A Bloody Kingdom (Ruthless People Book 4) (8 page)

“Please make this quick,” Mina said behind me as one other guard walked in front. The place smelled like stale coffee, pancakes, and beef. Every booth was filled with members of the Royals. Their heads all snapped back to me, their eyes wandering down my face to my heels.

“Lady, you lost or somethin’?”

It was always easy to spot the leader in a group. He was always the one who sat at the table farthest from the door, his back to the wall. His table always had, at least, one female and a cigarette or drink in his hand. In this case, it was two light-skinned women and a cigar.

Walking over to his table, I saw them all tense up.

“You’re in my seat,” I said to the man sitting across from him. He looked to his boss, grinning like a fool as he blew smoke from his lips.

“Let the good ol’ white lady sit down.”

They laughed and when he moved, I put my purse down beside me, crossing my legs when I sat.

“First off, I’m not white.”

“You got skin like a white woman, eyes like a white woman, and your nose so far up you gotta be a white woman.” The girl on his right laughed.

The girl on the left replied. “Nah, maybe she thinks she black like that lady…what her name again?”

“Rachel Dolezal,” I answered.

“Yeah, that her.” They laughed. “Where you from home girl? Cuz you lookin’ hella white to me right now.”

“I’m Italian, which means I got a whole different certification to beat your ass. Now get back to the pole or street corner; he and I have business to discuss.”

She reached for her glass of orange juice.

“Do it. I just came from church and I swear to God, I will end you.”

She hesitated, her eyes going to Murphy, who stood beside me. The next instant, she made up her mind and flung the glass of orange juice at me. I didn’t even move; Murphy’s body hovered over mine, the glass connecting with his shoulder and the juice splashing back on the table.

He didn’t say anything, only stood straighter beside me. Reaching for a few napkins, I cleaned off the table.

“Are you going to keep them beside you or are you going to speak?” I asked him.

“Y’all go, this will only take a second.”

“I’m still here, bitch. When my ending at?” She sneered at me, swinging her waist as she left. Ignoring her, I focused on cleaning.

“So you’re the governor?”

“So you do know who I am,” I said, not bothering to look up at him.

This table is fucking disgusting.

“Yeah, yeah. Everybody knows the famous Melody Callahan, plus I saw your picture in the paper. Your husband looks like he has one hell of a time with you. I wonder how it feels to grope one of them.” He nodded at my breasts.

“It feels like two .38 Special bullets in the spine.” I smiled. “Or at least, that’s what my husband would say, but I know you wouldn’t even make it close enough in your dreams, so you shouldn’t bother asking.”

“You’re a spicy one, Governor, it must be that Italian—”

“I’m tired of wasting words with you, so I’m going to cut to the chase. The drive-bys and shootouts, those end today. You will also give me the person responsible for the drive-by on 42
^nd
. Then you will crawl back to whatever hole you came out of and stay there until my husband or I say otherwise.”

“Can you believe this bitch?” He laughed outright along with the rest of his crew. “Come into my diner and you gonna boss me around, sweetheart? Go back to your ivory fuckhole and fuck yourself. Ain’t no fucking way me, Big John Matty, gonna be listening to any Italian bitch, governor or no—”

Grabbing the fork on the table, I rammed it down into his hand. The scream that came from his lips was so pathetic I almost laughed…almost.

“You must be new around here,” I said, taking the knife and once again stabbing through his skin. “Which is why I’m taking this time to educate you…
nicely
.”

“KILL HER!”

They all got up with their guns, but before they could pull the trigger, their phones started ringing one by one.

“If I was you all, I would answer that. God only knows when you’ll hear from your mom, your brother, your daughter, or son or girl again…hell, a few you even got guys waiting on the end for you. I mean one minute they’re right there and the next BOOM, the government should have done something about to those faulty wires sooner huh?” I said calmly, reaching for a spoon.

“Ma! Ma! What’s going on? What happened?”

“Willow?”

“Zoe!”

“What?”

One by one, they all answered their phones. I smiled, spinning the spoon around my fingers as Big John stared in confusion. “Like I said, you must be new around here. Now, you could kill me, but that’s going to get messy. My husband will burn Bella Vista to the ground, kill all of you one by one and you all will turn on each other because…well, that’s what weak bitches like you do and then it’s just one bloody fucking mess. Meanwhile, I asked you nicely. Would you like me to repeat my demands?”

“His name is Tyrone Williams. He did the hit on 42
^nd
.”

“And you ordered it?”

He swallowed and nodded.

“Big mistake.” I rose from the table. “I better hear nothing out of Bella Vista. So much as a broken window without my family’s approval and today will seem like a good day for you.”

As I grabbed my purse, they all parted for me as if I had the plague. I paused. “Also, about your girl….”

Turning to face the window, I saw her laughing outside the diner right up until a black Ford Escape accelerated into her. Her body flew up like a doll being thrown by a child before crashing back to the ground and rolling off the hood onto the ground.

“You’re going to need another one.”

The whole diner went quiet. One by one, they pressed up against the window.

Murphy held the door open for me and Mina, keeping silent like always during times like these. In the car, I waited for Murphy to put his seatbelt on.

“Well, soldier? Are you with me or are you against me and how I run things?”

His blue eyes met mine in the mirror. “I’m in, Governor.”

“Brilliant.”

“What happened to your Sunday role?” Mina questioned besides me.

No killing on Sundays...shit, I forgot.

Pulling out my phone, I dialed, and it only rang once before he answered, “Boss?”

“Don’t forget to call an ambulance,” I told him before hanging up and facing her again. “Happy?”

“Just looking out for you.” She smiled.

The women of this family are crazy and I’m the one that made them that way, so what does that make me?

SIX

“Everything depends on upbringing.”

~ Leo Tolstoy

LIAM

Now back to the developing story in Bella Vista, where last night gang members carried out multiple drive-by shootings, one of which killed seventeen-year-old Kendrick White, who used his body as a shield to protect his two younger sisters. Kendrick was a star athlete and honor roll student who was looking to go to Notre Dame after graduation. The Chicago PD has said not only do they have a suspect in custody, but they will also be increasing police presence in Bella Vista as well. In other news, the scandalous photo released by the Chicago Daily Chronicle of sitting Governor Melody Callahan and her husband Liam Callahan is apparently not so scandalous, according to the governor. In a statement released mere moments ago, she said, ‘I am unsure as to why people find this photo fascinating or shocking. My husband and I are in a loving relationship. Water is wet. The city is windy. The Cubs are the best team in the country. What I am shocked about is the lack of reporting done by the Chicago Daily Chronicle. On a night where they could have focused on the men and women of valor being honored for their bravery, they thought it was a better idea to highlight the fact that a husband and wife kissed in public as if that is newsworthy. I truly hope we as a community learn to expect more from our journalists.

Muting the television, I kicked my feet onto my desk and leaned back in my chair. “Our wives have been busy.”

“I’m starting to wonder who rules this family, us or our wives?” Declan snickered, handing me a glass of brandy before taking a seat across from me.

“What did Father used to say? A man who thinks he rules his wife either doesn’t know his wife or is a fool,” Neal replied.

“To the old man, for knowing warning us would do no fucking good.” I raised my glass with them.

“Cheers,” they both said before knocking back the brandy along with me.

I stared at my glass and then back at Declan. “What is this piss?”

“Apparently it was a gift from the mayor?” He made a face. “Or some sick joke.”

Annoyed, I sat back up before walking over to the bar for a real fucking drink. “Now that Mel has taken care of our Bella Vista problem, have you come to a decision with the new drugs?”

“Why are people these days always obsessed with what’s new? Huh? What happened to the classics—meth, heroin, crystal? We got half-cocked wannabe scientists mixing shit they know nothing about and handing it out to people with a shiny sticker that says ‘new’ for idiots to gobble that shit up.” I hated stupid people who thought they were smart; there was no reasoning with them.

“Idiots or not, they are still buying Blphine by the handful. All the dealers are asking for it, and if they don’t get it from us, they’re going to get it from someone else,” Declan added when I sat down.

“No loyalty either,” I muttered before taking a drink.

Neal shook his head. “You want loyalty from junkies, gangbangers, and dealers?”

“A man can dream can’t he? You don’t see McDonald’s having to make new shit up to keep people in line. Everyone wants a classic Big Mac. It doesn’t matter if some new startup has some super deluxe shit, at the end of the day, the Big Mac is home.”

“Are you drunk already?” Declan laughed along with me.

“What did Mel say?”

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Don’t even get me started with that woman again. I don’t tell her shit and she tries to kill me. I fill her in and she tells me to do whatever I think is best. Either she wants to drive me insane or she has lost her mind, maybe both.”

“So what you’re saying is you’re even crazier about her than you were when you first met?” Declan teased, a smug grin on his face.

“Do you hear that Neal?” I leaned forward with a finger on my ear. “Coraline broke a nail, shouldn’t you be off running to buy her a goddamn spa to add to your collection? There is already the Coraline Restaurant on Main.”

“And the Coraline flower shop on 37
^th
and Stonewall,” Neal jumped in.

“The Little Coraline Boutique on Madison and Richard—”

“Both of you shut the fuck up,” he grumbled, a little bit embarrassed.

“Aww brother, are you blushing—”

“Neal don’t even fucking come for me after buying Mina a star,” he snapped at him and almost I died—no really, I couldn’t stop laughing. I had completely forgotten about that.

“She’s into romantic shit like that.”

“A fucking star. At least my wife can visit the places I bought for her,” Declan added. Meanwhile, I tried to calm myself down.

“Oh, laugh your ass off at us, but at least our women allow us to buy them gifts,” Neal stated.

I shrugged. “She has the best gift of all: me. Just look at this face.”

They both groaned.

“What? I’m like Christmas, the gift that keeps on giving. Besides, my Mel doesn’t want stars or boutiques…she wants power, and I gave it to her. She’s the ruler of the state and next she’ll be president. What tops that?”

“Was it you who gave her all of those things?” The door opened as my mother entered, now dressed in casual black pants and a button-down shirt. She always wore black unless we were going out; she’d never stop mourning our father. Her brownish-copper hair was now highlighted with gray hairs. “I’m pretty sure Mel would argue it was a team effort.”

“Ma? You eavesdropping on us now?” I said, putting the drink down to go to her.

“It’s hardly eavesdropping when you all are so loud. I never thought I’d see the day where all my boys would be sitting around drinking and talking about women.” She kissed both of my cheeks.

“Correction, we were drinking before we started our conversation…kinda.” Neal smiled, hugging her as well, along with Declan.

“Don’t stop on my account. I just wanted to let you know I’ll be screening new nannies for the children tomorrow along with Coraline.”

Remembering the morning made me tense again. She patted my arm. “Don’t worry, no one will harm my grandbabies.”

“Thank you, Ma.”

Nodding, she moved back to the door. “Oh, and as good as all your gifts are…they will never top your father’s, even if Mel becomes president.”

We all just stood there for a moment, letting her words sink in before I turned to face them. “What did Father give her that we don’t know about?”

“Maybe she’s bluffing?” Neal said, and I rolled my eyes.

“Maybe she’s being just as cocky as Liam here and means we are the best gifts she ever got?” Declan said; it was plausible, but I wasn’t sure.

Damn it, now I really want to know.

“Anyway.” I sighed, sitting on the edge of my desk. “We will not sell Blphine. Our father, his father, our great-grandfather, all of our family has stuck to the classics; I won’t be the one to diverge from that path.”

Declan ran his fingers through his hair. “You do know this means the triad will have a hold here. And once that happens—”

“They’ll try and fight us out…if they are dumb. I don’t give a damn how popular their shit is, it took us decades to get to this point and there is no way in hell they can tear us down so easily.” Empires weren’t built in a day. I was not ignorant to what this meant, I just wasn’t going to lower myself to sit with dogs. “When the Tàiyáng family starts to walk on two legs instead of four, we’ll kill them.”

“All right—” Neal started to say when there was a knock at the door.