Sighing, I stared at the blonde woman known as Vance’s favorite mistress, Hera Pompilio. There was nothing I could do about it now. She wasn’t the big fish I wanted but I could use her as bait.

“May I?” Declan asked, stepping up to the mirror.

“Knock yourself out.” Maybe he could use his gentlemanly shit on her.

When he walked in, her dead eyes stared right through him.

“Are you the man who killed my son?” she questioned softly.

Declan simply raised an eyebrow. “I’ve killed many sons, ma’am. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Amory Pompilio Valero. Age twenty-seven. Six feet, two inches tall. Blond hair, blue eyes, he—”

“No, I did not kill him,” Declan said. “That honor was left to my brother and two cars. I was under the impression Amory’s mother died when he was young.”

“That’s what you get for being under everything.” She smirked. “I was always made to be Vance’s wife. No other woman could carry his child, not even his stupid wife. I told him he should kill her and marry me, but he told me he couldn’t. That he made some deal, but I knew it was lie. He took Amory from me and gave him to her. She was so beyond herself with happiness. Every day taking care of my son, I hated her. The day Amory called her Mother, I rammed an ice pick through her heart. Vance was pissed so he broke four of my ribs and my jaw. But he loved me too much to kill me.” She laughed so effortlessly, I wondered if Natasha could use a roommate in the asylum.

“Sad,” Declan said, but I knew he didn’t give a fuck. “Why were you in the airport in Finland?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she just checked her nails.

“Hera, what you tell me could be the difference between a painfully slow death, or a quick one. One where you could be with your son, again,” Declan told her.

“So my options are death or death? Fuck you and fuck my son. I wanted to get him out of this life before, and he told me he could handle it. Now he’s . . .”

“Now he’s in pieces somewhere in the Great Lakes.” Declan smirked. “I’ll take credit for putting him there.”

“You are all so damn proud of yourselves. A bunch of murderers, liars, thieves, and cheats.” She frowned. “Your women hate you, you know. They hate you, and they hate what you do. They don’t want this life. They wanted the money and the fame, but they didn’t want the drugs, blood, and the horror.”

Declan grinned, looking evil. “You don’t know my wife. If you did, you wouldn’t be so quick to speak. And you sure as hell don’t know the Boss. So sweetheart, tell me what I need to know and we can move on?”

She leaned in. “Fuck y—”

Rising from his seat, Declan walked around the table until he was right in front of her face. Hera did her best not to look like she was going to piss in her pants, but she failed.

“Do your worst. But believe me, Vance has done worse.”

Declan grinned, holding a knife to the side of her face. “Everything he did was healable. After all, in the end, all you have is your looks. Imagine what Vance will think when he sees his favorite toy cut and sewn back together like Frankenstein. My stitches aren’t that great with live patients.”

“What could you possibly need to know, huh?” she yelled. “We went to Finland to hide. Amory fucked up. Vance spent months, if not years working on different ways to raid this fucking place. He had everything planned to a T, even the day. But Amory couldn’t wait. He didn’t want to listen, and because of that, he was killed. Is that what you want to hear? Or do you want to know that Vance is losing his mind? Amory was the last straw. Vance killed one of his brothers because he thought he had betrayed him. The other brother is in the wind. Everything is fucked. He’s going to know you have me, and he’s going to hide again.”

Declan turned to me and smirked. It was almost sad how quickly she talked.

“You were in the airport. He’ll just think you abandoned him.” Declan ran the knife against her cheek.

“I would never leave him,” she whispered. “He knows that. He knows that no matter how many times I say I’m leaving, I always come back.”

“You’re a fool. He doesn’t love you, and because of that you will die alone,” was all Declan said before he slit her throat, her body stilled for one moment before falling to the ground.

“Have every flight in and out of Finland monitored,” I said before leaving. It was getting late, and I was going to miss my favorite moment of the evening.

I tried not to run, but this was the only spec of hope I would have all day. It was what got me through the day. Rushing into our bedroom, I smiled when I saw the bed was empty. I entered the bathroom, and smiled at the sight of my Mel bathing herself.

It was only four days ago she had found the will to bathe herself at all. It was a small step, but it was something. Taking a seat by the foot of the tub, I just watched her.

“Would you like me to do your back?” I whispered, and she froze like she hadn’t realized I was in the room with her.

She looked up at me through her hair and handed me the loofah. It was another small step. She was on her road back. As she leaned on my free arm, I felt my heart leap. Slowly I rubbed her back, and smiled because I had hope; the dark nights were ending.

MELODY

Day 23

“So I have a confession to make,” Neal said pacing in front of me.

Great another one, I thought as I cut into my steak.

“Liam wanted me to take this to my grave, but you won’t speak. We’ve tried everything so maybe you will be so pissed at him and me that you will snap out of it.” He stopped and looked me dead in the eyes, but I just ate slowly.

“I shot Liam because he asked me to.” He waited for me to react, but I couldn’t muster the emotion.

He frowned. “Seriously? You tasered me, you stabbed Declan, and all you can do now is stare at me? This isn’t you, Melody. In fact, this surpassed creepy after the first week. I get you’re sad, but Liam is going through hell for you. He is not stopping until he kills them all. I know the ruthless woman we all love and fear is still inside there, so can you please come out here and kick my ass or at least shoot Liam again?”

I just ate. It was the only thing I could bring myself to do.

LIAM

I made it to our bed just as Neal was walking out. He looked at me and frowned before leaving.

“We have to go to church, love,” I said to her as I entered.

At least she’s eating.

She didn’t respond. She never responded, and it was starting to send me off the deep end. But I couldn’t lose my temper.

“We’ve already missed three masses. A forth one and people might think I killed you.” I smiled.

Grabbing the remote, she flipped the television on and sure enough, she went to Sunday morning mass. It was kind of funny and cute. Shaking my head at her, I took off my shoes and jacket before jumping onto the bed. She handed me the bottle of wine, but still didn’t speak. Kissing her hand, I took it and drank.

“Do you have bread?” I asked, and there it was, a small smirk. It made my heart leap for joy, it brought water to my eyes, and it was my own personal Sunday miracle.

She didn’t say anything, but a smirk was enough to get me through the rest of the day.

MELODY

DAY 25

“I don’t know what to say to you,” Sedric said.

I mentally groaned. How about nothing at all?

“So I will make this short.”

Thank Jesus.

“Melody Nicci Giovanni-Callahan, get your fucking ass out of bed. This has gone long enough,” he snapped at me.