“My parents are old. Retired. Out of the game.” I force myself to look into Ciara’s face. So young and so pretty. Normally I wouldn’t go for a woman twenty years younger than me. I’ve never cared to date children. But Ciara doesn’t look like a child in her wedding dress. She’s a grown woman. She’s my wife now. The one I married to get what I want – to take down Enzo and Will. “What happened to your mom?”
“She’s dead,” she says in a clipped tone.
“How did she die?”
For the first time since getting on the dance floor, Ciara stumbles. I have to right her in my arms. She flushes as she looks around at the guests. “It’s not nice to ask me this on our wedding day.”
“It clearly upsets you.”
“Wouldn’t your mom being dead upset you too?”
“Fair point.”
We resume dancing, neither one of us speaking. The tenseness in her body makes me think she could break at any moment.
We finish our dance and immediately pull away from each other. Our guest clap politely.
Ciara and I take our seats at the head table and eat our dinner. People come over to congratulate us and it takes everything inside of me to smile and not scowl.
“You make it look easy,” she mutters.
“What?”
“Smiling. How can you be happy at a time like this?”
“Who said I was happy?”
She shivers. “The fact that you’re good at lying about it makes it even scarier. How do I know what’s on your mind?”
I lean in close to her and she sucks in a sharp breath. “How do I know what’s on your mind? You wanted me dead from the start and yet, I didn’t see it. You’re dangerous, Ciara. More than I gave you credit for.”
“I saw the darkness in you right away,” she snaps back. “Get off your high horse. You can’t blame me for not wanting to marry a man like you. I was just trying to survive.”
“And so am I.”
With a huff, she turns away from me and aggressively cuts at her steak. “You want to know something?”
I look at her with shock. There’s a tightness to her voice – like she’s trying to hold back tears. “What?”
“When you saved my life, I told my brother not to kill you. I said that maybe I was wrong. But now I see that I was right all along. You’re a bad man. I will never trust you. Never.”
“Your tears won’t earn you sympathy with me.”
She pushes away from the table in a huff. “I was being honest. It would do you some good to learn when someone is being truthful or not.” Not caring how it looks, Ciara leaves the reception hall, making me look like a fool.
Chapter Seven
Ciara
Marco is going to be the death of me.
How can a man be so infuriating, condescending, controlling and insanely handsome all at the same time?
The moment I make it into the bathroom and see that it’s empty, I let out a scream. For a moment, I considered letting myself like Marco. When he saved me, I got confused. But now I know who he is: a complete ass that I cannot trust. He is just marrying me for this alliance with my father. There’s no love between us. I need to steel my heart from him.
After composing myself, I leave the bathroom and run right into Marco.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks.
