When I turned around, Otis was standing behind me with a gun to my head. I pulled down the mask so that he could see my face and I dropped my gun. He grinned.
“You have no idea—”
Before he could finish, I twisted his hand and grabbed the gun. Using the back of it, I smashed it across his face, just as hard as I imagined he’d done to her. He staggered and crashed into the wall.
I fired at his knees and he went down, crying out like the bitch-ass motherfucker he was. “First lesson, if you’re going to shoot. Shoot. Don’t talk about it.”
Grabbing his collar, I pulled him to the edge of the staircase before I kicked him down. He tumbled twice before he landed on top of the dead fuck at the front door. Picking up my gun, I walked down as Eric and another one of our men dragged him outside. I could see the smoke and hear the gunfire coming from the other houses around us, and as I looked up I could see that the night skies were tinted with the orange glow of the fires.
“This is the son of bitch that hurt my brother’s girl,” Liam said to the men who had circled in around us. Liam looked back to Otis who was being forced to stand on his two feet despite the bullets lodged in his kneecaps. “And what do we do to people who hurt our women?”
Handing the guns to Patrick, they forced his pants down as I walked to him.
“We turn them into women as well,” I answered as he handed me a blade.
“No!” He struggled as I reached him and glared into his eyes.
“Did you feel like a big man when you hit her?” I asked him right before I made the cut.
He screamed so loud I was sure that his voice cracked twice, as the blood flowed.
“Second lesson, touch what is mine, you bleed.”
Dropping his penis and testicles to the ground, they let him go and he passed out right next to them.
“OTIS!” Imani ran out of house towards him, but I grabbed her and held her back as they poured gasoline on him. “Stop! Please Stop!”
They wouldn’t.
Liam dropped the match and she screamed as she struggled against me.
“This. This is what happens when you turn a blind eye to your family,” I hissed at her as I forced her to watch him burn.
She fell forward crying.
“What do we do with her?” Liam asked me. “Dad wanted this whole place cleaned.”
“She’s going to willingly check herself in at North Mount Psychiatric Hospital,” I told him.
“No one willingly checks into North Mount,” he replied.
“It’s either that or West Ridge.” At least she would be comfortable in North Mount.
He nodded and she struggled as the men grabbed her.
“Head home. You should at least spend the first night at the manor together.”
“Thank you.”
“Whatever,” he muttered, already walking away.
He was a romantic at heart; I don’t know why he tried to deny it.
EPILOGUE
“And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride.”
―Edgar Allan Poe
DECLAN
When I came out of the shower, she was sitting up in the middle of my bed staring at the ring I had slipped on to her finger while she slept.
“Too much?” I asked her as I leaned against the doorframe. “We can keep dating for a while if you’d like.”
“It’s just…wow. So much has happened in such a short space of time,” she whispered as she twisted the ring around her finger. It was a little big, but I would fix that later. I liked seeing it on her.
Sitting on the bed, I took her hand and held it tightly.
“No more running?”
“I took your mother’s money out of WIB. So yes, in the next ten years, it’s going to be me and you.” She smiled.
I leaned in and kissed her.
She fell back onto the bed as I hovered over her. “You and me until we are old and gray, Coraline Callahan.”
SEDRIC
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I pulled on the laces of my shoes when she hugged me from behind.
“She came back just as you said she would,” I whispered. It was because of her that I’d allowed Coraline to have those two weeks. Evelyn had called it perfectly. “How did you know?”
“She reminded me of myself, and I came back.” She kissed my cheek.
“I’m still trying to thank you for that,” I replied as I held her hands in front of me.
“Do you think she’ll make it with us? I don’t want him to be hurt. They still have to visit Ireland, and you know how the clan feels about outsiders.”
“Declan will protect her like you protected me. Like you’ve always protected me.” She leaned down and kissed my head.
If that was the case, then just like she’d done for me, Coraline would keep him sane and grounded.
The wives…they were always the ones who gave us the strength we needed to keep going.
“Protect, live, and die for her.” It was the Callahan way.
ALSO BY J.J. MCAVOY
Ruthless People Series
RUTHLESS PEOPLE
THE UNTOUCHABLES
AMERICAN SAVAGES
DECLAN + CORALINE (a novella)
Single Title New Adult Romance
BLACK RAINBOW (out May, 2015)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.J. McAvoy was born in Montreal, Canada, and currently studies humanities at Carleton University. As a child, she wrote poetry, where some of her works were published in local newsletters. J.J.’s life passion with literature has always been the role of tragic and anti-hero characters. In her series, Ruthless People, she aims to push the boundaries not only with her characters, but with also readers. She is currently working on a new adult contemporary romance entitled Black Rainbow, coming out in May, 2015.
http://iamjjmcavoy.com/
Table of Contents
TIMELINE
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
DECLAN
ONE
CORALINE
DECLAN
CORALINE
TWO
CORALINE
DECLAN
CORALINE
DECLAN
THREE
CORALINE
DECLAN
CORALINE
DECLAN
FOUR
CORALINE
DECLAN
CORALINE
FIVE
DECLAN
CORALINE
DECLAN
CORALINE
DECLAN
SIX
DECLAN
CORALINE
SEVEN
CORALINE
DECLAN
CORALINE
EIGHT
CORALINE
DECLAN
NINE
CORALINE
DECLAN
TEN
CORALINE
DECLAN
ELEVEN
CORALINE
TWELVE
CORALINE
THIRTEEN
DECLAN
EPILOGUE
DECLAN
SEDRIC
ALSO BY J.J. MCAVOY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR