“Adriana, ride with us,” was all Mel said when I reached her. “Cora we will talk later.”
Once we reached the car, the driver opened the door for us while Adriana took a seat up front.
“I’m guessing you had something to do with this?” I asked Mel once we were on our way home.
“She came to me. I had Adriana do what she could,” she replied, not in the least bit worried about how this might turn out. Declan . . . well Declan really couldn’t do shit, and that’s probably why she wasn’t bothered.
Sighing, I turned to the woman up front. “Well, what can my sister-in-law do?”
“She was difficult the first day, frustrated with herself and the world on the second. The third day, she puked up half her weight, and then the rest of the week she got a lot of the basics down. She will need more practice, but she is getting used to carrying a knife. Mrs. Callahan was right about the gun. She tried it, and almost blew her hand off.” I could hear the amusement in her voice. However, my mind couldn’t picture Coraline doing any of those things.
“And her hair?” Mel asked.
“She got a little carried away with the whole becoming a warrior thing. She demanded to listen to Rocky during one of the morning sessions. Then at night, she wanted to listen to Eye of the Tiger on repeat. Eve—Mrs. Callahan found it fitting.”
Mel sat up. “I thought I told you to keep this discrete.”
“I tried, ma’am. The second and third days were the hardest for Coraline, and she was so sore she couldn’t hide it during dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Callahan believe it is just self-defense. Olivia Callahan tried to tell Neal, so I had her phone jammed, ma’am.”
Mel frowned but nodded, even though no one else would be able to see her but me.
“I see.” I frowned as well. Family dinner tonight was going to be interesting.
“It’s nothing to worry about. We have much bigger things on our plate like Saige and Amory,” Mel said, hissing out their names as if they were poison.
“Which is why I think we should plan a small trip to Italy.”
“Liam, we cannot take out Vance’s cars now. It’s probably at the bottom of our to-do list.” She wasn’t getting it though.
“We don’t have to go, our men could go. After all, what better time to destroy cars and maybe a home or two while everyone is celebrating a wedding?” They would be so blindsided.
She smirked. “Guerrilla warfare.”
“Exactly.”
“Adriana, when is the wedding?”
“Three weeks from today, ma’am,” she replied quickly, handing us a wedding invitation. Mel stared at it with just as much disgust as I did. Allowing it to drop to the floor, she turned back to me.
“Are you sure you don’t mind not being able to physically destroy Vance’s things?”
It was the only downside. “Yes, but seeing Vance’s face during the wedding when he gets that call will surely make up for it.” He wouldn’t even be able to publicly display his anger. Instead, he would have to take it up the ass and just smile at me.
She shook her head at me and stared out at the city. I watched her eyes storm over and I wished more than anything I could read her mind. She turned to me with a smirk that I wanted to kiss off her fucking face.
“My father told me once that the world wanted Kate Middleton or the first lady, someone to kiss babies and write big checks on your behalf.” She said it slowly, but I still didn’t understand.
“You want to write a check?” Why would that get her so excited?
“Yes.” She smirked, looking back outside. “To the men and women of the Chicago PD who were injured during those terrible fires. After all, how can they afford all those bills? I even think we should do it in person. I bet our favorite Superintendent and commissioner, Officer Patterson, will be there as well to console the families.”
Dear God, I loved my wife.
“Take us to St. John’s Medical Hospital.” I smiled alongside her, reaching into my jacket for my checkbook.
“Should I make it rich or obnoxiously rich?” I asked, wondering how many zeros to put in the space.
“Obnoxiously rich, of course. Something only a Callahan can do.” She grinned, looking toward Adriana. “Adriana, how fast can you leak it to the press?”
“Ten minutes. If you would like to change, I brought clothing. It’s in the back,” she answered, already dialing.
She had standby clothes?
Mel nodded, taking off her seatbelt as she climbed into trunk of the car.
“Seriously? How un-first-lady-like?” I grinned, looking back at her.
“Shut the fuck up, you Irish asshole and keep your eyes forward.”
“Why? I’ve seen it all before?” She smirked. “We wouldn’t want our driver peeking, would we?” My eyes narrowed at the man behind the steering wheel. At her words, he visibly tensed. She knew I would watch him like a hawk, which would stop me from staring at her.
I would have to make her pay later on tonight.
MELODY
“The Chicago Police Department is important to the wellbeing of this city. My husband and I do not want our men and women in uniform to worry about the medical bills or their livelihoods after protecting us. It is my great honor to present this check for nineteen million dollars to our commissioner and superintendent, Officer Patterson.” I smiled into the cameras that stood in the ER wing of St. John’s Hospital. Officer Patterson glared at me with a mixture of hate, anger, and disgust. But he took the money anyway.
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Callahan,” he said, practically sneering through his teeth. “I’m sure this will help the families who lost love ones and those injured, overwhelmingly so.”
Liam smirked beside me. “It was such a tragedy. Those old factories should be checked. Aren’t they also known for their crime? Are the police looking into this?”
Commissioner Patterson opened his mouth, but the reporters heard Liam’s questions and jumped on him.
“Commissioner Patterson, is this going to be one of the things you plan on fixing in Chicago?”
“Commissioner, is there going to be an investigation?”
“Is it true your house was also destroyed?”
“Rumor has it that this was a terrorist attack?”
“Did this have anything to do with your investigation of Flight 735?” That caught my attention, and Liam’s apparently because his jaw tightened.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a hospital, and we do not want to bother any of the patients that are here in need of medical attention,” Commissioner Patterson told them all as politely as he could.
A doctor stepped forward as the reporters fanned out. She looked almost star struck as she stared into Liam’s eyes.
Could she still be a doctor if I cut off her hands?
“Mr. Callahan, I’m Dr. Amy Lewis, thank you so much for the donation. Your family has been so kind to the patients of this hospital as well as the staff. It would be our honor to show you around. I’m sure the victims of this accident would love to meet you,” she gushed, while I tried not to vomit in my mouth.
“I don’t believe that would be a good idea,” Commissioner Patterson stated, causing the whole staff to look at him like he was crazy . . . most likely because he was.
“It’s been a difficult couple of days. They may need their rest.”
“I assure you, we are doing or best for every patient her,” Dr. Lewis replied, but only because she wanted to spend more time with my husband.
Stepping in front of Liam, I smiled like I was in a fucking Crest commercial. “Of course, I would love to meet them. Sweetheart, do you have time?”
Liam raised an eyebrow at me. “Anything you wish, my love.”