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“Fuckin’ shit,” I hissed when I woke up. I wasn’t sure what hurt more, my head or my arm. When I reached up to touch my arm, I felt the bandages wrapped around it and was thankful they at least had the common sense not to let me bleed on the floor.
“You awake, sweetheart?” The madwoman asked softly, and when I opened my eyes, I realized I was not on my bed, but on the floor. I rolled over and saw her sitting on the vintage chaise by the window. She was dressed in a short navy dress, her smooth thighs tucked underneath her as she happily ate her vanilla ice-cream from a crystal bowl. She grinned, the small spoon on her lips. “You should go back to sleep, you’re much safer there.”
“You knew your brothers would save you, which is why you inhaled the water,” I groaned, sitting up, “But for a brief moment you were scared, weren’t you?”
“I’m a Callahan, I don’t—”
“Bullshit,” I cut her off. “For a brief moment, you thought I was going to kill you, and you got scared.”
Her green eyes narrowed on me as she sucked on her spoon, which left me both turned on and annoyed. “Was that brief moment worth you now being chained to a bed post?”
“Chained?” I questioned, glancing around. Sure enough, like a bloody prisoner, these people had me chained to the bed. I reached for it and then looked back at her. “What 90’s prison did you all steal this from?”
“That’s your reply? You think you’re in a position to be witty?”
I nodded, leaning back on the bed. “If you all were going to kill me; I’d be dead already. But seeing as you have treated my wounds and given me at least some type of drug, I’m not going to die.”
“Don’t rush to assume…both of my brothers are fond of torture,” she reminded me.
“So am I, and even if you want to keep your prisoner alive, you don’t take care of him this well. So, my love, try again.” I winked at her. Her jaw cracked the side, and she put her ice-cream to the side. Rising from the chaise, her bare feet on the wooden floor, she walked over to me and knelt right in front me. “Careful… I could try to kill you again. You’ve been here for a less than a week and in that time, you’ve been shot, punched, mobbed, and threatened…and still you don’t seem in the least bit worried about your life. Either you’re insane or whatever your family used to get my parents to agree to our marriage is much more important than I thought.”
I leaned forward and whispered, “Both.”
She was calm now, calmer than I’d ever seen her, and I wasn’t sure if it was because she planned on stabbing me to death with a spoon or she was really trying to think.
“Who are you?” she pressed. “More importantly, what mafia family are you linked too?”
“Are you asking or your brother?”
She leaned in closed to my face and said, “Both.”
“And here I thought you were trying to oust your brothers. First you use them to get to me, and now you are in here trying to get information for them.”
She didn’t flinch, just stared me down like a wolf. Her eyes were mesmerizing, I didn’t want to look away.
It’s the drugs, I tried to lie to myself.
“I use a lot of people,” she finally spoke again. “Using people doesn’t make you weak, it doesn’t mean I can’t fight on my own; it means I’m so strong I don’t need to. The reason I want to take power from my brothers is because I already have the power. Ethan and Wyatt, no matter what they may say or do, will have my back. I know it.”
“Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself, which is why you keep fighting with your brothers so openly,” I pushed back.
“I want everyone to know. I want to publicly wear that crown. I want to see people have no choice but to bow down to me nowhere I go,” she admitted, rising and taking her ice-cream before heading back out the door. “Which is why I can’t marry someone I don’t know, someone who is weak and can’t protect themselves from my own brothers.”
“Then who will you marry?” I asked her.
“None of your—”
“You are temperamental, prone to violence, and hostile to authority,” I
repeated her words to her, “on top of that, your family is feared, and you killed your last lover. Who would be insane enough to marry you? Who can even make it on to your list to be considered? What you want most is strength and power.”
“If no one comes, I’ll stay single—”
“And wither from the vixen every man wants to the old maid no one wanted. When you walk by they won’t speak in fear but laugh in judgement. It’s not fair really; a man can stay single all his life and no one would question him. But a single woman, no matter who you are, no matter what you are worth, or how much you accomplish, people will still consider you a failure.”
“You really think I care—”
“Not just them,” I cut her off. “I’m sure your brothers will have kids, and you’ll drop in importance even more, their kids will think something is wrong with you. Hell, with that temper of yours they may even fear you, crazy Aunt Dona. Ethan and Wyatt, to save their own, will start keeping you away. They’ll lock you up somewhere where the only power you will have is over peas and mashed potatoes—”
