"Maybe you've forgotten, but you're the prince who inherited the keys to the kingdom from your father. Do you know what it was like for your family before your father became Ceann na Conairte? Probably not, because Sedric did his best to keep you all in a bubble. Your father had two sisters. One was raped and beheaded, and the other was trapped in her house when it went up in flames. Declan isn't your brother, he is your cousin. His father and mother were gunned down, 87 bullets between them. After losing his precious son Shamus, your grandfather abandoned America and returned to Ireland. Your father was nearly killed to save the Callahan name; the war between the Irish and the Italians was bloodier than ever. The Callahan family army? Where was it when your mother was attacked, when she almost lost you and actually lost your twin sister? I look over my shoulder because I'm never safe, not because my father made me into a warrior, but because I was born into the mafia. The moment you get comfortable, the moment you think you're safe is the moment you get arrogant and someone puts a bullet in your brain."

"You were just pissed at me for taking Ethan out! Make up your damn mind woman! Do you want them to be just kids or do you want them to be kid soldiers?"

"Showing our son how to murder someone is different than teaching him how to protect himself! Dona can learn to be a fighter and still be a kid."

"And you would know this how? When were you ever a kid, Melody?"

"Dona and I are different; she'll adapt differently."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply. "I don't understand you. You know Dona is soft. She likes to make crowns out of dandelions. She loves birds but won't keep them as pets because she feels like she's kidnapping them. She won't even eat meat because she loves animals too much. This is the girl you want to mold? One of two things will happen: either she won't be the same Dona anymore, or she will make the choice never to fight. There is no middle ground with her."

"Then you are going to have to learn to love the new Dona because our daughter will always fight. If she hates me, so be it. You can be the fun parent. I'll be happy knowing she can protect herself if need be," I said, lifting the rope and stepping out.

He didn't say a word or follow me, and once I turned my back to him, I didn't bother checking on him. Instead, I got on the elevator and unwrapped the tape from my hands.

"Fucking idiot," I muttered to myself, but I wasn't sure if I meant him or myself...

By the time I got to my room, I was so exhausted I just took a quick shower before changing into a silk nightshirt and peeking into Dona and Wyatt's room. Of course, Ethan slept next to Dona, both of them curled up into a ball...and because Wyatt hated to be left out, he forced himself to the edge of the bed. He kicked Ethan, who opened his eyes, prepared to kick him back when he saw me.

"Ahh." He groaned when Wyatt kicked him again. "He's so annoying."

"You are in his room," I said when he crawled away from them, his brown hair sticking up and out in every direction.

Walking over to him, I patted his hair down. "You want me to tuck you in?"

"Mommmm." He made a face at me, rubbing his eyes. "I'm almost ten, I don't need to be tucked in."

"Fine, then will you tuck me in?"

He thought about it for a moment before nodding. Taking my hand, we walked back into the bedroom. Sitting on my side, I laid back on the pillows.

"Did you brush your teeth?" he asked me seriously; I did my best not to laugh.

"Yep." I nodded.

"What about your clothes for scho-I mean work?"

You're killing me kid. "Out and ironed."

"Did you hug Nana goodnight?"

"No hug but I said goodnight."

He crossed his arms at me.

"I'll hug her tomorrow."

He nodded and paused, frowning as he tried to remember what else to ask.

"Did I-"

"Did you say goodnight to Dad?" he asked me.

This kid, man. Even when he wasn't trying to be, he was still on his dad's side. "Not yet, but I will."

"Don't forget," he said seriously, pulling my comforter up to my neck. He even petted my hair. "I love you, Mom."

"Love you too, mio bel leoncino." I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Night!" He waved, running back to the door.

I pretended to snore and heard him softly open the door.

"Night, Mommy," he whispered before shutting the door behind him.

When he was gone, I sat back up, unable to stop grinning. I leaned back and waited...and waited...and fucking waited.

No matter how many times we fought or how pissed off we were at each other, we always shared a bed. Always. It was a personal rule between us. And yet, it had been almost three hours since I'd left him in the basement and he still hadn't come to bed. The clock beside me read 3:47 AM and I swore if another minute went by I was going to hurl it at the door. I couldn't sleep. He better not be sleeping somewhere else, either.

"Oh my God," I whispered to myself. When had I become this person? The wife waiting up for her husband? "What is wrong with me?" I groaned, grabbing a pillow and placing it over my face. I was Melody Callahan! Bloody Melody. Head of the Italian mafia. The Governor of Illinois. Grown men had shit themselves in front of me. The woman couldn't even make eye contact! I was a fucking boss! So why the hell am I completely losing my cool over a man? So what if I love him! So what if he is the father of my children? I'm the cool and collected one. I'm the one who is right! He's the one trying to make our daughter some fairytale damsel in distress! If anyone shouldn't be coming to bed it is me!

"Mel!"

My eyes opened when the pillow was ripped off of my face. He stared down wide-eyed, sweat dripping down the sides of his face and nose.

"What the bloody fuck are you doing?!" he yelled at me as I sat up.

"What?" I yelled back, but he didn't answer. He took a deep breath, shaking his head as he sat down on the edge of the bed beside me. He had changed into a pair of black running shorts and a sleeveless black shirt, the back of which was drenched in sweat.

"Don't do that again," he muttered, taking off his sweaty ankle brace and throwing it onto the ground.

"What-"

"I came in here ready to finish our discussion only to find you not responding with a pillow over your face."

I grinned. "You really think that's how I'm going to meet my end? A pillow?"

"I don't think about how you are going to die, Mel. Thoughts like that..."

He didn't say anything, just rose from the bed and grabbed his brace before walking into our bathroom. I thought about joining him for a moment but just stayed still. He didn't take long; the shower was on one second then off the next, and he came out drying his hair with a towel, dressed in only dark green satin pajama bottoms. His hard chest, each one of his abs defined, was completely exposed to me. The bed shifted as he lifted the comforter up and sat down beside me. He smelled like fresh spices.

Silence.

The only sound was our breath.

"What are you doing?" I caved in first when he shifted over to the side to sleep.

"I'm tired, Melody-"

"We do not go to sleep angry, so either we work it out or we don't sleep."

He groaned before turning over to me. "Are you trying to drive me insane? Is that it? You want me to just lose it-"

I kissed him softly before putting my forehead on his.

"I came on aggressive but you should know that is how I am. Nevertheless, I'm doing this not because I want to upset you, Liam-"

This time, he kissed me, his hands going to my neck before he flipped me onto my back and laid on top of me.

"It's annoying when someone interrupts you when you're speaking, isn't it?" He smirked and I rolled my eyes, trying to push him off, but he pinned me under him. "I know you, Mel. Better than anyone else in this world.I know you are overwhelmed with the amount of love you have for our kids, which is why I know you also don't want to be the one to push Dona. But you have to. I get it. I hate it, but I get it. I'm not pissed at you, I'm pissed that I'm so torn between being a parent and being a boss. I like being the fun parent."

I took a deep breath. We were on the same page again. "So we stop babying them."

"Yeah," he muttered, resting his head on my chest. Running my hand through his hair, I knew he wouldn't let go of me, so I made myself comfortable in his arms.

He was right.

No one knew me like he did. No one understood me better than him.

SEVEN.

"I'm a coldhearted bastard. I'm insular, I'm jaded, a workaholic, I'm ruthless, and I'm self-serving."

~ Ally Blake MINA.

I grew up poor.

Poorer than typical poor.

My parents weren't struggling between jobs.

We didn't live in trailer parks or the back of cars.

No. Poor in Chinatown was a completely different type of poor.

My father committed suicide when I was nine, leaving my mother, who would have traded her hands for a bottle of Soju, to take care of four kids by herself. Safe to say, she failed. My sister froze to death one winter night as we slept under the bridge. My mother told me to take her jacket and when I didn't, she took it for herself. My brother...he ran away, but not before stealing $1.89 worth of change I had collected. It was just my mother and me until my mother sold me into a prostitution ring. I didn't even fight. They told me I would be fed and warm. Food. Not rats. Not leftover garbage, but actual food. The first time I remember eating sticky rice, I stood no more than ten feet from a man fucking someone up the ass. I was ten and I sat there eating rice and just listening. Yes, for a brief moment I wondered if that would be me, but it was a very brief moment because I had rice and I was warm.

I was there for two days before someone bought me. He was a relatively young man, in his mid to late twenties. He never touched me, just wanted to me undress, dance, and then dress again. He paid so much that no one else would touch me. When I was twelve, he brought me home to be the playmate of his own daughter. I noticed that we looked alike, his daughter and I. He even had me call him Father. He made sure I went to school with his daughter, made sure I dressed well; to everyone on the outside it must have looked like I was fortunate like I had been adopted by a kind and generous family. I never spoke a word of the things that went on in his home. He waited until I was fifteen before he touched me. When I was seventeen, they brought home another young girl. His wife quietly sent me away with hush money...it was then that I realized it wasn't that she didn't know, it was that she pretended not to.

I knew what that girl's life would be like.

I told her before leaving and all she asked me was if there was any rice.

It was funny in a sick, twisted, horrible way. I understood her, and looking back I wasn't sure what else would have happened to me. Would I have frozen to death? Would I have been raped on the street? Would I have starved before being raped? Frozen before starving?

It didn't matter because I was free. I had money and I was free.

It was scary how normal my life after that was. I got a job at a chicken shop and lived in the basement. I went to one of the best colleges in the country by getting loans. I fell in love once, had a daughter, and realized he-like everyone else-didn't give a shit. He disappeared, but not before labeling me a slut.

It was funny...and when I say funny, I mean cruel...the way women are treated all over the world.

If they are silent, they are walked all over.

If they speak, they are attacked from every direction.

It was only when I had a daughter that I realized I wanted to speak-not just for me, but for her-because at least I could fight back. I had never fought before; I'd never had the power to. Once I did, I realized I had scars on top of scars from the life I'd lived.

I wasn't a good person.

I was quiet but never good.

Screw being good.

"Mina?"

I faced Mel as she spun back in her chair to look me over.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Our newly appointed deputy commissioner is going to be here momentarily. I'm going to need you a little bit more focused."

"Of course." I nodded and there was a knock at the door before they let him in.

"Governor Callahan." He grinned as he walked in, dressed in his navy blue uniform with his hat under his arm. His eyes shot to me for a quick second before focusing back on her. She clasped her hands.

"Commissioner Cheung, thank you for taking the time to meet me." Mel motioned for him to sit. He pulled his leg up and rested in on the back of the chair. He had jet-black hair and a small cut above his lip.

"I could think of no greater honor," he said, his eyes glancing toward me again for the briefest of seconds.

I didn't pay attention their conversation. I tried-truly I did-but I just stood there. It wasn't out of fear-I didn't think I had ever truly felt afraid. I was silent for the time being, but I would speak soon, and when I did, he would never forget what I had to say.

The meeting felt too long.

It took all of my composure to just stand there.

"Mina will show you out." Mel again pulled me out of my train of thought, and I didn't argue. I just put the file beside her before walking around the desk.

He laughed beside me as we made our way into the lobby.

"How far you've come, Mina."

"Thank you, Father." I smiled at him as he froze for a second then shook it off, placing his hand on my shoulder.