I swallow deeply and keep my composure. All the boys I attempted to date in high school were just that: boys. They didn’t have this dark, dangerous aura that Marco has. This element that makes me want to draw closer and run away at the very same time.
“I can’t trust you either,” I say, not moving away from him. The moment I speak, his eyes flit down to my lips and linger before moving back up to my eyes.
“So, it seems we’re at a standstill. Whatever will we do?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I guess we’ll have to figure out if we can trust each other after we’re married. I will say, Ciara, that I don’t like the idea of having to look over my shoulder constantly. Will I have to do that with you? Will you murder me in my sleep?”
Yesterday, I would have said yes. But right in this moment…
Before I can give Marco an answer, two men approach the private booth and grab Marco by the shirt, hoisting him to his feet. One of them punches Marco right in the face. I gasp.
“What are you doing?” I ask without even thinking about it. I shove the man away and the second man turns to me and pushes me to the ground. I land on my hip, hard. An intense pain rips up my side.
“Don’t touch her,” Marco growls, punching the man who punched him first.
I get back to my feet. The man who pushed me growls, “Stay out of this, little girl.”
I watch as he takes a small knife out of his jacket pocket and runs right for Marco.
Chapter Four
Ciara
Marco dodges out of the way of the man with the knife but the one who punched him goes in for another hit. He punches Marco in the stomach, making him drop to his knees. The man with the knife tries to stab Marco but Marco jerks to the side, narrowly avoiding getting hit. He gets to his feet.
I’m frozen solid, watching everything in horror. Will these men kill Marco? And why? Because of my brother? Or because of another enemy?
The lack of knowledge keeps me planted in fear.
Marco grabs my arm to tug me along but the man slashes his knife in Marco’s direction. In the process, the knife ends up cutting into my arm. I gasp as blood spills out of the cut on the top of my forearm.
The man with the knife doesn’t even seem bothered by me getting hurt and continues coming after Marco.
Marco grabs the man’s wrist and forces him to drop the knife before he punches the man hard in the face.
At that very moment, a security guard runs over, holding his gun. “Back away from each other.”
The two men who tried to kill Marco slowly step away.
“No one move,” theguard warns.
I glance down at the blood on my arm and it makes me woozy. I stumble back and fall right into Marco’s arms.
“She needs medical attention,” Marco says. “That asshole cut her.”
“She was in the way,” the man growls.
“Then get her out of here,” the guard instructs, nodding towards the entrance. Marco lifts me into his arms bridal style and I’m too shocked to object.
His arms are strong and big. His chest is warm and comforting. It’s a strange sensation I’m experiencing – one I don’t understand.
The moment we’re outside and the cool air hits me in the face, I come to my senses. “Put me down. I can walk. It wasn’t my leg that was hurt.”
Marco sets me on my feet and gently takes my arm. “The cut is shallow but it’s still bleeding. You need to get to the hospital. This will need stitches.”
“My dad doesn’t know I ran away from my bodyguard. I’ll get into trouble.”
