Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Ciara
Marco and I are silent on the drive to the airport. Going on our honeymoon. How ironic. There’s nothing about our relationship that would speak to us being happy and in love.
He married me for an alliance and I was forced into it by my father.
Honeymoon? Forget it.
There is one thing on my mind as we sit next to each other in the back seat of the car, neither one of us looking at the other.
Marco didn’t make me have sex with him last night.
He could have easily taken me, claiming he has the right as my husband.
But he didn’t. Sure, it’s the bare basic respect to not force me into sex but still…
“Why didn’t you want to have sex?” I blurt out.
I can feel him look at me but I keep my eyes glued to the window. “You clearly didn’t want it and I didn’t want to rape you. I married you because I wanted to work with your father. There’s no point in me raping you to achieve that.”
“What if I had wanted it?” I’m not even sure why I ask. It’s not like I have feelings for Marco. It has nothing to do with how handsome he is. With how good it felt to have his arms around me as we danced.
“If you had wanted it, then I would have taken you. But you didn’t.
I was doing was both a favor. We don’t like each other but we’re bound together now.
It’s better this way to just avoid each other.
We’ll go on our honeymoon because it’s what your father wants and I need to make him happy.
And once we return, I can start work on taking Enzo Bianchi down. ”
“You want to go after him right now, don’t you?” I ask, finally glancing at him. His hands are clenched on his knees.
“More than anything. But your father wants us to get along and thinks a honeymoon will do that. I need his support so I’ll do this.
It’s only for a week anyway. We can survive a week together and then we’ll come back to New York, live our separate lives, and I can achieve what I’ve wanted to achieve for the past year. ”
“Killing Enzo Bianchi.”
“Yes. And Will Taylor too. His right hand.”
“Why kill him?”
“Because he’s too high up. He’ll come after me if he’s left alive.
Will needs to die right along with Enzo.
” Marco doesn’t look at me as he says this.
For some reason, my gut is telling me he’s not saying everything that’s on his mind but I can’t prove it.
I don’t know Marco well enough to know when he’s lying or not.
“Well, I hope you get what you want. Maybe if you’re happy you won’t be so insufferable.”
Marco smirks and doesn’t comment.
It takes everything out of me to say what’s on my mind but I have to say it. “Thank you. For not making me have sex last night.”
He inhales sharply as he looks into my eyes. After a moment, he speaks. “You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do. I know you didn’t want this marriage.”
“You didn’t either.”
Without a comment on that, he turns away from me.
We arrive at the airport. There’s a tension between us that I’m not sure we can break.
I didn’t want to be married to Marco and yet, he saved me from those men.
He is disarmingly handsome. I feel… something towards him that I don’t understand.
Spending my life alone does not sound fun but does spending my life with Marco sound better? I’m not sure.
Before we can reach the doors of the airport, a car comes screeching into the spot behind us and my brother gets out of the car.
“Cormac,” I gasp.
“I will not let him take you out of the country,” he growls, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards his car.
“Let her go,” Marco warns.
“I am saving my sister from you. You will hurt her.” Cormac looks Marco up and down with a sneer. “You’ve already hurt her.”
“I have done no such thing.”
“You married her,” Cormac seethes. “You raped her last night. A man like you takes whatever you want without worrying about the consequences. I will not let my sister be abused by you. I will not let you take her to another country and do whatever the hell you want to her.”
“Cormac, you’re hurting me,” I whimper.
Either Cormac didn’t hear me or he doesn’t care because his grip on my arm only tightens as he pulls me towards his car.
“Let her go.” Marco rushes at Cormac, shoving him away from me. “I will not lose my wife to you.”
Cormac lets out a sharp laugh. “Your wife? She is not your wife. She’s your property and I will not let my sister be that.”
“Even though you treat her like she’s your property?”
Cormac grabs Marco’s shirt, pulling them face to face. “I have never treated my sister badly. You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“She said you were hurting her and you didn’t let her go.”
“When did I do that?”
“Just now.”
Cormac shoves Marco back. “You don’t know anything. Come on, Ciara. We’re going.”
I don’t move. I’m not sure why I don’t but I can’t get my body to move an inch.
Cormac looks between me and Marco with an incredulous expression. “Come on, Ciara.” He reaches for me but I back away from him. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Marco was right,” I say, surprising myself. Even Marco looks shocked from the way his eyes widen.
“What?” Cormac hisses.
“You were hurting me. I told you that and you didn’t let go of my arm. And you tried telling me what dress I could wear for my wedding day. You do try to control me, Cormac.”
“Then I’m sorry. But let’s go.”
“You don’t sound sorry,” I mutter.
“Ciara, stop being difficult. Come on. You don’t actually want to go on your honeymoon with this fucker? You hate him.”
“I do. But…”
“But what?” He sighs, running his hand down his face. “I came here to save you from him. So let’s go.”
“And go where? Dad wants this marriage to happen. I’ll just be sent right back to Marco if I leave with you. I lost my chance at freedom but I’m married now. There’s no getting out of this. Going with you doesn’t change anything.”
“What the hell are you going on about?”
“Marco didn’t rape me last night.” The words are out before I even realize what I’m saying.
Cormac goes still. “What?”
“You said you were saving me from Marco because he’ll hurt me. That he raped me. But he didn’t. We didn’t…”
It’s clear from the shock on Cormac’s face that he doesn’t know what to say.
Marco walks over to me and puts his hand on my low back. “Ciara and I are going on our honeymoon. She is my wife, Cormac. It would be for the best if you remembered that.”
“See? He’s treating you like you’re his property.”
“Maybe so,” I admit. “But you’ve also treated me that way.
I don’t want to be married to Marco but it’s my fate now.
I have to go with him. If you had wanted to save me, Cormac, you lost your chance.
” I walk past my brother, despite wanting to go with him.
But Cormac wants to control my life just as much as my dad does.
At least Marco is giving me the chance to live my own life after our honeymoon is over.
I just have to make it through this week and then…
And then what? A life of loneliness? Marco will never let me date other men. I will never get to experience my life to the fullest.
But then again, I wasn’t getting to do that when my dad forced me to go everywhere with a guard.
“If you come for me,” Marco says to Cormac, “or if you try to take my wife away from me again, the outcome will not be good.”
“Don’t threaten me,” Cormac warns.
“Then stay out of my way.” Marco walks behind me as we head into the airport. Cormac doesn’t follow. It’s not like he can start shooting at my brother inside the airport. That wouldn’t go over well.
After Marco and I get our tickets and find our gate, we settle into seats beside each other, neither one of us speaking again.
“Why didn’t you go with your brother?” His question startles me. “You could have gone with him.”
“You would have stopped it.”
“I would have but I expected you to run.”
“I wanted to run,” I admit. “But I knew it was pointless. It just seemed easier to stop a fight from happening. If Cormac took me back, then you would have tried to kill him.”
“So it was love for your brother that you didn’t go with him?”
“Yes.”
Marco nods, then falls silent.
I told Marco the truth but… it wasn’t just love for my brother that I didn’t leave. It was because my fate is tied to Marco’s now and I want to be near him, despite how crazy he makes me feel.
Of course, I can never tell him this. Not when I barely understand it myself.
The flight to Italy is a long one. Fortunately, we each stick to ourselves on the way there. Once we arrive in Italy after eight hours, it’s nighttime. Marco rents a car and drives us to the place he rented.
The place in question is a large chalet in the countryside, an hour from Rome.
“How much money do you have?” I ask.
“A lot of it.”
“And you need my dad’s help… why?”
He chuckles as he turns the car off. “Because I need the connection. I need the support. Money will only get you so far.”
We go into the mansion. Each room is more elegant than the last with beautiful hardwood floors and soft painted walls and cozy furniture.
“I’m tired,” I admit.
“It has been a long day.”
We find the hallway that houses the bedrooms.
“I’ll take this one,” Marco says, nodding at one of the rooms. Across the hall is another one.
“I’ll take that one,” I say. “You’re really not going to make us sleep in the same room?”
“You’re mine now, Ciara. But in name only. I got what I wanted from your father. From you. I don’t need more. Now, get some sleep. Our honeymoon starts tomorrow.”
“What does that entail?”
“We’ll explore the city. Be cordial with each other. Pretend we’re happy in this marriage. And then when we return to New York, you can go about your life and I’ll go about mine.”
“Does that mean I can date other men?”
His expression darkens. “No.”
“So I’m stuck with you and yet, I don’t even get to know you? I don’t get… anything?”
“I thought you didn’t want to get to know me.”
“I don’t,” I say quickly. “I’m just saying. And you don’t get to date other women. I don’t want you cheating on me.”
“There is no one else,” he says, looking away from me. Interesting. Once more, I can tell he’s not saying everything.
“Is there? Anyone else? I remember when you said you didn’t want to lose another woman. What did you mean by that?”
“I already told you: nothing. Drop it, Ciara. Get some sleep. It’s going to be a long week.” He goes into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
But there’s no way I’ll be able to sleep tonight. Not when there’s so much on my mind.
So instead of going into my own bedroom, I decide to leave the house. And I don’t tell Marco where I’m going. I refuse to be controlled a moment longer.