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“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I muttered to myself, watching as doctors rushed to the care of none other than Ju-long. He lay on the ground, his cane and hat tossed to the side, the tea he had been drinking pouring off the top of the square table onto the floor beside his head. One doctor was above him, pumping his chest, and another held a pump to his mouth.
He’s gone. It was a simple statement and yet the ramifications of his death were endless. I was more than positive a man like Ju-long Tàiyáng didn’t just keel over and die the moment he was supposed to have a meeting with me, which meant two things.
First, he had told Declan the truth and in no way had anything to do with the attacks on my family.
Second, this was probably one of the smoothest coup d'états I had ever witnessed. His daughter and her husband had not only managed to get a foothold in Chicago overnight but also get rid of the head of the Chinese triad, making it look it was something I did out of retaliation.
“Time of death, 10:14 AM.” They finally said what had been clear from the start.
Well played, you fuckers. Well played.
SEVENTEEN
“To the ancient Greeks the word dikaiosini, justice, was often synonymous with ekdikisis, vengeance.”
~ Si
dney Sheldon
MELODY
Today, Mayor Cortés, the city’s first mayor of Hispanic descent, announced that the manhunt for Luke Charlton, the shooter behind the murder of nine children at Pennington Academy and four more young lives at Lincoln Elementary just two weeks ago has come to an end. Charlton, who died via suicide, confessed to the murders to a family friend, who tipped off police. The Chicago PD have confiscated his rifles along with bullets they say all match the scenes of the crimes. However, the chief detective on the case says the investigation on what led up to these tragic days may take weeks. At this time, Charlton has not been linked to or ruled out of the attempted assassination of Governor Callahan, whom doctors say is recovering well and is due to go home today. This—
“Hey!” I snapped at Liam when he turned the television off and moved to make himself comfortable in the tiniest spot on the bed beside me. Resting his hand over his eyes, he yawned. “It’s all lies, forget it and rest.”
“I’ve been resting for almost two weeks now, Liam—”
“Rest more.”
I wanted to push him off the bed so damn badly, but instead I just lay back next to him. “Liam if I stay in this goddamn hospital for one more day I’m going to lose my mind. Every second I’m in here is a second they are fucking with our city!”
He didn’t open his eyes, just took a deep breath and said, “Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth and you—ouch! Fuck, Mel.”
He cried out when he rolled off the bed. He didn’t fall, but he did sit up and glare down at me. Taking his advice, I took a deep annoying breath through my nose and out through my mouth.
“Happy? Now spring me from this joint.”
He snorted before laughing, a grin plastered all over his face as he got up and kissed my forehead. “Are we going to drive off into the sunset like Bonnie and Clyde?”
“Bonnie and Clyde lost. We’re going to ride off like Melody and Liam—”
“Liam and Melody.”
“GO!”
Again he laughed at me but moved to the door as I reached for my phone. It rang once before Cora answered. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and for the first time since she’d joined the family, she was wearing sweatpants in front of me.
“You look like shit,” she ironically said to me.
“I was shot; what’s your excuse?”
“I’m taking care of seven children.” Touché. “Three of which ask me every hour on the hour when their mom is coming back home.”
That I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Where are they?”
“Musketeers!” she yelled out while pacing.
“What are you calling my children?”
