“The American Royal Couple, remember? That means I embody freedom of fucking speech.”
Before he could reply, there was a knock on the door.
“Great. It’s your mother.” I sighed and prepared myself to be civil.
Rolling his eyes, Liam turned toward the door. “Enter.”
However, the person who entered was not Evelyn, but Declan, whose eyes were dark and his jaw set.
“The new Chicago Police Superintendent is here and wishes to speak with you,” he said, glowering. I looked back to Liam who was now sitting up straight in his chair scowling at the door with the promise of death and blood in his eyes. This Liam I found to be the sexiest of all.
“Bring him through,” he said softly.
Declan stepped aside, allowing a middle-aged man, though younger than I would think a Superintendent would be, to step forward. Beside him, another man around his age entered. They both looked unafraid, which meant they were either naïve or stupid.
“Thank you, Declan,” Liam called out. Declan eyed the officers, his jaw grinding, before walking out and shutting the door behind him.
“Superintendent Andrew Patterson is it? What brings you to my neck of the woods?” Liam asked as I took a seat on the desk crossing my legs.
“Yes it is, Mr. Callahan,” he said before glancing at me. “We came to talk to you privately.”
Privately? This mother-fuckering bitch.
“I think I’ll stay,” I said as kindly as possible, before Liam could speak.
Liam snickered, leaning back in his chair. “Well, you heard the lady.”
“As you know, Mr. Callahan, in fact, I’ll call you Liam, I’m the new Superintendent because the former decided to retire early. I was chosen by the good people of Chicago to make this city safe. Something it hasn’t been in a long fucking time. I know who you are. I know what you do, and I’m here to warn you that your days of walking all over the law are over. I won’t stop until you and the rest of your kind are where you belong. Behind bars reaching for soap.”
Liam laughed, looking at me. “Sweetheart, we really have to start voting. Look what happens when we don’t. Some idiot gets a badge and a gun and tries to pick a fight.”
“It’s not too late,” I said, smiling as I moved beside him. “He won’t stop. So all we have to do is kill him and then make sure to fill out the next ballot.”
The darker skinned officer beside the fool stepped forward. “Is that a threat, Mrs. Callahan?”
I smiled. “With my hand on the fucking bible, you very stupid man.”
Superintendent Patterson looked at me, shocked. “Maybe you didn’t hear me—”
“No, we heard you clearly,” Liam snapped, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “But it’s time for you to hear me. You think you can run this city? My fucking city? I fucking own it. I fucking bought it! I fucking fought over it! No crackhead bitch over on the corner of Jump Street, and damn well no 5-0 with his Smokey the Bear looking sidekick, will ever tell me differently. I own Chicago! Which means I fucking own you!”
Patterson stepped forward. “You may think you walk on water, but you are just a man, Liam Callahan, nothing more, and I’m not afraid of you. I will use every measure of the law and every man I have to put you down like the fucking dog you are!”
I had to hand it to him, the man had balls. He was a fucking idiot, but he had balls.
“You think you will,” I replied, as Liam breathed through his nostrils and stood up. “You think you have every cop, but you don’t. You never will. What happens if someone were to pop off their families? They aren’t all like you Superintendent Patterson. You lost your wife, your child, and your fucking house.” He looked at me surprised, as if I wouldn’t do a background check on the new head of the police department. “You lost it all, and now you think you have nothing to lose. Well, believe me, you do. You are not the first man who thought he could control this city through law and order. You are replaceable.”
Liam moved from around the desk to meet his gaze. “You think you can change the world? You think you can change my fucking city? Here is a reality check for you. One cop down a day, one family member a day how do you think your men will like that? This town will bleed. I will make it rain blood and tears. It will taint your hands so badly you will never be able to wash it off. Those men will hate you. I wouldn’t be surprised if they put a bullet in your skull themselves.”
Liam took another step right in front of the fucker’s face.
“I will unleash hell on these streets like you have never seen, and when a mother comes to you with a picture of her dead son, when your people are so afraid that they sleep in bullet-proof vests and they turn to you, tell them it’s because you thought you could step up to me. Tell them it was because you were an idiot and stepped into the wrong house one Saturday,” Liam said, and I couldn’t deny how sexy I found him at that very second.
Walking over to the door, I held it open. “You’ve been uninvited, which means get the fuck out of my house before I use my second amendment rights and blow you the fuck away.”
They left quickly after that, and when they did, I let the door slam behind them before I walked over to Liam and kissed him deeply. He lifted me up and carried me to the desk laying me out on it. He spread my legs with his knee as his hands traveled up my stomach and then to my breasts while he kissed the side of my face.
But before he could rip my shirt off, I grabbed a gold-plated letter opener and held it to his neck. He froze, staring at me in shock and confusion.
“Remember how close you came today to having me in this office,” I said, pressing the opener just a little bit harder into his neck. “Then remember you do not own Chicago. We own Chicago, which you forgot in the heat of your roaring. We! Next time you forget, I will cut you from the tip of your pretty chin to your heart. Now off.”
He glared into my eyes, grabbing my wrists and squeezing until the letter opener fell from my grasp. His hands went to my neck, and I saw the very monster I lusted over staring at me back in the eyes. Even then, I still found it sexy.
“I’ve told you once—but I will tell you again seeing as how you are my wife, whom I trust and care for in too many twisted ways to describe—do not ever hold a weapon to me.”
He kissed my lips hard again before letting go of me and stepping back. I began fixing my dress, as he went straight for the brandy.
“We are going to have to kill the Vance mission,” I replied, walking up to him to fix his tie.
He looked angry, frustrated, and bloodthirsty. “And why the fuck is that? That bitch and his sidekick have nothing to do with Italy.”
“Liam,” I hissed pulling on his tie. “We are about to go to war. We will not be stuck in the middle of Vance and the Chicago PD. Especially when our men are acting like children and fucking up every time we look away. They hate each other.”
“Hate is a strong word.”
“Since I’ve gotten here, has there been one night where either of our men haven’t insulted or tried to kill each other?”
His pink lips parted for a quick second before closing again.
“Exactly.”
“We Irish have been fighting you Italians for generations. Of course they are not going to stop just because you’re sprawled out in my bed.”
The grin on his face, like an obese cat after a meal, made my blood run hot. When was he going to get it?
“You are a fucking . . . it is this thing you Irish do that pisses us off. You don’t think before you speak. Sei in ottone, idioti maleducati, egoisti e cazzo, razza di mangiare, dormire, uccidere e gobba come cani!”
“I’m sorry you lost me after speak.”