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I stared at him. I couldn’t look away, and for the first time in all my life, I felt truly torn, like I was seeing the Liam, the Mad Hatter, and Liam, the father, standing at odds inside myself. The boss in me, the monster in me, wanted to smack my own son, tell him to grow up, that Ethan had done the right thing. You protect your family first. Fuck Abby. Fuck anyone who wasn’t a Callahan. The father in me, though, the person I would be if I wasn’t a boss, if we were normal, that part would have been proud of him. Proud that he was willing to sacrifice everything to save his friends, that he had that kind of bravery…but like always, the monster in me won out.
“Wyatt,” I said, my face emotionless. “You are my son. My blood. So I will let you wipe your face. I will forgive you this one time because I know this is hard and you are still young. But if you ever put yourself or your siblings in danger trying to save someone who is not family…you will no longer be my son, do you understand me? The family is all that matters. Now, tomorrow, and forever.”
He stared at me, stunned. As I stood up straighter, I reached into my j
acket pocket for my phone and saw twenty-seven missed calls from Mel.
Shit. She’s going to… No sooner had I thought of her than my phone rang once more.
“Ethan, your mother,” I answered, handing the phone off, but before he could speak, Dona grabbed the phone, grinning widely.
“Momma where are you? Ethan is crying!” She giggled.
“Dona! Stop lying!” Ethan tried to grab the phone and she ran away from him. Wyatt didn’t say anything, moving to sit on the couch quietly.
We need to stop babying them. Mel’s voice rang in my mind. The thing was, Wyatt wasn’t being a baby…he was developing a moral compass.
“Boss.” Fedel walked inside a simple file in his hand, the look in his eyes unsettling me.
“What now?” I snapped, snatching the file from him. Inside were two pictures and a one-sentence note.
Before you harm another man’s child, remember you have three of your own. For the sake of peace, let this be the last time our guns cross.
~ Tàiyáng Ju-long
I flipped through the photos: Dona screaming from behind the blue table, her hands gripping so hard they looked white. Wyatt reaching for some girl in a purple coat in the far-off edge of the frame while Ethan dragged him over to where Dona was. Whoever had taken them had done so from close.
“For the sake of peace, he says.” I hissed through my teeth. “His son broke my rules, he takes shots at my children, and now he wants fucking peace?”
“They also sent it to the governor’s office sir. I have people looking through all the street camera—”
“Daddy!” Dona skipped right back to me, handing me the phone. “Mommy says she wants to talk to you.”
“Thank you, princess.” I smiled, taking the phone as she ran back to Wyatt and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was annoyed but couldn’t help but laugh when she said something.
“Mel—”
“The Tàiyáng Family has declared war on us Liam.”
“And they, like every other motherfucker, will learn that the goddamn price of war is blood.”
ETHAN
“Why ain’t Mommy here yet?” Dona made a face, tugging on the ears of her stuffed elephant, Mr. Missmore. Dad had named it for her cause she couldn’t decide. The maid combed her hair softly, not speaking to us; they never spoke to us unless we asked first.
“Not ain’t, Dona, isn’t. Why isn’t Mommy here yet?” I said, leaning on her dresser table.
“Really?” She stuck her bottom lip out. “But some of the kids at school always say ain’t.”
“It’s because they’re stupid,” I replied, flicking the nose of Mr. Missmore.
“And you are just sooooooo smart.”
In the mirror I saw Wyatt crawling onto his bed, not looking at me.
“If you’re going to say something, say it to my face!” I didn’t want to yell but he kept getting on my nerves.
“Fine.” He jumped off the bed and marched right in front of me before yelling.
