Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Arianna
Having Cormac’s arms around me is not as upsetting as I thought it would be.
In fact, it’s sort of… nice.
He’s warm and his arms are strong. His heart is beating steady. I find my tears subsiding the longer he holds me. I never thought I would find comfort in his arms. It gives me hope that Cormac is capable of kindness.
He doesn’t let me go even after I’m done crying. For some reason, I don’t want to pull away.
I look up at him to find that he’s already looking down at me. His eyes are open. Soft. Full of curiosity.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Instantly, his expression hardens again and he lets me go, backing away. “Well, you were crying. I just… it seemed like the right thing to do in the moment.”
“It was. You’re not all bad, Cormac.”
“How can you say that to me? After what I did to you.”
“Because we’re married now. I’m stuck with you whether I like it or not. I get the sense that we’re not allowed to divorce. Your father wouldn’t allow it. I’d rather not hate you forever. If you have some kindness in you, I’d like to see it.”
He shakes his head, turning away from me. “I’m supposed to hate you.”
“You don’t have to hate me.”
“I hate your uncle.”
“Fine.” I wring my hands together. “You can hate him but you don’t have to hate me. I’m not my uncle. I didn’t marry your sister. Why can’t you allow yourself happiness?”
He scoffs. “You’d really be happy with me?”
The harsh tone of his voice makes me flinch. “I don’t know. You scare me still. I never know what you’re going to do. But… you just held me now when I cried. Clearly you have some sort of empathy within you.”
“I’ve always treated women well. You were just… the exception.”
“I see. Because I’m Italian.”
His eyes flick to mine and back away again. “I know it sounds crazy. My own father told me I should let it go.”
“You don’t have to hate me, Cormac. I would rather be married to a man who doesn’t actively hate me just because of who my family is when I’m innocent.
I cried because this is all so new to me.
I’m scared. I’m alone. I don’t know what to do.
I didn’t even know my father belonged to the mafia until a few weeks ago. I didn’t know until you kidnapped me.”
Shame crosses his face. “I shouldn’t have done that. You were innocent. And because of that, we’re now stuck in this marriage. I’m stuck in a marriage with an Italian. Life has a funny way of being ironic, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. You did this to me. To us. This is your fault.” I’m not going to sugar coat it for him.
“But we’re in it now together. You won’t force me to sleep with you tonight.
You didn’t let your friends hurt me. You have goodness in you, Cormac.
I want to see more of it. It’s the only way our marriage is going to work.
The only way I don’t have to be afraid of you. ”
“All I wanted to do was save my sister and I couldn’t even do that.”
“Does she need saving? Because I spent the past couple of weeks living with her and my uncle. She only ever seemed happy. She doesn’t need saving. You kidnapped me for no reason.”
“I’m starting to see that now,” he grits out. “I don’t need the reminder.”
A flare of anger hits me. “Maybe you do. Because you got us in this mess. I was living my life, content with dancing and living with my parents, before you came and ruined it all. And now I’m standing here, before you, trying.
Trying to be nice to you despite what you did to me.
Trying to see the good in you because I’d rather see the good than be miserable all my life with a man who clearly hates my family and by extension, me.
It’s up to you, Cormac, to decide how this marriage is going to go.
You can either try with me or continue to wallow in misery.
Now, I’m tired. It’s been a long day. Thank you for not forcing me to sleep with you.
That I will say. I’m off to bed.” I walk past him before he can say anything else.
I find what’s clearly the guest bedroom since it’s spare and bare bones and shut the door.
The memory of being locked in Cormac’s cabin hits me in the mind. I take in a deep breath. I’m no longer his prisoner. I can leave this room any time I want.
And maybe, just maybe, I can have a future with my husband who scares me. Maybe I won’t have to be miserable every day for the rest of my life.
I wake up in the morning to the sound of voices. Male voices.
My body shivers, remembering what it was like to hear male voices through a door when I was locked up in the cabin.
I change into a comfortable pair of loungewear pants and a hoodie – something to keep me safe and covered – and leave my room, even though my body is screaming at me to stay inside.
When I enter the living room, I see that Cormac is there… but so is Josh and Sam.
I stop dead in my tracks.
It’s Josh’s eyes that find mine. “She’s awake. Your wife.” He sneers the word. I never knew that ‘wife’ could sound so bad.
Cormac gets to his feet, turning to me. “Arianna, I thought you’d be in bed longer.”
“What are they doing here?” I whisper. “They shouldn’t be here.”
“We’re friends with Cormac,” Sam explains to me like I’m a child. “We’re allowed to be here.”
“Though I’m not sure why we weren’t invited to the wedding,” Josh adds. His nose looks a little different from what I remember. Because Cormac punched him there.
“I didn’t invite them over,” Cormac says. “They came over of their own accord. I thought punching Josh in the face was a sign our friendship was over but I guess not.”
“I want them gone,” I say, trying to keep my voice strong.
Josh scoffs. “This isn’t your house. You don’t have a say.”
“I’m married to Cormac now. I’m not his prisoner. I do have a say.” I look at Cormac. “Please.”
For just a moment, his eyes soften. I hate whenever that happens because it always gives me a flicker of hope, which I know will be dashed whenever Cormac decides to change his mind.
“We can stay for however long we want,” Sam says, putting his feet on the coffee table. “We were the only ones who stuck by Cormac’s side when everyone else abandoned him.”
I keep my eyes glued to Cormac. “I don’t like that you’re friends with them.”
Cormac huffs, crossing his arms. “I get to choose my own friends.”
“Not when those friends tried to hurt me. I’m not your prisoner any longer. I don’t have to be afraid of you. You cannot hurt me. If you want this marriage to work, Cormac, then I would consider getting new friends.”
“Who says I want this marriage to work?”
It’s like a punch right to my gut. “You want to be sad and alone and angry forever?”
Cormac looks away from me. Good. Let him be ashamed of what he said. Of what he’s done.
“You’re a little bitch, you know that?” Josh asks, jumping to his feet. He approaches me so fast, I barely have time to think. In one fast move, he slaps me across the face. “You don’t get to boss Cormac around. You don’t get to boss any one of us around.”
“Enough,” Cormac says, grabbing Josh’s hand before he can strike me again. “You don’t get to lay your hands on my wife.”
“Oh, now she’s your wife? I thought you didn’t want anything to do with her.”
Cormac doesn’t respond to that. Instead, he pushes Josh back… away from me.
“You only married her because you were forced into it. You don’t actually care about her. Let me have a go at her.” Josh grabs my wrist so tight, I let out a cry. He keeps twisting it until I can hear something snap and an intense pain shoots up my hand and arm.
“Don’t touch her,” Cormac growls, shoving Josh away. He punches Josh again in the nose.
“Fuck!” Josh screams. Sam jumps to his feet, finally realizing how serious this situation is.
“Get the fuck out of my apartment,” Cormac seethes. “Go. I don’t want to see you two anymore. Don’t come back here.”
“But we’re your friends,” Sam says.
“Not anymore. Not when you two get on my fucking nerves. Just go. And be grateful I’m not doing worse to you.”
Josh shoots a glare at me before he storms out of the apartment. After a moment, Sam follows behind.
Cormac turns to me and gently touches my wrist but it hurts too much. I cry out. “Sorry,” he says. “Are you… ok?”
“Why did you let them in here?” I ask, sobbing from the pain of my wrist. “Why?”
“They showed up uninvited.”
“But you still let them in.”
He sighs, squeezing his eyes shut. “You’re right. I’m… sorry.” He takes my wrist again. “Where does it hurt?”
“Everywhere. It really hurts.”
“We should get you to the doctor. I’m sorry, Arianna. I really didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”
“Are you saying that or are you worried you’ll die now? Your father said you couldn’t hurt me. My father will want you dead if he finds out I’m hurt.”
“Yes, I don’t want to die. I won’t deny that. But I really didn’t want you to get hurt. It’s why I couldn’t… hurt you when I kidnapped you. I could never bring myself to hurt you because I never wanted to. Let me take you to the hospital. Your wrist may be sprained or even broken.”
I stare at Cormac through my tears. The shame and pain on his face is palpable. He really means what he says. “All right.”
Cormac drives me to the hospital without a word. I cling to my hurt wrist the entire ride there.
In Cormac’s defense, he did stop Josh from going further. He ended his friendship with both of them.
After getting to the hospital, a doctor looks over my wrist, telling me that they need to take an x-ray before determining if it’s broken or not. Cormac doesn’t leave my side the entire time. I can feel his presence, like he’s trying to make sure I’m ok. Like he’s trying to protect me.
After getting the x-ray, it’s revealed that I only have a sprain in my wrist. It’s not broken, thank god. I’m given a brace to put on and told to not use my hand for a week to let it heal.
The doctor leaves me and Cormac alone in our private room.
“I am sorry, Arianna. I won’t let them come back. They were always assholes.”
“So why were you friends with them?”
“I was angry,” he sighs. “And they helped me feed into my anger. But when I saw the way Josh was treating you, it… it made me so fucking angry. I can’t explain it.”
I set my hand on his arm and he sucks in a breath. “Why did it make you angry?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
“Because… because I don’t want to see you in pain. You don’t deserve it. I never should have kidnapped you in the first place. I’m sorry. You don’t deserve to be hurt.”
“Thank you for that.” And before I even know what I’m doing, I plant a kiss on his cheek. Cormac turns his face towards mine.
A beat passes between us before he kisses me.