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“Yes, Mel, I know where every hidden door is to a random opera house in Washington,” he barked sarcastically.
I said nothing, there was no point. He was pissed off, and so was I, but one of us needed to be level-headed. I felt my pulse quicken as I pulled the man over the red and gold accented carpet.
“Clear the building, keep everyone calm!” an officer yelled.
We couldn’t see them but we knew they were close by.
“Check everywhere for the gunmen!” another yelled behind us.
“Shit!” Gunmen? What gunmen?
“Mel,” Liam nodded over to door.
“It’s a closet,” I told him.
“We don’t have choice,” he said as he opened the door and dragged the man in. I followed him in and Liam closed the door as I pushed their bodies into the corner. Grabbing a few of the coats, I threw them over the bodies.
“Are you armed?” Liam asked quickly.
Lifting up the skirts of my dress, I showed him the guns strapped to my upper thighs. “When am I not?”
He shook his head and snickered as he pressed his ears against the door. Coming up next to him, I listened as well.
“Your grandfather is a son of a fucking bitch,” he whispered.
“Yes, I know, thank you.”
“Just saying what we’re both thinking—”
I placed my finger on his when I heard the police behind the door.
“They’re coming,” Liam said as he reached for his gun but I stopped him, we were not doing this. We were not going to blow all of our hard work in a single moment.
Pushing down the front of my dress, I gave him a better view of my cleavage before lifting up my dress.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Kiss me.”
“What—?” I pulled him to me, and hopped up until my legs were wrapped around his waist. He held onto me, and as he ran his hands through my hair just as the door opened.
“Get out, now!” an officer yelled as I unwrapped myself from him, and tried to fix my dress before we exited.
“What’s going on?” I gasped, pretending to be frightened.
“Mr. and Mrs. Callahan?” one of the cops asked. “Have you been in this closet long?”
“Yes, Officer, is everything alright? What’s going on?” Liam answered, as he fixed his bow tie. He spoke with an authority that they were familiar with.
The officer stood straighter. “Mr. Callahan, we got reports of shots being fired on the grounds, we will have an officer escort you out.”
“Thank you!” I said quickly, as they led us from the hall. I looked back, watching as the closet door closed and the police ran past it.
I shivered at the cold when we made it out into the streets that were crawling with cops and fire trucks.
“Liam,” I whispered, drawing his attention to Avian as he entered his private car. I took pleasure in the slight annoyance on his face before it returned to the cool and collected facade he usually portrayed.
Monte and Kain were both standing beside the car, and I could feel Liam stiffening in anger. Where the fuck had they been?
“Boss, two men came towards the room with guns. We didn’t fire, but they did,” Monte said quickly.
“But it was as if they weren’t even trying to hit us, they were just firing,” Kain added just as quickly.
“That’s because they wanted to draw you away!” Liam snapped, and I pulled him back. “Why didn’t you contact us?”
“We tried calling, but the phones had been jammed.”
Liam turned to me. “Son of a bitch.”
“Have the clean-up crew here take care of the bodies in the closet upstairs. They’re under some coats. I want it done fast,” I commanded before we entered the car.
LIAM
I lay on the bed with Ethan on my chest. I had my hand on his back and I watched as he breathed in and out slowly as his thumb slid into his mouth. He was the only thing that was keeping me calm right now.
Mel came over and sat on her side of the bed while flipping through the list of agents Colemen had given to us.
“This one, Agent Autumn Smith, she’s based in Chicago, she has similar physical attributes as Coraline.”
“Do you think Declan and Coraline can do it? I want no mistakes.” The truth was that I didn’t trust either of them to get it done without problems.
“They don’t have a choice,” she replied already dialing.
Declan answered on the first ring.
“And here I thought you’d forgotten about us.”
“We have a job for you,” Mel stated softly getting off the bed so as to not wake Ethan.
“This sounds serious.”
“We have an agent we need you and Coraline to get rid of. I’ll have the info sent to you.” Mel replied, already sending it through our email.
“You want Coraline and me—”
“To kill the agent, and we don’t want any mistakes.”
“Mel, whatever it is, I can do it with Fedel. I don’t want to put this type of pressure of Coraline.”
“We’re under attack, Declan, everyone has to step up, including your wife,” Mel reminded him.
“How—”
Mel hung up before he could speak again.
“That was rude.”
“He’ll live.”
“If he doesn’t fuck up.” And he’d better not.
EIGHTEEN
“Sex and violence: the greatest duo since the Three Stooges.”
—Jarod Kintz
CORALINE
“Hello, Neal?” I answered my phone at the top of the stairs.
“Coraline…” he said with a drawn out sigh.
“Neal, what’s wrong?”
“Everything, Cora,” he snorted just before laughing.
Walking into the nearest sitting room, I moved as far from the door as possible and found myself standing near Evelyn’s Piet Mondrian painting over the fireplace.
“Neal, are you drunk?”
“I’m Irish love, I don’t get drunk.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “What happened, Neal?”
“You know, when Declan told us he was going to marry you, I was shit faced. I couldn’t believe it. You were so different from all the other girls he’d dated before. I gave you both a year.”
“Well, I didn’t like your ass either and I’m tempted to hang up now.”
“No! Please don’t,” he sighed, and I heard him take another swig of whatever it was that he was drowning himself in. “You're the only person in this family that…that treats me normally. Declan is Liam’s guy. Dad’s favorite is Liam. Mom loves me, but she would never pick. I just need someone for a goddamn second to be in my bloody corner! Just one person.”
“Neal, we’re family. I’m always in your corner. And Declan, he cares about you, and you know it.”
“Declan killed our uncle for Liam. Rule fifteen, Coraline, if family ever betrays family, show no mercy, no forgiveness and put them in the earth. I’m next; I knew it since the day I was born. One of them is going to kill me.”
“Neal, my husband is sitting in the dining room waiting for me to join him for dinner. But you called me and you sound like you need my help. So instead of eating with him, I am huddled in a corner of one of your mother’s drawings rooms. Now, tell me what is wrong.”
