Free A Bloody Kingdom (Ruthless People Book 4) by J.J. McAvoy Page A

fascinating or shocking. My husband and I are in a loving relationship. Water is wet. The city is windy. The Cubs are the best team in the country. What I am shocked about is the lack of reporting done by the Chicago Daily Chronicle. On a night where they could have focused on the men and women of valor being honored for their bravery, they thought it was a better idea to highlight the fact that a husband and wife kissed in public as if that is newsworthy. I truly hope we as a community learn to expect more from our journalists.
    Muting the television, I kicked my feet onto my desk and leaned back in my chair. “Our wives have been busy.”
    “I’m starting to wonder who rules this family, us or our wives?” Declan snickered, handing me a glass of brandy before taking a seat across from me.
    “What did Father used to say? A man who thinks he rules his wife either doesn’t know his wife or is a fool,” Neal replied.
    “To the old man, for knowing warning us would do no fucking good.” I raised my glass with them.
    “Cheers,” they both said before knocking back the brandy along with me.
    I stared at my glass and then back at Declan. “What is this piss?”
    “Apparently it was a gift from the mayor?” He made a face. “Or some sick joke.”
    Annoyed, I sat back up before walking over to the bar for a real fucking drink. “Now that Mel has taken care of our Bella Vista problem, have you come to a decision with the new drugs?”
    “Why are people these days always obsessed with what’s new? Huh? What happened to the classics—meth, heroin, crystal? We got half-cocked wannabe scientists mixing shit they know nothing about and handing it out to people with a shiny sticker that says ‘new’ for idiots to gobble that shit up.” I hated stupid people who thought they were smart; there was no reasoning with them.
    “Idiots or not, they are still buying Blphine by the handful. All the dealers are asking for it, and if they don’t get it from us, they’re going to get it from someone else,” Declan added when I sat down.
    “No loyalty either,” I muttered before taking a drink.
    Neal shook his head. “You want loyalty from junkies, gangbangers, and dealers?”
    “A man can dream can’t he? You don’t see McDonald’s having to make new shit up to keep people in line. Everyone wants a classic Big Mac. It doesn’t matter if some new startup has some super deluxe shit, at the end of the day, the Big Mac is home.”
    “Are you drunk already?” Declan laughed along with me.
    “What did Mel say?”
    I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Don’t even get me started with that woman again. I don’t tell her shit and she tries to kill me. I fill her in and she tells me to do whatever I think is best. Either she wants to drive me insane or she has lost her mind, maybe both.”
    “So what you’re saying is you’re even crazier about her than you were when you first met?” Declan teased, a smug grin on his face.
    “Do you hear that Neal?” I leaned forward with a finger on my ear. “Coraline broke a nail, shouldn’t you be off running to buy her a goddamn spa to add to your collection? There is already the Coraline Restaurant on Main.”
    “And the Coraline flower shop on 37 th and Stonewall,” Neal jumped in.
    “The Little Coraline Boutique on Madison and Richard—”
    “Both of you shut the fuck up,” he grumbled, a little bit embarrassed.
    “Aww brother, are you blushing—”
    “Neal don’t even fucking come for me after buying Mina a star,” he snapped at him and almost I died—no really, I couldn’t stop laughing. I had completely forgotten about that.
    “She’s into romantic shit like that.”
    “A fucking star. At least my wife can visit the places I bought for her,” Declan added. Meanwhile, I tried to calm myself down.
    “Oh, laugh your ass off at us, but at least our women allow us to buy them gifts,” Neal stated.
    I shrugged. “She has the best gift of all: me. Just