Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Marco
“You’re back early,” Patrick says to me when me and Ciara meet up with him at his house. “You were supposed to stay in Italy longer.”
“Cormac happened,” Ciara explains. “He tried killing Marco. I stopped it.”
Patrick does a double take at her words. “He did what?”
“He tried killing Marco. You need to get him under control. I don’t want him to ruin his life because of this. We came back early because we thought it would be safer. You can keep Cormac in line.”
“I’ve always struggled to keep your brother in line.”
“If it means his life or his death, then you better try,” I say. Patrick’s eyes tighten. Clearly he doesn’t like being told what to do. “Ciara and I are back now. I’m ready for you to hold your end of the deal up. Let’s go after Enzo Bianchi and Will Taylor.”
“I’ve been doing some digging into them while you were gone. I know Will likes to frequent this one restaurant. We can ambush him there. Grab him and get him to tell us where Enzo is. Then we’ll kill them both and take over this city.”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
Ciara looks between me and her dad with an uncertain expression on her face. After we leave her father’s house, she says to me, “Is this really smart? Going after other mafia men? I mean… couldn’t you die doing that?”
“You wanted me dead at one point.”
“And I saved you from my brother so I think I’ve shown I don’t want you dead now.”
I can’t stop the urge to push her hair behind her ear. To my surprise, she leans into my touch. “I have to do this, Ciara. I have to.”
“You sound like you’re so obsessed over killing both of those men when you could gain power another way that doesn’t involve death. That doesn’t involve a war.”
“You really don’t want me to die, do you?
” I ask softly. The memory of putting my mouth between Ciara’s legs returns.
I want nothing more than to claim her body but I never thought I would have her mind too.
I didn’t let myself care about another woman after I lost Gianna to Will but with Ciara, I could finally have the perfect woman I’ve been looking for.
“Not anymore,” she whispers.
This changes everything between us. I’m starting to see that I can trust Ciara. Can I really be happy for once in my life?
I’m not sure of the answer and that terrifies me.
Ciara
Making good on his word, Marco and I make an effort to focus on our marriage by going on a date.
I can tell he’s antsy and wants to go after Enzo but he knows he can’t right this moment.
I try not to let that sting. Does my husband care more about revenge than spending time with me?
I know we married for political reasons and not love but I’ve let Marco touch me in a way no one ever has before. That means something.
We settle in at our table at the fine, French restaurant he took me to.
“Not an Italian one?” I ask.
“Despite being Italian, I don’t only eat Italian food. Sometimes French food will suffice.”
I smile. “Thank you. For going on this date with me.”
“It’s the least I can do. You did save me from your brother after all. And… I know you want to make this marriage work. I also don’t want to be miserable so I’m happy to work at it too.”
“Thank you,” I repeat, feeling a sense of warmth spread throughout my body. Can I actually be happy with Marco? That thought brings me comfort.
Marco orders our food effortlessly, speaking in French. It’s sexy, I’ll be honest. His handsome face shines more when he looks relaxed and not so tense. It’s wild for me to think that I wanted him dead at one point. Now, I can’t even imagine it.
“I guess we should get to know one another,” I say while we wait for our food.
“I’ve had my mouth on your pussy, Ciara. I think we’re past getting to know one another.”
I blush. “Still. There’s so much I don’t know about you. I know you’re possessive. I know you lost someone in your past. A woman. I know you have a need to be in control. That much is obvious. But I don’t know anything else.”
“There isn’t much else to know. I’ve done my duty to the mafia for years.
It’s why it hurt when Enzo decided to work with the Bratva.
It felt like he was defiling our order. But now I’m working with the Irish.
So I guess I’m a hypocrite. Maybe Enzo felt like he needed to work with the Bratva to get where he wanted in life. I can understand that.”
“So why do you want him dead now?”
“Because he still hurt me when he started working with them. I can’t let that stand.”
“So why Will Taylor? You said he was Enzo’s second in command. Why do you want him dead so badly other than he left you for dead?”
“Do I need another reason?”
I shrug. “No. You don’t. It’s just…”
“It’s just what?”
I bite my lip, unsure if I should say but I push through. “I feel like you’re keeping something from me. I can’t explain it. But whenever you talk about Will Taylor, there’s this… anger in your eyes you don’t have when you speak of Enzo. I just… I feel like there’s something else there.”
Marco’s open expression closes off right before my very eyes. “No. No other reason.”
“Fine,” I snap harder than I mean to.
We both fall silent for a moment before he clears his throat. “And what about you? What should I know about you that you haven’t told me yet?”
“I’ve been controlled by my dad my entire life. So that’s been fun.”
“I take it you haven’t been happy.”
“Nope. Yes, I lived in a nice house with a housekeeper tending to my every need. But it’s no fun when you can’t really live. When your forced to go everywhere with a guard. I just wanted freedom and then I was married to you.”
“Which is why you wanted me dead so much.”
“Yes.” I tap my water glass before looking at him. “I was wrong about that. I never should have asked Cormac to go after you. It was selfish of me. And I’m sorry.”
Marco lets out a slow breath. “Well… thank you for that. And I’m sorry you were forced to marry me. I know you didn’t want it. Neither one of us did.”
“And yet, you married me anyway.”
“To make the deal with your father. I was willing to do anything. But I never expected you, Ciara. You’ve been a pleasant surprise for me. I never thought I could care about another woman after…” He shakes his head. “But I find myself caring more for you every day.”
I can’t look into his eyes for long because I feel like I might cry and I’m not even sure why. “Can we really make this work?”
Marco doesn’t respond. I finally look back up at him… only to see his eyes on someone else.
A couple across the restaurant. They’re in the middle of their meal and talking to each other like they’re the only people in the world. The couple is young – both of them in their twenties.
“Marco?” I ask.
I see his eyes move back and forth over the couple as a slow, seeping rage crosses his face.
“Marco? What’s going on?”
“That’s Will Taylor,” he growls. “Here. Having a nice time after he left me for dead. And that’s…” He stops himself from speaking.
The way he’s looking at the woman… with jealousy. It dawns on me then. That woman is the one he lost.
To Will Taylor. So that’s why he wants Will dead so much. Will ran off with the woman Marco wanted.
“Who is she?” I ask.
That finally gets Marco to look at me. “What?”
“Who is she? That woman?”
“No one.”
“I don’t believe you,” I huff. “That’s the woman you lost. It’s obvious. I can tell by your face. So who is she?”
“You don’t know anything, Ciara.”
“You just promised we’d make our marriage work. So tell me.”
“It’s Gianna Bianchi. Enzo’s sister.”
I suck in a breath. “I don’t understand.”
“I went after Gianna to hurt Enzo. And Will took her from me. That’s it. That’s the story. And now they’re here, acting all in love, while they left me for fucking dead.”
“Marco.” I reach out to him but he surges to his feet. That makes Will and Gianna look over. Both of their faces turn white at the sight of Marco.
Will gets to his feet and blocks Gianna from Marco’s view. The restaurant is packed with people. Surely Marco isn’t stupid enough to try something here.
With a sneer, Marco storms out of the restaurant. After a beat, I follow him.
“What the hell was that?” I ask.
“It was nothing,” he growls, running his hand down his face. “It was nothing.”
“It didn’t look like nothing. It looked like…” I suck in a breath. “Like you still have feelings for her.”
“I never loved her. She was just a pawn in my game.”
“So why does it bother you so much that she’s with another man?”
“Because she was supposed to be mine!” he shouts, startling me so much I take a step back. “She was supposed to be mine and Will stole her from me. And then he shot me and left me for dead. That’s the whole story.”
“So you’ve been harboring feelings for another woman this entire time? How the hell is that supposed to make me feel?”
“I married you for your father’s sake. I made no promise to love you.”
I flinch. “You made a promise to make this marriage work. That’s just going to go out the window at the sight of Gianna Bianchi? You said she was a pawn for you but… it sounds like you have feelings for her.”
“Not for her,” he spits out. “I just…”
“Hate losing.”
He sighs, nodding his head. “I hate that I couldn’t make her mine.”
“And now it’s consuming you.” I huff. “You’re a real asshole, you know that, Marco? You make me trust you. Make me fight for you. While you still have unresolved feelings for another woman and you never mentioned it to me. Fuck you. Seriously.”
“Ciara…”
“Don’t. I know the real reason you’re so obsessed with wanting Will dead. It’s not just because he shot you. It’s also because he took what you thought was yours. But no woman is your property. You made me think there’s hope between us but… there never was, was there?”
“Ciara… I…”
“See? You have nothing to say to that.” I storm away from him before he can answer me. He’ll only give me excuses. How dare Marco make me feel hope for our marriage? Not when he clearly still feels something for Gianna.
But that does explain why he got so jealous when I flirted with other men. Because Gianna left him for Will.
I find myself showing up at my brother’s house without even thinking about it.
“Ciara?” Cormac asks after he opens the door. “What are you doing here?”
I can’t stop myself from crying as I rush into my brother’s arms. I know he’ll protect me. Ease my pain.
After a moment, Cormac hugs me close, trying his best to comfort me. “Are you crying because of Marco?”
“Yes,” I admit through my cries.
“That fucker needs to pay for hurting you. I will make him pay.”
This time, I don’t tell Cormac to stop. I don’t say anything.