The fact that I had to personally drag myself to the hospital just to meet this son of a bitch's mother, at 8 AM, when I had family of my own to deal with, was the bane of my existence at that moment. He had hid her right in plain sight, no more than five miles from the mayor's office.

The clinic was in a small building. When the glass doors slid open and I walked in, the only thing I could smell was disinfectant and old people.

"Can I help you?" A short, pudgy, balding man asked, tucking a pen behind his ear.

"I'm looking for Gabrielle Becerra." I gave the fake name Emilio had used.

"Who are you?"

He wasn't serious.

"Liam Callahan. Gabrielle Becerra is Emilio, the mayor's mother, and my wife, the governor, and I wanted to say hello." I lifted the flowers in my hand for him to see.

The man frowned, shaking his head. "I'm sorry ,man, she passed this morning...I didn't think Emilio told anyone about her. Just tragic, just when he's moving up in the world he goes and loses her...wait, ain't your wife his sister?"

Define sister. If you meant the woman currently polishing a pistol she picked out exclusively for her brother then sure, sister was the right word.

"Hello?"

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

He leaned closer over the counter. "Since you all are family, you should know this. Emilio...he's a little bit off. He's done everything for his mother; with her gone, he must be real broken up. Tell the governor to, I don't know, reach out or somethin'. It might help him ease up knowing he's not alone. The poor man is just one short step from a breakdown if you ask me."

For some reason my mouth went dry and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Slowly my mind put together everything Emilio had done since he'd come to town. He hadn't wanted Melody to die straight away because he wanted to torture her, by making the city unstable again, going after our children, promising the Italians protection-but he didn't follow through. The night before we'd figured he didn't think we would strike back at the Italians so soon or at the very least without being sure of who the traitors were...Melody had even suggested he couldn't have enough men following him to protect them all...but what if he never meant to protect them? Maybe pushed them to turn away from Melody because he knew she would get vengeance.

But why kill the people that support you? The moment I thought it was the same moment the answer came to me. He didn't want their fucking support; he wanted to destroy them.

"Orlando," I whispered to myself.

"What?" the pig asked me.

I was about to turn away but asked, "Did Emilio ever talk about his father?"

The man flinched; I didn't even think he realized he'd done it.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, just ease up on the father talk when you're around him. He's a good guy, but whatever his father did really effed him up."

I nodded, leaving the flowers as I walked away, and reached into my jacket for my phone. That was it. He wasn't trying to destroy Melody. The fucker was trying to get back at Orlando for whatever reason...and he had been planning this for a long fucking time.

He had created the drug Blphine to get in with the Chinese. He had used the Chinese to lift his profile and become mayor. To even be deemed fit to be mayor, he was already a lawyer. Once he'd become mayor, he'd used that platform to announce he was a Giovanni, knowing full well he'd get everyone's attention. Bit by bit he was stepping closer and closer, all for the sake of destroying the two things Orlando had taken pride in: his people and his daughter.

TWENTY-THREE.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. A burn for a burn. A life for a life. That's how all this got started. And that's how it's going to end."

~ Jenny Han MELODY.

I rolled my shoulders back, taking a deep breath before stepping up to the podium of the state floor, the press once again like hounds on leashes, waiting to take a bite at me. All of them leaned in as I opened my mouth, as if the microphone in front me was only some sort of prop.

"It is with great sorrow that I stand here before you all once again, in the wake of the tragedy in Terni. Last night, unexpectedly, due to faulty, improperly installed furnaces, carbon monoxide seeped into over a dozen homes, killing the residents inside as they slept. The governor's office, along with local police, is looking into this matter. As of now, it is known that these furnaces were installed by the now closed B&B Heat & Cooling. As governor, I'm requesting that all citizens within the state check their furnaces. If you find that yours came from this company, please leave your homes and call poison control." Faulty furnaces? It wasn't the best story, but it was possible and partially true. "I will now hand over any further questions to-"

"MURDER!" a woman yelled, gripping a photo of someone I could only assume was a late family member. The guards rushed up to her as she pointed at me. "You did this! You monster! You bitch! You killed them! I know it was you! YOU EVIL BITCH!" They begin to drag her out as she fought them, still screaming at me, saying in Italian, "May God have mercy on your soul, for I will have none!"

Who are you that I should ask for mercy? I wanted to ask her, and if it weren't for the damn cameras, I would have. Instead, I smiled and waved. Those who bring hell upon themselves and then bitch about the pain have no excuse.

"There will be no further questions. Thank you." Bruce, my secretary, was filling in for Mina since she had left with the kids.

"Was the governor's office aware of the faulty furnaces?"

"Why did they fail now?"

"Governor Callahan, after all of the effort you've put into reshape this city, these recent events prove to be the worst of your career."

"Will you still make a run for president?"

"Do the events of the last couple weeks once again put a cloud over Chicago?"

"Ladies and gentleman, we are in the wake of a tragedy, please show some restraint. As I said, no further questions." Bruce calmly berated them; it was no secret he wanted Mina's job, and though he knew he couldn't have it, he still did his best to stand with his head tall.

Walking away from the podium, I headed out the side door, entering the hall.

"Fucking annoyance," I hissed out when we stepped into the hall.

"This will pass. You've gotten through worse, ma'am. Everyone knows this city was on the brink of chaos before you stepped in." Bruce stepped in front of me, reaching into his ugly ass sweater vest for his phone. Ignoring him, I walked right past him and toward my office, my heels clicking against the marble floor. I couldn't even think of them now; the most important thing was finding Emilio.

"Your husband, ma'am." Bruce handed me the phone as I headed into my office "Did you get her?"

"She's dead and I think Emilio is going to-"

"Aaagh..." I gasped out, dropping the phone as my body jerked backward and I fell to the ground. I reached up for the wire around my neck, which was cutting off the air to my lungs.

"You are a damn fine governor, ma'am, and it's been a pleasure working for you, but I just got orders and Emilio isn't the type of man you let down." Bruce sneered, spit coming from his mouth. My nails broke against my own skin and neck as I tried to pull the wire off.

"Ugh!" I reached for the lamp but only managed to grab the edge of the wooden table. My whole body relaxed as my vision blurred.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Dying at the hands of this prick? No.

When he removed the wire from my neck, I didn't breathe or move.

"It's done," he said into the phone. "What do you mean am I sure? I'm looking at her-"

Grabbing him by the bow tie, I pulled him down as I brought my head up and slammed it into his nose. Spinning onto my knees, I took the lamp and smashed it into his head.

"God-"

Screaming, I charged at him as he stumbled away from me. I rammed his body into the grandfather clock and grabbed a piece of glass, then shoved it into his eyes.

"Fuck!"

Moving back, I grabbed the wire he had dropped and pulled it around his neck. "This how you choke someone out, you little cunt!"

He elbowed me a few times, trying to roll over, but I pulled harder, the wire digging into my palms. "It's a shame, you're a damn good kiss-ass, but I'm alpha here, have been since day fucking one, and alphas don't get fucked over by bitches."

I pulled hard and the wire dug into his Adam's apple, blood pouring from his neck and onto my hands. When he fell to my feet, I took a few deep breaths, closing my eyes and backing up to my desk as I reached up to rub my neck. I stood there for a second before moving to pull out my favorite gun, a stainless Beretta M9, checking the chamber- "Melody!"

I held the gun straight up as he came in. Liam's eyes widened as he stared at the gun in my hands, the bruises around my neck, and the dead secretary on the government seal between us.

"Motherfucker." He spat at him.

Putting the gun down, I leaned forward.

"There isn't anyone out there, is there?" I nodded to the door behind him.

"Your office is empty but there is still some security," he replied. I reached for my bottom drawer to pull out a bottle of my favorite red wine.

"Looks like my dear older brother is bringing the fight to me." I lifted the bottle to him before taking a long drink.

He walked over to me and I handed him the bottle. He didn't drink, just lifted my chin to see my neck.

"I'm fine."

"That's for me to decide," he said seriously.

"Since when?"

"Since I married you. Now hold still." He pulled out a napkin from his jacket pocket, wiping off the blood from my neck.

"We don't have time for this-"

BANG! The first shot seemed to echo throughout the whole building, followed by screams and even more gunshots.

"Called it." I sighed, lifting up one of my guns for him.

He pulled out his instead, a standard black edition. A grin played on his lips as he said, "Drinks and cigars on the rooftop when we're finished?"

"On account of my recent heart surgery, I think we should find a new tradition." I smiled.

He struggled. "Smoothies, then? We'll even be like those annoying girls at the mall and ask for extra kale."

Before I could reply, both our heads snapped to the door when we heard a gun cock. We dove under the desk as the bullets came flying in.

"You don't go to the mall, how do you know about these girls?" I yelled over the bullets.

He looked at me, stunned. "Really, you're going to argue with my joke right now?"

When the bullets stopped, we both turned back around the desk and fired. I hit one of them in the chest and Liam hit the head of the other before we turned back inward.

"It was a simple question; why are you so defensive?"

He cracked his jaw to the side, about to say something, when we heard one of them step on the broken glass.

Liam looked through one of the bullet holes in the desk before nodding to me. Distracting him with a shot at his feet, I rose up, gun in both hands, firing back. When they all dropped, Liam rushed to their bodies and picked up the rifles.

"I'm getting too old for this shit!" he grumbled, throwing me one as I rushed to the door.

"Stay then, babe, have a tea party while you're at it."

"Melody, baby, do me a favor and cock it," he snapped at me and I licked my lips for him, slowly stepping out of the door.

"Whenever you want-"

"Melody!" he screamed, rushing me just as I heard the soft beep. It was odd, I felt nothing for a good second before our bodies crashed into the wall, the painting of Abraham Lincoln shattering and falling on top of Liam's back. Liam pushed it off, hovering over me.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Fuck, I think my legs broke, but I'll live. Declan's taking his sweet ass time."

"That's good."

"Mel?" He sat up, looking me over, his eyes widening at the shard of glass lodged in my stomach like a fashion accessory. "Melody!"

"I'm fine," I lied, putting my hands around it. "Honest Abe here-ahh I got nothin', sorry."

"Melody, breathe. Baby, it's okay. It's not nothing, just a flesh wound." He was lying too.

"I know." I forced a smile. "Which is why it's good you're not too hurt...oh...cause...cause..."

"Melody!" He shook me. "Melody, keep your eyes open okay?"

"Liam, I'm fine, just sore." Liar. Liar. Liar. "I...need...you to kick my brother's ass, okay? I'm going to wait for you here."