Chapter Fifteen
Marco
Ciara’s words run through my mind the entire night. Give up my desire to go after Will and focus on our marriage. But I only married Ciara for political gain. That’s the problem. And yet… I’m starting to have real feelings for her. She’s becoming more than just a pawn. More than a prize.
She’s becoming my wife.
Ciara saved me from her brother. She’s given me tastes of her body. She’s made it clear she’s ready to make this marriage work.
The only thing I have to do is let Will live and move on from him.
The thought of how Will shot me and left me for dead still haunts me at night. But the salt in the wound was how he stole Gianna from me. Gianna was never technically mine. She was just a pawn in my game to take down Enzo. I’m a possessive man by nature.
Will it be my downfall?
No. I can’t think like that. Once Will is dead, all will be better in the world. Ciara will be fine. She can handle it. I don’t need to be in love with her to be happy in this world. Not when what I want is revenge and death for Enzo and Will.
I meet up with Patrick at his restaurant. The smell of beer is strong in the air. “What’s happening with Enzo?” I ask him after sitting down in his private booth.
“My men haven’t been able to get close to him. He has too many men guarding him. But we did find a way to get to his right hand man, Will.”
My heart skips a beat and I try not to show my excitement. Not when I have Ciara’s words ringing in my ear. “How?”
“We can ambush him tonight. My men have gotten word that he’s going to be near the docks, dealing with an incoming drug shipment. We can attack him then.”
“Perfect. I want him dead.” Once he’s gone, all my problems will be solved. I won’t be obsessed any longer. Sure, I’ll never have Gianna but I don’t need her anymore. She’s not who lingers on my mind any longer. Ciara will see that in time. I believe it.
I have to. Because otherwise, the thought of spending a life in a loveless marriage sounds miserable.
I wait in my car near the docks. The moon shines down on everything, giving the air a soft glow.
It allows me to see a car pull up to an old warehouse.
A man steps out. Will Taylor. I would recognize him anywhere.
The man I hired to steal Gianna for me so I could hurt Enzo, who then ended up falling in love with her and stealing her from me. Who left me for dead.
It’s time for him to die.
He has two other men with him as they go into the warehouse. I have to strike at the right time.
Ciara’s voice hits me all over again. She will never truly be mine if I kill Will.
No. I can’t let that bother me. Ciara will learn that things will be better once Will is dead.
I have been thinking of killing Will for the past year.
It’s the only thing that kept me going when I was healing from my multiple gunshot wounds.
When I lost a lot of my men to him and Enzo. When I didn’t have anything.
I wait for Will and his two men to leave the warehouse. Patrick’s men lie in wait as well. I told Patrick that as long as I could kill Will, nothing else mattered to me. I need to look him in the eye, so he knows it’s me who did it.
Movement out of the corner of my eye makes me look to the right. Patrick’s men are heading to the warehouse. If they go in and start shooting the place up, Will could die and it won’t be because of me. That cannot stand.
I jump out of my car. Patrick’s men rush into the warehouse and that’s when I hear the sound of gunshots. Goddamn it. I run towards the warehouse but stop when I see someone run out from behind the building. Will Taylor.
He’s rushing towards his car. Blood covers his arm. Either he was shot or it’s someone else’s blood. I watch him get into his car.
No. I will not let him get away. I run back into my car and follow him as he hurries away from the docks. I stay back a few cars but knowing Will, he’ll notice someone following him and will try to lose me. I cannot let that stand.
I stay on his ass until he pulls up in front of a house. I’m shocked. He led me right to his home. Clearly, he’s not thinking straight.
He runs inside. I come to a stop and get out, following after him. There’s no guards around the house. I kick the front door in and slowly step inside, my gun drawn.
That’s when a bullet whizzes by my head. I jerk to the side.
“You’re not going to get me, Marco,” Will says.
Shit.
“You left me for dead. It’s time I return the favor,” I announce.
“I knew you were following me. Did you honestly think I’d lead you to my house where Gianna is? I won’t let you get her.”
“I’m not here for Gianna,” I snap. “I’m here for you.” The moment I say the words, I know how true they are. I never loved Gianna. She was just a pawn to be used. Ciara needs to see that. I’m going after Will because he shot me. Not because I want Gianna back.
Will goes silent. I sneak a peek inside the house but I can’t see him. It’s too dark. Will used to work as a hitman. He knows how to fight. How to kill. I have to be careful about this.
Slowly, I step foot inside but I don’t see Will anywhere in the foyer. I check the living room but he’s not there either. My footsteps creak on the hardwood floors as I head to the kitchen. Will needs to die tonight. It’s the only way I can move on with my life. It’s the only way I can be happy.
Ciara’s words hit me all over again. She will never give herself to me if I go after Will. But she doesn’t mean it. I don’t believe it.
And yet… I stop, hesitating right before the archway that leads to the kitchen. If I kill Will tonight, will that be the end of my marriage? Will Ciara truly never love me?
But I don’t need her love, I tell myself. I’ve never needed it.
Do I want it though? That’s the question that hits me in the fucking gut. Does my wife mean more to me than revenge? I’ve carried revenge with me for the past year. I’ve only been married to Ciara for a week. Not long enough to love someone. Surely not.
She can’t change me. I am who I am and I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t need my wife to love me to be happy. I just need revenge.
But… I still hesitate. I can’t get my feet to move. Will is in the kitchen. I can sense it. He’s waiting for me to go in there so he can kill me. This is my one chance to kill him and end this for good. Will dying would hurt both Gianna and Enzo. That would be sweet enough for me.
I still can’t step forward though.
What is Ciara doing to me? Why has she gotten under my skin? Why do I care?
If I step into that kitchen, I could die. At least then I’d be out of my misery. But I don’t want to die. I want to be in power. I want to take Will down.
I want… to be happy for once.
I hear a small creak in the kitchen. This is it. Will is in there. I just need to step forward and shoot him.
But I can’t.
I take a step back with a small gasp. What the fuck is wrong with me? This is my chance. This is my moment. Take it.
Instead, I keep backing away until I get out of the house and before I know it, I get back in my car and drive away.
It’s not until I’m near my house that I let out a loud shout. What am I doing? That was my one opportunity to take Will down and I couldn’t take it.
I park in the driveway and stare up at my house. Ciara is inside either waiting for me or not wanting anything to do with me. Why do I care what she thinks? I’ve never cared what a woman thinks of me before.
Fuck. She’s in my head. That’s a problem. This woman who once wanted me dead and now wants me to be her husband. She confuses me to say the least.
I step out of my car but before I can make it towards the front door, I hear footsteps behind me. Whirling around, I come face to face with Cormac. He punches me in the temple, knocking me to the ground. An intense pain spikes through my head.
Without a word, Cormac drags me down the driveway. I shake my head but his punch really did something to me. He lifts me to my feet and shoves me into the back seat of his car.
I sit up and kick at him but he punches me in the temple once more, knocking me to my back. Cormac grabs my hands and after picking up rope from the floor of the car, ties my hands together.
“You fucker,” I snarl.
He punches me in the face once more before getting into the front seat. I groan and try to sit up but my head is swimming. I can’t even see straight for a moment.
Cormac drives away from my house. I didn’t even get the chance to talk to Ciara. To tell her I didn’t kill Will. And now I’m being fucking kidnapped by her brother.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“You never should have messed with my sister. You need to die, Marco. It’s time.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? I made this deal with your dad. You’re really going to go against your own father?”
“You never should have made my sister cry. She told me about the other woman you’re in love with. That cannot stand.”
A cold weight hits me in the stomach. “She told you…” Fuck. Ciara, what the hell was she thinking?
“I will not let you fuck around on my sister.”
“You don’t know the full story.”
“I know enough and you need to die.”
“Fuck you, Cormac. You’re going to ruin your own life over this. Your father won’t be happy.”
“I can deal with my father.” He stops the car.
“What I can’t deal with is knowing you’re hurting my sister.
” He gets out and opens the back door. It’s then that I see we’re out of the city, surrounded by trees on a dark road at night.
Cormac drags me from the car and I wobble on my feet before falling to the ground.
Cormac pulls out his gun and aims it at my head. “Any last words? Not that you deserve them.”
“Even if I gave you my last words, would you tell your sister what I said? Is she behind this? Does she want me dead?”
“Yes. Ciara wants you dead just as much as I do. Now, is that what you have to say?”
“No. You will ruin everything by doing this, Cormac. I hope you know that.”
A sneer crosses Cormac’s face right before he pulls the trigger.