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One by one I watched as the people around us stood, some with tears glistening in their eyes, others ready to go to war for this woman. They were applauding, celebrating. I didn’t want to stand, I didn’t want to clap, all I wanted to do was take a steel bat to each one of their faces.
“Smile and stand up, sweetie. Cameras are flashing,” my husband whispered, as he pulled me up. He was just as tense as I was.
“How can anyone take this woman seriously? Her hair is in the shape of a beehive,” I muttered over to him.
“Her husband was the “people’s leader.” So now, she’s the people’s widow, beehive or not. Clap.”
Clapping in suppressed anger, I watched the brunette on stage smile and wave at her adoring audience.
We were losing. No amount of money could win the love of the people. And every time the bitch spoke, they loved her even more. She ate it up and kept speaking. She was only supposed to give a quick speech about this event, but now I felt like we were at a campaign rally.
“I would like to thank Senator Colemen,” she added. For the first time, the man who we wanted to be president was actually focused on. “Many of you don’t know this, but Senator Colemen and my husband were college roommates and good friends. When he found out Colemen was going to be running against him, he turned to me and said, ‘He’d better still come over for Christmas when he loses.’ I hope you still do, even now.”
“Always!” Senator Colemen laughed, rising to take his spot on the podium. “Thank you so much, Madam First Lady.”
“I hate it when they’re humble.” Liam sighed, returning to his seat along with most of the guests.
I followed suit.
Olivia looked over the sea of tables quickly. “Where’s Neal?”
“Hopefully fixing this shit,” Declan whispered, sipping his brandy as Coraline fought her hardest not to fall asleep. She looked worn out. I wasn’t sure why; she hadn’t done anything.
“Has Neal told any of you how he plans on fixing this?” Evelyn asked, flipping her white silk shawl over her shoulders.
“No,” Olivia hissed. “All I know is her highness here told him to shoot my father.”
With the exception of Liam and Sedric, everyone’s eyes snapped to me. As if this was so surprising.
“I’m all for it.” Mrs. Colemen giggled, pouring herself another glass of wine.
“Mother!” Olivia sneered, grabbing her hand. “You’ve had enough and we cannot seriously be talking about killing my father right now.”
Raising her head off Declan’s shoulders, Coraline looked around as well. “Neal wouldn’t…would he?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time one of us killed our wife’s father,” Sedric whispered behind his glass. To which Evelyn simply diverted her stare to Senator Colemen as he spoke. Sadly, she was the only one really giving him the time of day.
Slamming her fist onto the table, Olivia moved to the edge of her chair. “My father has done everything you people have asked. He is a human being, not a pawn in your games.”
“Sweetheart, relax, people are watching, besides it’s not like he’s been the best father in the world.” Mrs. Colemen laughed before drinking again.
“No!” she snapped. “He’s my father. Tell Neal to find another way, because if my father dies, it will be on your hands, Melody Giovanni. He is my family, and if you fuck with my family, you fuck with me, bitch.”
“Baby,” Declan whispered. “Let’s go… somewhere else.” He tried to pull Coraline away from the table.
“No way in hell. This just got interesting,” she whispered back.
Taking a deep breath, I folded my hands on the table and sat up. “Olivia Colemen, I’ve been fucking with you the minute I stepped into this house.” I shook my head slowly, as if I were truly baffled. “You mistakenly think I give shit about how you feel or what you think. It’s as if you really, truly, deep in your heart, think I’d give a fuck if you died. A bullet could go through your brain right now and I wouldn’t even blink. However…”
Picking my foot up, I stuck my spiked heel into her leg. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to make her gasp out in pain.
I leveled her with a stoic stare, speaking as eerily calm as I could, just enough to be heard. “If you ever threaten me again, the only thing that will be hanging is your body from my bathroom window.” Digging my heel in harder, she cried out. “So shut up, listen to your mother, and thank God you’re family. Because if you weren’t, I’d have killed you the first time you opened that augmented mouth of yours.”
Dropping my foot, I clapped as Senator Colemen wrapped up his speech. Mrs. Colemen stood, welcoming her husband into her arms for the cameras. We all stood for the photo, smiling like the Brady Bunch on crack.
“What were you all talking about?” Senator Colemen asked, glancing around the table, perhaps sensing the dissipating tension.
“The baby moved again, and my mother almost knocked over the table to feel,” Liam lied with ease.
He smiled. “I can only imagine. Kids are great, but I can’t wait for the grandkids.”
“Yes, please excuse me,” I told him, rising from my seat.
Liam stood, making room for me. “Where’re you going?”
“Bathroom, Dad. I’ll be right back.” He was so damn overprotective.
Kissing my cheek, he leaned and whispered into my ear, “You’re sexy when you’re mean.”
“I’m always sexy,” I whispered back.
He grinned. “You’re always mean.”
Shaking my head, I pulled away.
It was interesting to be around so many political figureheads at once. They all seemed to have come not for the good cause, but in hopes of being lobbyists. Each one trying to explain why they needed funding for whatever side of bullshit they were on this week. Why the next president needed to worry about this or how America was falling behind on that. They all looked so clean in their white, yet they were all dirty.
Walking into the foyer of the house, I couldn’t help but wonder: if they were the keepers of the law, the people we elected to keep justice, how anyone could be surprised by the type of people we were. We were the ‘good’ criminals. We took only what was ours, sold to only those who wanted, and killed those deserving…for the most part. We even gave back to our community ten times as much as they did.
As I turned the corner, I watched the First Lady enter the study—mine and Liam’s— pulling a woman behind her in haste.
Lesbian affair? I thought, trying my best not to smile. So soon after her husband’s murder? If something like that leaked to the media, I could knock her straight to the hell she supposedly experienced the day of her husband’s demise.
I walked over to the wall, as we liked to call it—the wall I had shot through only a year ago and destroyed Evelyn’s Pollock. She hadn’t been able to find another painting to cover it, so instead she had an indoor wall fountain installed. To get to the room behind it was as simple as pushing in a loose tile.
“What the hell is going on here?” I asked, causing Adriana to jump out of Antonio’s arms.
Antonio stood straighter. “Neal told me watch the cameras, ma’am.”
