Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Cormac
After I make Josh and Sam leave, I get out of the cabin myself.
Arianna is in my head and it’s driving me fucking insane.
The sight of Josh tearing her shirt off made me feel the same rage I felt when Marco married Ciara.
But that’s crazy. Arianna is Marco’s niece. An Italian girl – part of the mafia.
Except, she’s made it clear she’s not part of the mafia. That she doesn’t know her uncle all that well.
And now I have to deal with the fact that I kidnapped an innocent girl to try and save my sister who may or may not want to be saved from Marco.
Fuck.
I find a bar and drink the night away. It’s risky but I can’t have thoughts in my head right now. Arianna needs to get out of my mind. I need to remind myself that I’m doing the right thing when it feels like I’m not.
After leaving the bar, I realize that I’m drunk. Not just tipsy. I can’t even see straight or think. My feet stumble underneath me. The last thing I can do is go back to the cabin like this.
I take a taxi into the city and go back to my apartment. There, I pass out on my bed…
…only to wake up sometime later to an intense pain in my side. I groan, rolling over to see Marco standing above me.
“Good,” he says. “Your awake.” Before I can react, he places a black bag around my head and yanks me off the bed. He ties my hands behind my back. I’m still a little drunk so I can’t fight back like I used to.
“Fucker,” I say but my voice is muffled from the mask.
Marco doesn’t respond as he makes me walk.
I can’t see where we’re going but I can sense things, like when I end up in his car and when his car finally stops driving after a long time.
Like when he opens the car door and drags me out of it.
Like when I’m pushed onto a seat and the bag around my head is finally taken off.
The first thing I notice is that I’m in a small, shut off room. Nothing that can tell me where I am.
Marco stands before me. And with him… a man I’ve only seen once more. His brother, Antonio. Arianna’s father.
“See. I knew your brother was still a part of the mafia,” I say. So, Arianna lied to me. Good. That makes things easier.
“No, he’s not,” Marco sneers. “He’s only here because he came to me after you kidnaped Arianna.
I promised to help get her back. My brother left the mafia world behind when he had Arianna.
That was twenty years ago now. You kidnapped an innocent girl to get me to leave Ciara.
But Cormac, I have not hurt Ciara. She is not in danger because of me. I will not leave her.”
I try to shift around in my seat but my hands bound behind the back of the chair are preventing me. “So what are you going to do to me?”
“We’re going to torture you until you tell us where Arianna is.”
My eyes flick to Antonio. “You really left this world behind? Funny. Because here you stand.”
Antonio grabs my face, bringing our foreheads together. “Because you kidnapped my daughter. That’s the only reason. I left the mafia world and I had no intentions of returning to it. But you forced me into this. You evil little fucker. Give me back my daughter!” He shoves my face back.
The reality is: I can tell Antonio is being truthful. He’s too angry to lie right now. Maybe I was wrong about him and Arianna. Maybe I was wrong about the whole thing. But I’m in too deep now. I can’t just leave.
“Tell us where Arianna is,” Marco says.
“You’ll continue to hurt my sister otherwise.”
Marco sighs. “Cormac, you’ve heard it from Ciara’s own lips. She wants to be with me. She is not being tortured every day. She is safe and she is healthy and happy with me. So you are fighting a war for nothing. It’s just your pride that won’t let you stop. But you have to stop.”
“Or what?”
“Or we will torture you until you tell us where Arianna is.”
“That could take days,” I say. “She could die in that time. She doesn’t have any food or water with her. So I would be careful with what you do.”
“It won’t take us days to break you,” Marco warns. “You may be a tough man, Cormac, but even you can’t withstand torture for hours and my brother and I have nothing but time. We will keep going until you tell us where Arianna is. Or you can spare us all the trouble and tell us right now.”
I keep my lips shut. The moment Arianna is out of my grasp, I lose all my power and more than likely, Marco will kill me.
“Fine then,” Marco says. He walks over to a small table and picks up a small, pointy stick. I know what it’s made out of. Bamboo. It’s used all the time to put under people’s nails to torture them.
“Using a classic, huh?” I ask.
Marco smiles but there’s no happiness to his face like I expected there to be. “Why not. You should know, Cormac. I don’t want to do this. Ciara doesn’t want you dead. But even she agrees that you can’t continue going on the path you’re on when it’s hurting other people. So this has to happen.”
He grabs my hand and jams the stick under my fingernail.
And I can’t stop myself from screaming.
Hours later, I am spent and bruised and sweaty. Marco and Antonio tortured me the entire time. Well, Marco did. Antonio stood back and watched.
Marco placed a bamboo stick under each of my fingers. He tried cutting me. He tried waterboarding me. And the entire time, I still haven’t told him where Arianna is.
But the truth is: I’m not sure I can hold out much longer. I’m getting close to breaking.
“Tell us where Arianna is,” Marco says for the hundredth time.
“No. You’ll have to kill me. And then you’ll never find her.”
“So be it.”
Antonio places his hand on Marco’s arm. “I want my daughter back. Don’t kill him.”
Marco nods and faces me with a pair of pliers. “You threatened to cut off Arianna’s fingers. I think it’s time to finally cut off your own.” He grabs my hand and places my index finger in the plier. “Tell us where Arianna is.”
“No.” I will not lose to Marco. I will not.
“Fine then.” He tightens the plier around my finger and I can’t help but shout. It fucking hurts. It won’t take much to break my finger before he cuts it off.
Footsteps are loud outside the door to the tiny room we’re in. The door bangs open and in runs my father.
“Stop,” Patrick gasps.
Marco, to his credit, does. “Patrick. How did you find us?”
“Ciara told me you were going after Cormac. It wasn’t hard to find you. I have contacts all over the city. Marco, let my son go.”
“He kidnapped my niece. He has to let Arianna go. You know this.”
“I do. I know Cormac fucked up. I know there’s not much I can do to save him. He’s stubborn. He won’t let her go because he’s insistent on saving Ciara. But I have a plan that can help all of us.”
Slowly, Marco lets my finger go. I’m ashamed of the breath of relief that escapes me. “What?”
“If Cormac lets Arianna go, there’s nothing stopping you from killing him.
Yes, we have a deal but I honestly wouldn’t blame you for wanting my son dead.
After he’s tried to kill you. After he kidnapped your niece.
I get it. And if Cormac is left to run freely, he’ll always cause trouble. But I have a solution.”
“Tell us,” Marco says in a clipped tone.
Patrick inhales deeply before slowly exhaling. “Marry Cormac and Arianna together.”
The room goes completely silent.
Before everything explodes.
“What?” Antonio shrieks. “I will not let my daughter be married to a man who will hurt her. Who already has hurt her.”
“Marco told me that you left the mafia world behind,” Patrick says to Antonio. “But you’re back in it now. Marco and I have a deal. Cormac needs to be kept in line. This is the way to do it. He marries Arianna. It prevents you, Marco, from killing him.”
“But it doesn’t prevent him from hurting Arianna,” Marco snaps.
“But it does. Because my son is not stupid. He will be caught again and again. He will die.” Patrick looks me right in the eye.
“Cormac, you know you can’t keep running forever.
You know you have to stop. But I also know you: you want control.
You won’t give Arianna up because it gives you power.
So I am giving you power. Marry Arianna. Let’s make another deal as a family.”
“I am not a part of your family,” Antonio seethes.
“I know. But Arianna is. Marco is. And now all of you are in this mess. We all are. This is the only way to save Arianna and save my son at the same time.”
“You’re asking for a lot, Patrick,” Marco says.
“I know.” He sighs, running his hand down his face. “But this is the only way to make this happen. To find peace. Marriage deals happen all the time in the mafia. It’s the only way. Cormac will promise to not hurt Arianna because if he does… then you have my permission to kill him.”
I sit up straighter in my seat. “Dad…”
“You fucked up, Cormac. You know this. This is your only way out. Make it right with Arianna. Do right by her. Take care of her. And this way, you won’t die. But by marrying Arianna, Marco will not go after you. But you can’t hurt her. You cannot.”
“This is bullshit,” Antonio says. “My daughter is not up for sale.”
“Unfortunately, she’s a part of this now.” Patrick turns to Marco. “You know this has to happen. You know this, Marco. I need you in agreement with me. She’s your niece.”
“And she’s my daughter,” Antonio says. “My word means more.”
“You left the world of the mafia behind. I’m sorry, Antonio, but you don’t get a say anymore.”
Antonio turns away, holding his hand over his mouth.
“Marco?” Patrick asks.
Slowly, Marco nods. “If Cormac promises to not hurt Arianna, then I can live with this decision. I don’t like it but I can accept it. If it means everyone gets to live.”
“Cormac.” Patrick looks me dead in the eye. “You have to agree to this or you’re dead. Is this worth dying over?”
“I need to save Ciara,” I growl.
“She doesn’t need to be saved and you know it. You’ve known it. You fucked up, Cormac. And now you have to pay the price. This is that price. You have to agree to this or Marco will kill you right now.”
“Ciara won’t be happy.”
“She won’t be,” Patrick agrees. “But even Ciara knows you’re a lost cause. This is the only way I can save you. Son, save yourself. Please. Say you’ll marry Arianna. Agree to this or you’re dead.”
I can hear the desperation in my dad’s voice and I know he’s right. I’m fucked otherwise.
But can I really marry an Italian mafia girl? The kind of girl I hate?
To save my life, I’m willing to do anything.
“I agree,” I grit out, sealing my fate.