Chapter Sixteen
Cormac
Never would I have thought I’d be happy being married to an Italian mafia woman.
And yet, here I am.
Arianna and I decided to sleep in the same bed, so waking up beside her feels completely normal.
It feels.. right. The sight of her pretty, sweet face as she sleeps spreads a sense of comfort through me.
It makes my anger disappear. For once, I don’t feel like I want to go punch the sky.
Instead, I just want to remain right here, with her.
We agreed to put the past behind us. It’s the only way we’re going to make this work. The last thing I want to do is be angry with her for something she didn’t cause. I don’t want to be angry with Arianna for anything anymore.
My mind shifts to Marco and my sister.
She claims to be happy with him but is she really? We haven’t truly spoken about it since I married Arianna. I think it’s time I pay my sister a visit.
Arianna blinks her eyes open. “Hi,” she whispers, her voice groggy. Never has anyone looked so beautiful before. I sound like a fucking sap but I don’t care.
“You look beautiful.” It’s the honest truth. I’m tired of not saying how I really feel. It led to a lot of my anger in the past.
Her cheeks turn red, making her look even cuter. “Thank you. And you look handsome.”
“You liked what you saw when we were in the shower together?”
“I did,” she admits. “Did you like what you saw?”
“I thought you were hot from the first moment I saw you. But… we don’t need to go back down that road.”
“I agree. We’re past that. You never truly hurt me. I can forgive you for it. Let’s just move forward.”
“I like the sound of that.” A deep sigh escapes me. “Which is why I need to head out today. I need to talk to my sister. Figure things out with her.”
“I get it. I won’t stop you.”
“You said she seemed happy with Marco when you lived with them. Is that true?”
“She only ever smiled when he was around. She doesn’t hate him, Cormac. She’s not miserable. I don’t think she wants you saving her from him.”
I run my hand down my face. “I gathered that. But I still need to talk with her.”
“Then I’ll let you go.” She bites her lip which only makes me want to kiss her and stay in bed with her all day. “I’ll wait for you to come home. I have dance practice today anyway. It would be good to get back into some of my old life.”
“Are you happy dancing all the time?”
She frowns. “Why wouldn’t I be? I love to dance.”
“I know but you made it sound like your parents controlled you a little bit and that it was because of dance. You took pills because of dance.”
“I know I did,” she mumbles, turning her face away. “But I learned my lesson. It was an accident. I never meant to hurt myself. Dance… it’s always been my life. I love it.”
“Ok. But it doesn’t have to be your entire life. I don’t want you taking too many pills in the future where you end up hurting yourself. I… I like you, Arianna. I don’t want you to die.”
“You should go see your sister,” she says, jumping out of bed and still not looking at me.
I don’t argue with her. I know what it’s like to not want to face the truth.
Showing up at Marco’s house is the last thing I expected to happen. A flare of anger hits me. Marco. God, I still can’t stand him.
Inhale and exhale. Inhale and exhale. I repeat it in my head until my anger dissipates. This isn’t about Marco. It’s about Ciara.
Fortunately, she’s the one who answers the door after I ring the bell.
“Cormac?” Her eyes are wide as she looks me over. “What are you doing here?”
“I want to come talk with you. I need to talk with you.”
“Is everything all right? Is Arianna all right?”
“Are you asking if I hurt her?”
She flushes and averts her eyes. “I…”
“I would never hurt Arianna,” I snap.
“You did kidnap her.”
My sister’s words hit me in the gut. She judges me for what I did and I can’t fully blame her.
And yet… “Need I remind you that you wanted Marco dead when you first found out you had to marry him? I made mistakes but I’m trying to change.
You managed to make it work with the man you once wanted dead. We’re not any different, sister.”
“Come in,” she says with a sigh, opening the door wider.
We settle in the living room.
“Where’s Marco?” I ask.
“Out. Working. Not here for you to be able to kill him.” The venom in her voice hurts.
“Do you hate me?”
She drops her gaze to her lap for a moment before looking at me again.
“No. You’re my brother. I could never hate you.
But you did betray me. When I found out you had kidnapped Marco’s niece, I was devastated.
That you would go to such lengths to hurt him when I was happy with him. It didn’t make sense.”
“You’re happy with him? Truly?” My voice is gruff and serious. I don’t think I’ve ever sounded this way with my sister.
The soft smile on her lips makes her face light up.
“I am happy with him, Cormac. So happy. I know it didn’t start off that way.
I know I once wanted Marco dead. And you’re right.
I had darkness in me. Still do. I guess we all do being in the mafia.
But I learned to love Marco and he learned to love me.
You never needed to go after him. I told you not to.
And now you got an innocent woman caught in your web because you couldn’t let your anger go. ”
“I know what I did,” I snap. “And I thought I was trying to save you. I see that I was wrong. I was wrong about everything. I’m happy that you’re happy, Ciara. I don’t want you to be miserable all your life. But I still hate Marco.”
“But why? He doesn’t beat me. He could have killed you before but he chose not to. For me. He chose not to hurt you for me.”
“I’m glad he doesn’t hurt you. I’m starting to believe that.
I see that I was wrong about my feelings towards the Italian mafia and the people in it.
But I still can’t stand him because of his smug attitude.
The way he thinks he can just come into my life and change everything. It still pisses me off.”
With a sigh, Ciara leans over and touches my arm.
“Cormac. I’m glad that you’re starting to see what’s right and wrong.
But you have to learn to not hate Marco so much.
It will only make you more upset. You’re married now.
You have a wife to think about. In the couple of weeks Arianna lived with us before the wedding, I saw how lovely she is.
How sweet. I didn’t want you burning that light out in her.
Dad gave you a second chance. Don’t waste it. ”
“Do you want me back in your life?”
A mixture of emotions flits across her face – surprise, annoyance, and finally love. “You’re my brother. I’ll always want you in my life. Just be happy. For me. Because I know I am. You need to see that.”
“I can tell you’re being honest with me. And… I’m sorry. For how I didn’t listen to you. I should have. I never should have kidnapped Arianna in the first place.”
“I was hurt. That wasn’t the brother I knew. But I’m glad you see what you did wrong. There’s hope for you still.”
I nudge her shoulder with mine. “I love you. I was only fighting so hard because I wanted you to be safe.”
Her eyes soften and she looks like the girl I remember her being before she married Marco and became a woman. “I know. But I am happy, Cormac. Please believe it. Don’t ever go after Marco again.”
I open my lips to respond when the front door opens and footsteps approach the living room. It’s Marco, unsurprisingly.
“Cormac,” he says stiffly, his lips barely moving.
“Marco.” I stand up. Sitting down before him does not settle well in my stomach.
“Here to try and kill me?”
“To talk to my sister, actually.”
“Well, you can’t blame me for being on my guard.”
A sense of shame settles in my body. I did try to kill Marco many times before.
He’s allowed to be on guard. “I’m not here to kill you.
That would only get me killed at this point.
” And now that I have Arianna, I’ve learned that I don’t want to die.
I have something to live for now. Someone to give me hope.
“Fine. I have no choice but to take you at your word. The only problem is: I don’t trust your word.”
“And I don’t trust your word either.”
“Cormac, come with me. There’s something I need to talk with you about. I was going to pay your apartment a visit so you actually saved me a trip.”
I frown. “This conversation can’t happen in front of my sister?”
“It’s better it’s between you and me. It concerns my niece.” Marco motions for me to follow him. I clench my hands into fists. It’s taking everything inside of me to not punch him.
I give Ciara a look before following Marco into his home office. “What?”
“I don’t trust you.”
“I gathered that. I don’t trust you either.”
“My brother hates you. He’s worried that you’re going to hurt Arianna. He keeps calling me about that.”
“I haven’t hurt her. You can ask her yourself.”
He settles into his seat, looking like he owns the place. Looking like he owns me. “There’s something you need to do for me and my brother to earn our trust. It’s the only way we’ll come to believe that you won’t hurt Arianna.”
“What?” I ask warily.
“There’s someone that has been causing issues for me. Another mafia man. I need you to kill him.”
My body tenses. “Kill him? Who?”
“His name is Josh Murphy. He’s been trying to steal from me. I need you to kill him. If you do that, then you’ll prove your loyalty to me and then I’ll trust you with my niece.”
I rock back on my heels. Josh Murphy is my friend. Well, my ex-friend. The one who hurt Arianna. I have no love for him but to kill him?
“You want me to kill one of my friends?” I ask. “One of the only people who stood at my side when I was disowned by my father.”
Marco looks me dead in the eye. “Yes. You need to show that we can trust you. It’s the only way.”
“No. You want to control me. That’s what you want to do. I see now that you haven’t been hurting Ciara. Good. But I am not hurting Arianna either. My father married me to her to create peace. If you do this, it will only cause war to happen.”
“No. Josh is low on the totem pole. It won’t cause any waves. Kill him and prove you’re on my family’s side and then I’ll trust you.”
“I’ll still be married to Arianna either way.”
He tilts his head to the side, looking me over with an expression that makes me grit my teeth. “My brother is close to killing you and I’m trying to prevent it. This is the only way. Kill your friend Josh. And prove your loyalty to this family. And then peace will be secured.”