Vicious Minds (Children of Vice #4)(79)

I watched the shooting of McCluskey and Sollozzo when all of sudden the television turned off and we turned looked to her. She didn’t know this, but you don’t turn the fucking TV off when The Godfather was on.

Ivy spoke to Wyatt. “Wyatt, your brother and I were about to talk about something important until your Gollum ass came over. So unless you have a good reason to be here, I’m going to ask you to leave—”

“My girlfriend died today,” he said blankly, staring at her. I kept myself emotionless or else I would grin. “Some high lunatic stabbed her. I tried to help her. He slashed my arm. I wanted to blame Ethan. But what was I going to say? Why did you stop supplying drugs to the city? It sounded senseless even to me.”

A high lunatic? How did she do it? The odds of just any crazed man finding his girlfriend were slim to none. It was Calliope, I was sure of it. She never failed to impress me. She really was an assassin. No one would ever think it was purposeful.

Ivy looked to me and she actually looked pained. She really was unfit to be in this family.

“Wyatt, I’m so sorry—”

“I need a place to stay for a few hours,” he informed her. I could tell he didn’t give a shit about the woman. He was more pissed off about the movie. He held his hand up for the remote.

“Why not your own place?” I asked when she handed the remote back to him.

“Because people would come to check up on me. That’s what happens when people like you,” the little shit said, stuffing popcorn into his mouth. “Anyway, I really don’t have the energy to pretend to be sad in front of them, thanks to the crazy shifts I’ve been pulling.”

That was not the answer I wanted, nor did I believe it. If he didn’t want to see anyone, he would have locked the damn door.

He misses this. His pride just wouldn’t let him admit it. He explained himself to her and it was shameful that she couldn’t see the truth on her own. It was people like her that frustrated me; I didn’t understand how they couldn’t see the obvious. Wyatt and Dona could, but the problem was they were always a few steps behind. But, they are much smarter than those like the disgrace pretending to be my wife. “And if we must cry, we cry for family.”

“And if we must cry, we cry for family,” I repeated. Our father had drilled it into our minds.

Ivy came over to lay on my chest and I wanted to toss her off.

“When are you going to kill the Finnegan brothers and get out of my city?” Wyatt asked and that was amusing. He was ready. He wanted to come home. Part of me wanted to make him beg, make him say it with his own mouth. But I didn’t have that type of time.

“If it’s your city, why the fuck are you asking me to save it? Why don’t you kill them yourself?” I asked him.

“The Hippocratic Oath,” he replied and I smacked the back of his head. Why the fuck did he have to be so goddamn difficult?

“The great Ethan Callahan, a man so dangerous people die even when he does nothing,” Wyatt muttered.

“Wyatt Callahan, a man so cunning he’s convinced the world he’s an angel,” I snapped. He wasn’t better than us…he was exactly the same.

“I—”

“Everyone but his siblings, of course. We know what you did in Chicago,” I went on and he paused. “I’m sure you did it for a good reason. Doesn’t change the fact that you did it, now, does it? That you’re just like the rest of us…both hero and villain.” A child Liam and Melody.

We spoke more before he left, and Ivy went to look for more food. I pulled out to my phone to message her.

“When you are finished your vacation, I’ll apologize. And you’ll kill her then.” I texted, though I wasn’t even sure what I was apologizing for. It didn’t really matter.

“I won’t be free for another two weeks. You’re going to need to manage until then.”

“Work?”

“Our daughter is in a play at church.” she replied, and I held my hand over my mouth to hide my smile when she sent me a photo. Our daughter dressed as angel, halo and all.

“I can manage. I’ll let the chaos grow here. Send me a video.”

“I will.”

“I miss you.” I waited, but she didn’t reply right away so I went on. “The more time I spend with women who are not you the more I realize I need you.”

“Good.” She texted back. “And I miss you too…we both do. Is Wyatt ready?”

I grinned. “No. Wyatt is still in denial. I’m going to have force him. Which means I might get hurt.”

“That will bring your parents out.”

“Aren’t you worried about me getting hurt?”

“I’ll save you.” She replied. She enjoyed that role, being my hero. “So we are only getting Wyatt?”

“I’m not sure if they will show and right now it doesn’t matter. We’ll get him back. And you can claim your bet.”

“Finally.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been eating like a damn cow.” Ivy said as she came back with a large bowl of noodles, two sandwiches, and bag of chips all on a tray.

“Isn’t that normal for you?”

“I’m not sharing,” she added, stuffing a fork full of noodles into her mouth. That did not help my opinion of her. However, it did prove that Calliope’s drugs were already doing a number on her. She’d never let what happened with Klarissa happen again.