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“History never looks well on brothers. In the Ottoman Empire, the moment one son took the throne, he was forced to kill all his brothers. Shakespeare, Greek plays, the fucking Bible are filled with stories of brothers turning on each other. Hell, I don’t even have to go back that far in history. My father and his brother fought. Neal and I fought. I don’t want that to be the future for my sons, Mel. I want them to support each other, not shoot at each other. Yeah, Ethan will one day end up leading the family, but I want Wyatt standing right beside him,” he snapped angrily, his voice rising again with each sentence. “I don’t know what to do. I didn’t even think he felt that way!”
“Keep breathin—”
“Am I giving birth? Why do I have to keep breathing like this?”
Smacking his arm as hard as I could, I tried to back away from him, muttering, “Ass.”
He smirked, grabbing on to my ass to pull me closer and squeezed tightly. “You do have a nice one.”
“How do you go from worrying about our sons to my ass in zero seconds flat?” I tried to shove him away but he held on to me.
“I’m upset, your ass makes me feel better, it’s not that big of a leap,” he explained, and I could feel him become serious again.
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“Ethan and Wyatt. I don’t what to say or do for that. I never had siblings. I don’t understand what it means to be jealous like that. However, you do have siblings. Why not ask your brother? I’m sure he understands more than anyone else what Wyatt is feeling.”
He pouted. “I don’t wanna.”
“Fine, you big baby, but before you worry about that, we need to worry about the motherfuckers who shot at them today.”
Right on time, there was a single knock on the door.
“Enter.” I turned back.
“Boss.” Fedel stepped inside. “Everyone is waiting in the study.”
Taking off my coat, I threw it on the bed. Liam rose and we followed him out. We hadn’t had much time to speak about this, but a family meeting was needed. The hallways were silent with expectation as my heels clicked on the marble floor. Neither Liam nor I stopped until I stood in front of a postmodern contemporary painting of a female nude done by none other than famed painter Léo Lémieux. It was covered in reds and pinks, with a hint of dark blue around her heart.
“Boss?” Fedel called, holding open the door to the study for me. Liam was already inside. Turning from the painting, I walked into the study, once again annoyed at the sight of the place. Because Liam was such a nerd at heart, he had modeled it like some sophisticated hybrid of a comic book cave/lair and his father’s old office. There was even a glass case by the window filled with all his favorite comics. Every time I went in there I wanted to roll my eyes so damn hard they would come out of my head. It looked like an overgrown man-child with far too much money decided to have a field day. Over the years, Liam had gotten much more serious about being the head of the family, but there were some things he could not let go of, like his undying love for comics and superheroes.
“I feel like I have less and less dignity the more I come in here.” I groaned, putting my hands over my mouth. The door shut behind me.
“Woman, I added the mahogany desk and cabinets, what more do you want?” He also groaned, kicking up his foot on said 1930s prime mahogany desk I had bought for him.
“Man…I want to walk in here and not see that.” I pointed to the Stormtrooper in the corner. “You’re the head of the fucking mafia, not fucking Stan Lee.”
“What does Stan Lee have to do with Star Wars? Do you mean George Lucas?” he asked so seriously I wanted to hit him.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“That’s what I want to know. Stan Lee or George Lucas? How do you not know the difference—”
He stopped at the sound of Coraline’s laughter. It was so weird and unique that you couldn’t help but stop. She sat comfortably in Declan’s lap on the opposite side of the room, dressed in casual jeans and a white blouse.
“I’m sorry.” She wiped her eyes. “But really? I came here expecting the Liam and Melody ‘let’s burn them all’ speech and instead you’re fighting over Stormtroopers and Stan Lee? Thank you for lightening the mood, really.”
“Is she done?” Liam asked Declan, who just leaned back, biting the corner of his lips to stop from smiling. He glanced up at Cora, who smiled brightly and nodded, saying with a perfect accent, “Done, I am. Continue, may you.”
Declan lost it, as did Neal, and even Mina looked like she was trying her best to keep her composure. I looked to Liam, but he smirked, shaking his head.
Children. They are all bloody fucking children…I thought that even though I felt myself relax at the sight of them, all of them our family, healthy and smiling at each other as if nothing in the world could ever prevent that.
“I’m quite pleased you all still find it possible to laugh.” Evelyn came in dressed in a pair of black pants and a black blouse with a bow tied at the neck. “That’s what has always made us different from those who want to hurt us. We laugh together. We cry together. We fight together. I’m sure Sedric is laughing with you all.”
“Evelyn, what are you doing here? I thought you went to rest.” Coraline stood, reaching for her hand.
