Chapter 18
ISEULT
“Maybe I could run away,” Eriu cries as we walk side by side in the open fields behind the main Caellach building. “I can’t marry him, Iz. I just can’t.”
She pants with gasping breaths, quickly swiping under her eyes.
“Hey, no…” I shake my head and throw my arm around her back, tucking her into me. “You’re not running. We will figure this out. Together.”
She backs off me and her brows bend. “There’s no figuring this out.
You know that. You tried, and he still went through with it.
” She shrugs, sniffling back. “I’m gonna end up marrying a complete stranger who won’t even stay faithful to me.
” More tears track down her cheeks. “I’m going to be one of those women who lives in an unhappy marriage, knowing their husband doesn’t truly love them. ”
“You don’t know that.” But as I say the words, it’s like I’m chipping away at my own heart.
Her pain is mine. Yet it’s different.
My sister’s marrying the man who gave me the most earth-shattering kiss, a feeling that for women like me only comes once in a lifetime.
But I can’t be the cause of my sister’s pain.
Because if she were to find out that I was messing around with him without even telling her, it would hurt her.
I have to stop putting myself in situations like that with Gio.
That incident in my room will be the last of its kind.
“I don’t want you to think that way.” I bring my arm around her and we stroll together once again. “Maybe it just takes the right woman for a man like him to change.”
“Do you actually believe that?” She sighs.
No.
“Yes.”
“Well, I hope you’re right, Iz.”
“I guess if all else fails, I can kill him.”
She stops dead in her tracks and widens her eyes at me.
“What?” My lips spread into a wide grin. “I was only joking.”
She narrows a stare. “No, you weren’t.”
I shrug. “You said it, sis. Not me.”
“I swear, if you weren’t my sister, I’d be afraid of you.”
I give her a wink and pop a brow. “I guess you’re lucky you are. Now, come on. I’m taking you out for dessert.”
“Ooh, can we go to that place that has those puff pastries served with ice cream?”
“Whatever my sister wants!”
She grins at me, smiling so brightly that for a moment, both of us forget our problems.
But sometimes even a moment is enough.
“You sure left mighty quick.” My father glances up at me from his sofa after dinner, a mug filled with black coffee in his grasp. “Didn’t care for the Italians?”
“Not particularly, especially the oldest one.” I settle across from him.
It’s been hours since Gio and his family left, and I’m glad to have gone out with my sister and kept her mind off of this damn marriage.
I was relieved to find out she had no interest in marrying Gio. She thought he was handsome, obviously, but she doesn’t want this, which should make me feel a lot better about wanting to fuck his brains out.
But it doesn’t.
“You mean their father?”
“Yeah,” I snicker. “That one.”
“Me neither.” He drags in a long sip. “You should know something.” His features grow tense. “This stays here.”
“Of course. What is it?” I sit up straighter, adrenaline pumping through my veins.
“Their father is dirty.”
My brows shoot up.
“Apparently, he killed Raph’s wife and then tried covering it up.”
“What?” I whisper with disbelief. “So he’s the one who killed her?”
I remember how bad things were with the Italians after Bianca died. Raph blamed us, but no matter what my father said to convince him we were innocent, he went guns blazing and got my cousin killed.
See, me? I would’ve killed him by now. He may have been in mourning, and my father let him mourn in peace before he sought revenge, but I don’t care. Raph should’ve had proof before he took my cousin’s life.
“I’ve known that bastard Giancarlo for a long time,” my father continues. “And he’s always been a feckin’ snake in the grass. But even this is too far.”
“I agree. He has to go. Are they planning to kill him?”
“Aye.” He nods. “Can’t wait for that.” He squeezes the mug tight, his knuckles going white. “That rat bastard. Wanna slice his goddamn throat.” His eyes cast into the distance.
“I take it you don’t like him, then?” My lips wind up.
“You’re a funny one, eh?”
“I get it from you, I guess.” A laugh rises out of me.
He nods thoughtfully, staring at me intently like he’s trying to see through me instead.
“You doing okay? That stuff…” He clears his throat and shifts in his seat. “That stuff from before don’t bother you anymore like it used to, right?”
Lie. Just lie.
Lying is safer. It keeps people from hurting. Nothing good ever comes from telling the truth. He doesn’t need to know that not a single day has passed where I haven’t thought about what happened to me.
“I’m fine, Dad. Promise.” I even plaster on a nice big grin, like the cherry on top of a sundae.
“Good, then.” He leans back. “Yer brothers left with the Italians, by the way, to help with the situation with Giancarlo. We might be heading to New York too, darling. Be prepared.”
Shit. I’ll have to see Gio again? This day is getting better by the second.
“Oh, yeah, no problem. I’ll have my knives sharpened just in case.”
He chuckles. “So, tell me, what did ya think of Gio?”
“Now you suddenly care about my opinion?” I fold one leg over the other and lean my back against the black leather sofa.
“My feckin’ God…” He huffs, his eyes jerking up to the ceiling. “Are you ever not difficult?”
“Who else would keep you on your toes?”
I fight a smile, and he shakes his head, fighting his own.
“He’s not who I’d want for my little sister,” I tell him. “But nothing Eriu or I say will make much of a difference to you, so this conversation seems pointless.”
“She doesn’t like him?”
“No,” I say sternly. “She wants to choose her own husband, you know? Since this isn’t the eighteen hundreds?”
“Well, unfortunately for the both of you, this is who she must marry.” He drags a sip of the steaming liquid into his mouth. “We’ve had enough war to last us a lifetime, Iseult. You of all people should know that.”
My heart squeezes until I can’t breathe.
As though I could forget.
“This is what must happen to ensure we can at least keep the peace with the Italians,” he goes on, oblivious to my inner torture.
“Are the Russians giving us trouble again?” I ask, keeping the tone of my voice steady.
He shakes his head. “But you never know with them. His sons might decide to invalidate the treaty, and then we return to years of bloodshed. And I don’t want any of my children to lose their lives. I’ve lost enough in my life.” His gaze hits me intensely. “You understand, darling?”
I nod. “As long as I don’t have to be forced to spend time with that irritating Gio.”
And his annoying laugh.
Or his breathtaking smile.
“He might grow on you.” My father brings the mug to his mouth.
“Doubtful,” I snicker.
“I do worry, though…” His eyes give a far-off look.
“About?”
“His reputation precedes him.”
My heartbeats tap against my ribs. “What kind of reputation?”
“He likes the ladies. A little too much, I might add.”
Oh, that’s right. He’s a hoe. How did I forget that little fact?
My stomach tosses as I picture him with others, doing to them what he’s done to me. I fight like hell to keep my face from falling.
“Oh, yeah? You worried he’ll cheat on her?”
“I am.” He rubs his gray stubbled jaw, a touch of black scattered within it. “I expect loyalty in a marriage, and I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in him if he strays.”
Shit. If my father finds out about us, he will definitely kill us both. He doesn’t tolerate disloyalty. From anyone. Even his own daughter.
“I think I’ll invite him over for dinner soon, after all this business with Giancarlo is finished, so he and I can have a nice conversation about what I expect this marriage to look like.”
Awesome.
That talk with my father didn’t make me feel any better. Gio has probably slept with most of New York City, while I hadn’t been with a single soul since him.
I don’t know why. Not like I haven’t tried. But it just made me remember how bad sex was for me before he came along. The bastard has ruined me for the rest of my life. Because at this point, no one’s going to come close.
Pressing my fingers into my eyes, I stop at the top of the stairs, finally back in my home again.
Walking into my bedroom, I shut the door, heading toward the nightstand, remembering that I had left my phone in the drawer.
I was so busy with my sister and then my father, it completely slipped my mind. I retrieve the cell, pushing the button to turn it on.
“What the…?” The password keypad has been deactivated.
My heartbeats quicken in my chest as I find a notification for a single text waiting for me. And I don’t even need to read it to know that it’s from him—my future bastard of a brother-in-law. He not only found my phone, but hacked it somehow.
I’m going to kill him.
Slowly.
I open the text and blink in disbelief at what he had the audacity to name himself.
Future Husband
I’m glad we’ve reunited again, future wife. I’m going to enjoy getting to know every breathtaking inch of you all over again.
I quickly type out a reply.
Iseult
I don’t even want to know how you got into my phone. But just know, you’re officially number one on my hit list.
Future Husband
Hey, sweetheart. I miss you already.
Iseult
Didn’t you read what I wrote, you idiot?
A hot and awfully sexy idiot. But still an idiot.
Future Husband
Didn’t I tell you already? Every time you threaten my life or insult me, all it does is make me want you more.
Iseult
Unresolved trauma?
Future Husband
The only trauma I have is from when you disappeared on me. But don’t you worry, Red. I promise to thoroughly punish you for it.
Iseult
You’re not going anywhere near me. Not only are you MARRYING MY SISTER, but I hear you’re a bit of a man-whore. And by a bit, I mean I heard you fucked your way through all fifty states.
Seconds trickle by while I wait for a response. Then minutes vanish into thin air without a single reply from him.
I stare at the phone, turning it on and off, wondering why he hasn’t written back. My pulse races faster and faster. Does he not want to talk to me anymore? Did I push him far enough?
With a frustrated exhale, I drop the cell on my bed and fall backward against the mattress. It’s what I wanted anyway. I can’t be involved with him. It’ll ruin everything.
Ding.
I gasp, jumping to a seated position and immediately picking up the phone. His name’s displayed with an unopened text. I click to read it.
Future Husband
Neither one of those things are true. I will never marry your sister, and I haven’t touched a single woman since I touched you.
A shiver races up my spine.
I can’t breathe. He’s stolen all the air from my lungs.
And I’m not even sure whether to laugh or cry or do both at once.
Surely he’s lying. There’s no way in hell that is true. A man isn’t going to give up sex for over a year.
My fingers hover as I attempt to type out a response. But I don’t know what to say.
I want to tell him not to lie to me. That it doesn’t matter how many women he’s been with since we were together, but I can’t seem to say any of that.
Because if I’m being truly honest with myself, it does matter.
It matters a lot.
I stare at the phone. At his name. Future Husband. And my stomach tightens.
Because for one quick moment, I wonder what it’d feel like to have one.
GIO
As soon as we flew back to New York yesterday after leaving Patrick’s, we were thrust into a war. With my father, of all people.
My brothers were keeping me in the dark about the things he was up to, like how he planned to have my oldest brother, Raph, killed so he could hide the affair he was having with Raph’s wife.
I instantly wanted to kill him. I was mad as hell at them for keeping me in the dark. Still am. But I’ll get over it. I understood why they did it. They were worried I’d lose it and mess up the plan they’ve been working on to get rid of our father.
And they’re right. I would’ve murdered him.
Sitting in Michael’s den with Patrick’s sons, I pour myself a drink.
It's been interesting to have them here while they assist us with our father.
Tynan clearly still hates our guts after the whole thing with his cousin. I hear they were close. His cousin left a son behind, who is now an orphan after his mother died. Tynan adopted the child. I feel really sorry for that poor kid to end up with the likes of this grumpy fuck.
“You want another drink?” I ask Fionn, who’s emptied his third glass of bourbon.
“Aye, would love some more.” He rises, marching over to the bar, while his two brothers are seated on the sofa, still drinking their second.
The house is dark and silent, except for us. My niece, Sophia, is sleeping soundly upstairs, while neither Michael nor Raph wanted to join us for a late drink. Michael isn’t one to socialize and Raph’s too concerned with finding Nicolette, his dead wife’s sister, to care.
“So, what time is Iseult coming in tomorrow?” I ask them.
“Not sure.” Fionn laughs. “She didn’t give us a memo.”
“We can tell her you asked about her, though.” Cillian chuckles. “She’d love to know you’re so concerned about her whereabouts.”
“Yeah,” Fionn adds. “She’ll probably stab you for it.”
Wouldn’t mind if she did.
If I were smart, I’d probably be more discreet about my line of questioning. But I was never very smart.
I’ve been unable to think about anything but her in the last twenty-four hours, especially when Cillian let it slip yesterday that something did in fact happen to her.
I had my suspicion after she had that nightmare with me.
But that confirmed it. When Fionn joked about her having a mean streak, Cillian had said, Leave her be. She hasn’t had it easy.
Why the fuck would he say that if that’s not what it meant? And why would Tynan immediately shut his brother up when he said it?
“What did I tell you about messing with our sister?” Tynan’s voice grows irate with his brothers once again. “Leave Iseult alone, or she’ll claw both your eyes out.”
I stare at Tynan, and something passes between us I can’t name.
And it makes me want to know what happened to her that much more.