Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Marco
The moment the ceremony is over, I lead Ciara outside the church, keeping my composure but inside, I’m fuming. Cormac tried to publicly kill me before all of his father’s men. That weakens me. This has to end.
“You look… angry,” Ciara says.
I stare down at her and she flinches.
Patrick leaves the church, rushing over to my side before the rest of the guests come out. “Marco, I didn’t know.”
“You need to get your son in line,” I growl. “If we’re going to work together, I can’t have him trying to kill me. Because if he comes for me again…”
“Are you threatening to kill my son?”
“I don’t want to, Patrick. But if it’s between me and Cormac, I will choose myself any time. So you need to get him under control so we don’t have to be in that awkward position.”
Patrick nods. “Fine. I’ll talk to my son. But let’s enjoy the reception. We need to keep our guests happy. I don’t want them feeling any dissent between us.”
“I agree. I’ll put on a nice smile but I am not happy about this, Patrick.”
His eyes flick down to Ciara. “Don’t hurt my daughter.”
“I don’t have plans to. Just get Cormac in line.” I storm over to the car waiting for us and get inside. Ciara speaks to her father for a moment before getting in beside me. We’re both quiet as the driver takes us away from the church and to the reception hall.
“Are you going to kill my brother?” she asks in a soft voice. She’s scared, I realize. Married to a man who her brother just tried to kill.
“I won’t if he stops trying to kill me.”
“So you’ll kill him if he tries something again.”
I don’t respond because she already knows my answer.
“Marco, please. Please don’t kill him.”
“Your brother is trouble. I will do what I have to do. As long as your father keeps your brother under control, we won’t have a problem. I promise.”
“Is your word any good?”
I look at her sharply. “I saved your life, didn’t I?”
“Doesn’t make you a good man. You said it yourself: you’re not one.”
“I will not beat you, Ciara. I will not hurt you because of your brother. But if he cannot stop, then I will not allow myself to be killed because of him.”
“Even if it breaks your alliance with my father?”
“Yes. I will not die for anyone.”
She ducks her chin, staring down at her lap for a long moment. “Not even for me?”
Her question startles me. It’s one I’ve never been asked before. Would I be willing to die for Ciara? I know I would save her life given the chance but to die for her? That’s an entirely different thing.
I can’t respond.
She nods, a resoluteness in her eyes. “Got it. Well, I wouldn’t be willing to die for you either. There’s no love between us and I doubt there ever will be. I never wanted this marriage.”
“Did you want me dead?”
Her eyes widen and her lips part. Her pretty, pink lips. I didn’t get the chance to kiss them when we said our vows. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Because you’re close with your brother. I wasn’t sure if you also wanted me dead. It’s obvious that Cormac tried to kill me on multiple occasions. First the poisoning and then the men at the club.”
“Cormac said that wasn’t him.”
“And you believe him?” I look her down until she lowers her eyes. “Cormac wants me dead. The question is: do you? I never thought you would, seeing as you’re a woman. Most women don’t have that kind of hate in their hearts.”
“You don’t know most women then,” she snaps.
“Answer my question, Ciara.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“Then that tells me everything. The fact that you can’t deny it means you wanted me dead, didn’t you? We’re married now. Might as well be honest with each other.”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “Fine. I wanted you dead. I didn’t want to marry you and I thought it was the only way. Cormac offered and…”
“And you agreed to it.” I nod. “I see. Well, now I know who to trust and who not to trust. And I know to not trust you.”
“I don’t trust you either. You want my brother dead.”
“Only because he wants me dead. I would never want to kill him otherwise. And I won’t kill him as long as he stays away from me. But the problem is: we’re married. I can’t stay away from my wife forever.”
“You’re one to talk. I am not the bad guy here. I’m just an innocent woman who was forced to play the game my father wanted. I was willing to do whatever it took to get out of it. But that doesn’t make me in the wrong.”
“I know it doesn’t and that’s the problem. You believe you were in the right to want me dead. You have conviction. That’s why I don’t trust you, wife. We’ll be married in name only but we will live separate lives.”
“That’s fine by me. I don’t want to be around you anyway,” she says with a shrug, turning away from me. It makes the dress around her cling to her body more.
“So you won’t try to kill me now?”
“No,” she mumbles. “As long as you stay away from me, I won’t have to hurt you. I want nothing to do with you.”
We’re both quiet until we reach the reception but before either one of us moves, there’s something I have to say.
“You look beautiful in your wedding dress.”
Her body stiffens while she keeps her eyes glued out the window. “You like my dress? My brother and dad hate it. They think it’s too promiscuous.”
“I love the dress. Your brother and dad are mistaken.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because even though I don’t trust you, I won’t lie to you. You look beautiful in your dress and I wanted you to know.”
When she doesn’t answer, I open my car door but before I can get out she says, “Thank you,” stopping me.
She doesn’t say anything more. After a beat, I get out of the car and she does the same and we walk into the hotel where our reception is being held.
Our guests have already arrived and are seated, eating their dinner. The band Patrick hired – he handled all of the wedding details – announces us as we enter.
“To Mr. and Mrs. Marco Amato!”
The guests all clap for us.
Ciara scowls. “I didn’t agree to take your name.”
“It’s customary.”
“I still didn’t agree to it. I want to keep my own name. It’s who I am.”
“You wanted me dead, Ciara. You don’t get a say.”
“And you wanted to force me into a marriage. I’m not sure which one is worse.”
I give her a hard look before taking her hand in mine. “We need to have our first dance. Put on a show for the people here. They need to know that this alliance can work.”
“The last thing I want to do is dance with you.”
“You might stab me in the back, so I don’t really want it either. But we have to and sometimes we have to do things we don’t want.” I pull her onto the dance floor and Ciara finally relents.
The moment she’s in my arms, I feel a spark of electricity. She fits perfectly into the crook of my body. This would be fine and well if I wasn’t worried about my own wife trying to kill me.
Ciara and I move gracefully across the dance floor.
“Where did you learn to dance?” I ask.
“Surprised I would know how to dance? That an Irish woman would know ballroom?”
“I never said that. I’m just asking you a question.” My hand tightens over her hand. “You don’t have to make everything so difficult.”
“Easier said than done with you.” She looks over my shoulder as we move around the dance floor until she finally speaks again. “I learned from my mom. Where did you learn to dance?”
“Surprised a man like me would know how?”
“Yes,” she says flatly.
“I learned from my parents. My father always thought a gentlemen should know how to do the waltz. It’s the only dance I know how to do.”
“Where are your parents? It’s just you here. The rest of the guests are friends of my father.”
“My parents are old. Retired. Out of the game.” I force myself to look into Ciara’s face.
So young and so pretty. Normally I wouldn’t go for a woman twenty years younger than me.
I’ve never cared to date children. But Ciara doesn’t look like a child in her wedding dress.
She’s a grown woman. She’s my wife now. The one I married to get what I want – to take down Enzo and Will. “What happened to your mom?”
“She’s dead,” she says in a clipped tone.
“How did she die?”
For the first time since getting on the dance floor, Ciara stumbles. I have to right her in my arms. She flushes as she looks around at the guests. “It’s not nice to ask me this on our wedding day.”
“It clearly upsets you.”
“Wouldn’t your mom being dead upset you too?”
“Fair point.”
We resume dancing, neither one of us speaking. The tenseness in her body makes me think she could break at any moment.
We finish our dance and immediately pull away from each other. Our guest clap politely.
Ciara and I take our seats at the head table and eat our dinner. People come over to congratulate us and it takes everything inside of me to smile and not scowl.
“You make it look easy,” she mutters.
“What?”
“Smiling. How can you be happy at a time like this?”
“Who said I was happy?”
She shivers. “The fact that you’re good at lying about it makes it even scarier. How do I know what’s on your mind?”
I lean in close to her and she sucks in a sharp breath. “How do I know what’s on your mind? You wanted me dead from the start and yet, I didn’t see it. You’re dangerous, Ciara. More than I gave you credit for.”
“I saw the darkness in you right away,” she snaps back. “Get off your high horse. You can’t blame me for not wanting to marry a man like you. I was just trying to survive.”
“And so am I.”
With a huff, she turns away from me and aggressively cuts at her steak. “You want to know something?”
I look at her with shock. There’s a tightness to her voice – like she’s trying to hold back tears. “What?”
“When you saved my life, I told my brother not to kill you. I said that maybe I was wrong. But now I see that I was right all along. You’re a bad man. I will never trust you. Never.”
“Your tears won’t earn you sympathy with me.”
She pushes away from the table in a huff. “I was being honest. It would do you some good to learn when someone is being truthful or not.” Not caring how it looks, Ciara leaves the reception hall, making me look like a fool.