound her—”
“If this is all he can do, then we are far too worried about him,” I muttered as I glared at the image.
MELODY
“So the interview will be in one of the conference rooms of the hospital, and after that you have the teachers association meeting at one, then the city board at three—”
“I thought I was taking it easy, coming in, shaking a few hands, pretending to actually be working.” I shifted in the back seat, Mina scrolling through the schedule in front of her.
“We can reschedule the teachers association meeting if you would like, but you need the interview; you haven’t done one in almost a year.”
Rubbing the side of my head, I nodded and lay back. For some reason, I had the feeling someone was watching me. I knew it was all in my head. I understood it was just a product of learning about Emilio bugging my office, but that still didn’t make me feel better. What the fuck was wrong with him? If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it. If he wanted revenge, he could have taken it in that one moment. There was some giant piece of the puzzle I was missing. It was like staring at the Mona Lisa with her smile gone. You know what’s supposed to be there and how it’s supposed to look, and yet it just looks off.
“We’re here,” Mina stated when the car pulled to a stop in front of the building, and luckily the press weren’t there that day. I said nothing as the doors opened, and I stood in the exact same spot where I’d been shot down only a month before. I felt a lot of things; I just wasn’t able to express what they were. The air was far too hot for April and heat waves rippled through the sky, a dramatic change from the weak weather and rain we normally had that time of year.
“Mel?”
“I’m fine,” I stated, walking forward. When I entered the hospital, I noticed that nothing had changed since I’d left—nothing but a banner that now said ‘Chicago Strong’ at the entrance.
“Governor Callahan, we’re glad to finally see you up and about. How are you feeling?” Dr. Fortmen came over to me with a team of doctors, outstretching his arm.
“I’m feeling like my old self again, thanks to you.” I shook his hand, looking at the rest of them. “Thanks to all of you. How are the children?”
“Follow me.” He led the way as we walked down the halls. “Four of the children are still here and we have kept them in the same room so they don’t feel isolated. Luckily they are recovering well, physically, but mentally, they still jump at any loud noises. One of the four tore open his stitches one night after a nightmare.”
“And their parents?” I asked, stopping at the door with him. Through the window I saw them, all sitting at their children’s sides. They looked exhausted, but that didn’t stop them from laughing and playing with them.
“I thought you said there were four families?” I only counted three.
“The Valentinos.” He moved across the hall to another room, looking through the glass at a couple with brunette hair. “They were the ones that lost their son and daughter. Their second son, Toby, survived. The kids were all together when the shooting happened. They haven’t left the hospital since. We’ve set up beds and even allowed them to use the showers here. At first, we tried to keep Toby with the rest of the kids, but his condition… He’s the one who ripped his stitches. Of all the kids, he’s recovered the best, physically, but between his nightmares and refusing to eat, sleep, or even speak, he’s making himself sick. He won’t speak to the child psychotherapist either.”
He was the only one not playing or laughing. He just sat on his bed, staring out the window. His parents talked but they looked like they were talking for the sake of talking and weren’t really saying anything.
“How old is he?”
“He will be ten in July.”
“I want to speak with his family first.” I looked at the doctor toward Mina, who knocked on the door. His parents walked up to her and it only took a few moments before they stepped out of the room, looking at me.
“Governor, thank you so much for coming,” the father said. His eyes were so red it looked as if he had tried to claw them out. His handshake was weak and his smile fake.
“I’m so, so sorry about your loss.”
“Yeah…” His wife tried to say something, but nothing worked. “And thank you for coming. I’m sure you have a—”
“I have nothing more important.” I smiled, opening my arms and giving her a hug. God, I fucking hate hugging people.
No…please…no, don’t cry on me…damn it! I had to force myself not to cringe, slowly peeling away from her as she blew into a napkin.
“If neither of you mind, do you think I can talk to your son?” I questioned, glancing back at him.
“Huh? Our son? Why?” His father tensed up. “He’s not feeling—”
“My children were also involved in the other school shooting. My son also has had a hard time adjusting, but we finally managed to break through. I don’t know if I could just come by and say hello without at least reaching out to him.”
They glanced at each other and his mother crossed her arms over herself like she was trying to keep herself upright. “If—if you can do anything…okay.”
Her husband nodded and with that, Mina held the door open for me. When they moved to follow, I stopped, “He might not want to talk if he feels you standing next to him. Is it possible to just watch us from a distance?”
Luckily they didn’t fight me on it, maybe because they were just too tired to. Taking the white rolling chair, I moved it over to his bedside. He didn’t bother looking over so I sat between his bed and the window.
His eyes were hazel, his brown hair messy; a few strands fell on his face and he didn’t brush them back. For a quick second, he focused on me, somewhat confused as to who I was, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m Melody, I was shot too.” I outstretched my hand to shake his but he didn’t move, so I took his hand and made him shake mine anyway. At that, he pulled back and shifted to face the other direction. Leaning back in my chair, I said, “I have a son your age. When he’s upset, he either blows up or gets real silent; it scares the shit out of me some days.”
The boy’s head snapped back, eyes wide.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“Shit,” I said again and he made a face. “Fuck. Damn it. Bloody hell. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!”
The corner of his mouth turned up just a little.
“What, you’ve never heard a curse word before? Say it. I won’t tell your parents.”
He opened his mouth but then stopped, making me realize he had stopped talking because he was sad but had continued to not talk because he felt like everyone was trying to make him talk. He was being stubborn…and kids were allowed to be stubborn sometimes, especially when they were upset.
“Come on, I know you wanna…” I leaned closer. “This could be the one and only chance you get to say it to an adult and not get in trouble.”
Again he opened his mouth. “Fuck.”
“High five.” He left me hanging, making a face as if to say ‘not cool.’
“Are you going to ask me to talk about it? Because I don’t wanna talk. Kevin and Lizzy are dead and they aren’t coming back!” he screamed at me, on the verge of tears.
“I know. Dead people can’t come back. I’m not in here to make you feel better because the truth is you aren’t going to. You are always going to feel bad. So cry, get angry, but don’t just sit here and look out the window doing nothing. It’s not fair to your brother and sister. I don’t know them, but you giving up doesn’t really seem like something a brother and sister would want for their brother. I can’t promise you anything other than that the person who did this…will hurt more than you.”
“Can you?” He frowned, finally turning all the way around. “Can you hurt him?”
I smiled. “Absolutely, it’s kind of my specialty. I just need you to do a job for me.”
“What is it?”
“My son, Ethan, he’s going to need a friend like you.”
“You want me to be his friend? But what if I don’t like him?” He frowned. Smiling, I shrugged.
“You can use him for all his toys and leave.”
“You’re weird,” he replied. He was okay, as okay as a child in his situation could be, he just wanted someone to talk to him, not down to him, I could tell.
“Yeah, I know, but it’s the weird people who rule the world,” I said, rising from the chair.
“You’re going?” He frowned, looking back down at his hands. “My mom and dad keep crying and fighting. The doctors keep asking me how I am feeling…I don’t know. I don’t want to be here, but I don’t want to be there either.”
He nodded to the city outside his window.
“I have to, I’m one of the weird people who rule the world. You need to remember, Toby, your parents will always be sad too, the doctors will not leave you alone until you leave their hospital, and no one wants to go out there, you just kinda have to. It sucks, but that’s what we grownups do all the time.”
“I’ll do it,” he said when I moved to the door. “I’ll be your kid’s friend.”
I grinned. “Great, I’ll talk to your parents. But you should try getting out of bed and cleaning up, you kind of look sick.”
“I was shot.” He made a face at me.
“So was I! You don’t see me with a booger in my nose!” I exclaimed, and his eyes widened as he put his hands over his nose.
Laughing, I walked out of the room. The moment I did, his mother latched on to my arm.
“What did you say to him?” she begged. “He hasn’t said a word to us.”
In the corner of my eye, I saw Mina give me a look. “He just needed someone who wasn’t grieving. I asked him to come over to play with my sons. I hope we can work something out.”
“Thank you.” His father shook my hand more energetically this time. “Thank you.”
Nodding to them, Mina came over to me. When they walked back into the room, she lifted her phone for me to see the photo that was now trending online.
“I walked into this one.” Was this what he meant by ruining my reputation? By claiming we were having an affair? How childish.
“He’s releasing a statement already?” Mina asked, moving the phone to herself, clicking on the video.
What in the hell was wrong with this man?
“Melody…” Her eyes widened as she turned the screen back to me.
“What!” I snapped. Jesus Christ. “I do not have time for this.”
“Listen to what he’s saying!” She stuffed the earbud into my ear, replaying the video.
He stood in front of the camera, his whole body serious. “Just a few minutes ago I, along with many of you, saw a photo taken out of context by media. My advisors and staff tell me it is better not to comment on this. However, due to the double standard in our media coverage of females in power, I felt it would not be right to stand by as one of the strongest and finest governors this state has ever had is forced to comment on such a torrid photo. Not only is it not true, it is not possible, because Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan is my half-sister.”
I wasn’t a fainting type of person.
Nothing shocked me.
But all of sudden, I couldn’t breathe anymore.