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Part of me wished he had killed the bitch, but she was still Mel’s mother.
“What did he do?” Mel was here, so he didn’t kill her.
“What any madman would do. He chained her to the bed and hired a nurse. His room became her prison. Aviela fought and cursed, she even tried her charm, but Orlando wouldn’t let her go. She slit her wrist. He brought a doctor and had the whole room stripped so she couldn’t hurt herself. She tried starving herself, so we gave her soft drugs and fed her through tubes. It was like that for months until finally she caved. Suddenly she began to behave like a wife, and Orlando loved it. But it was only after she gave birth that he unchained her.”
“Fuck.” I sighed.
Why were our lives so fucking complicated? All I wanted to do was sell drugs, make love to my wife, and rule in peace.
“She ran, didn’t she?” I asked.
Gino shook his head. “No, she stayed. I thought it was the kidnap, bound, Stockholm thing you hear about. Or maybe she loved her daughter. But I soon discovered that wasn’t the case. Orlando had found Aviela’s lover, Leonardo Severino. If there was anyone she cared about, it was him. No one else, just him. Out of spite Orlando had him locked up in the basement, and every time she did something he didn’t like, he cut off a limb and gave it to her as a gift.
“Those white gloves she wore, were gifts from her lover, she swore she wouldn’t take them off until they were stained with both Melody’s and Orlando’s blood. She said she wouldn’t be satisfied until all the white had turned red. Orlando wanted Mel to have a mother, one who loved her, so he put up with it. Little Melody grew up with her mother cursing her every step. It was only when Mel was six that she started to notice her mother’s “love” for her wasn’t really love. So Orlando agreed to let her and Leonardo go, as long as they never came near his daughter again.”
Things were making sense, but in way, I was still confused. “If this is true, how did Mel get on that plane? Orlando would have never let her go.”
Gino frowned. “That’s why Aviela stole her. We drove them to the airport, even waited for them to get on the damn plane. We needed to make sure they were gone. We thought we were sure. However, she somehow managed to steal Melody from right under our noses. It went from bad to fucking worse. Orlando didn’t realize she had Melody. None of us did. He was the one that brought that plane down. He had the whole thing wired to blow. He hated her that much. There was no way he was going to just let her go. By the time we realized where Melody was, Orlando…Orlando was beside himself with grief. He thought he had killed his own daughter. That’s when we found out that Aviela was a DeRosa. We got word from one of our snitches in the Vance household that Vance’s men had gone and saved her. The explosives didn’t work as planned. It took out the wings but the pilot managed to land on the water. The video was pretty much destroyed but—”
“There was video? On a plane… in the ‘90s?” Fedel asked him, speaking up for the first time.
Gino stated. “Orlando had it installed, he wanted to see her burn. Because Vance’s men didn’t know about Melody, and Aviela wasn’t awake to kill her, Melody lived. She was left alive because Vance’s men just wanted to scare her and left her to freeze. Orlando never thanked God more than he did that night after he had her back. All Melody’s childhood memories are basically a lie and he wanted to keep it that way. He made us swear never to tell her and burn anything that would reveal the truth.”
Sighing, I sat on the edge of Fedel’s bed. “I am a Callahan. I head one of the strongest, if not the strongest, organizations in the world. We deal and we sell. Killing is just a side effect of that. I do not have the time nor the patience to deal with your fucked up lives. I do not want to waste my time, money or men in your family shit!”
“Then you married the wrong woman.” Gino frowned. “We knew Aviela was a DeRosa because she wasn’t a Callahan, and she sure as hell wasn’t a Valero. How many other families have enough power to step to us. Back then it was the Callahans led by Sedric, the Valeros led by Vance, the Giovannis led by Orlando, and lastly the DeRosas led by Ivan. All the information Aviela had stolen from us ended up in Ivan DeRosa’s hands. I haven’t even seen the man—no one has—but that bastard was always been one step ahead of us. The Giovannis and the DeRosas have been at odds since Melody’s grandfather murdered Ivan’s family. You think Aviela is fucked up? Her father wants every Giovanni erased from existence. This is all just one big battle for revenge.”
“Melody is a Callahan. She is my wife.” I was getting a headache; I could feel it growing. “There has to be more. What did the DeRosas have on the Callahans? And how the hell did they get Shamus to do what they wanted?”
“Shamus?” Gino questioned, pissing me off. “The old ass who’s too busy sucking himself off to give a shit about anyone else?”
“That’s my grandfather.” I reminded him, not that it mattered.
“Shame,” he spat out in disgust. “I don’t know anything about Shamus or the Callahans. I told you all I know. Aviela wanted Melody dead before she was even born. After this attack, she’s most likely out of the state if not the country. Aviela strikes then leaves. She can’t stay in one place for long. Orlando’s prison almost drove her crazy… crazier.”
“There’s more to it than this.” I grabbed the Jell-O. “He talked,” I said to Fedel. “It isn’t your last meal, deal with it.”
I walked out. I was so done with this web of lies and clues. Who the hell did I look like, Nancy motherfucking Drew?
The walk to Mel’s room was short, and I noticed Declan giving me death stare as he spoke on the phone. I didn’t know what his problem was, but if he didn’t stop staring at me like I was a low level criminal, I would bust his teeth in. I didn’t have the time, nor the energy, and I hated hospitals. There were too many ass-crack junkies and dead people in one place.
I need a fucking vacation.
I handed the empty Jell-O cup to Monte, who stared at me oddly. Walking into Mel’s room, I leaned against the door.
“I want a new mistress,” I told her.
“I want a new husband!” she snapped. “You bought the shit for thirty? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I really need a fucking vacation, and brandy. A lot of brandy.
TWELVE
“Till death do us part.”
NEAL
“Ouch. Babe, I’m fine.” I tried pulling away from her, but she wouldn’t let go of my face.
Liam had allowed me to come home, and the moment I stepped into the room, the woman all but attacked me, and not in the way a man liked.
“You’re fine?” she snapped. “You have a black eye, four broken ribs, a busted eardrum! Not to mention—”
“Baby…” I grabbed her hands, forcing her to look me in the eyes. “I’m fine. I’m a little beaten up, but I’m fine. So please, just kiss me.”
She glared at me, slapping me on arm before kissing me deeply. I picked her up with one arm and pushed her onto the bed.
“Neal, you’re hurt.” She moaned as I kissed her neck.
