“It’s time,” Marco grumbles. Time for our wedding night.
We leave the reception hall and head upstairs of the hotel. Marco booked us a room for the night.
Neither one of us says a word as we step foot inside the suite. It’s a beautiful place but the tension between us makes the entire room look ugly.
“We should change,” Marco says tightly. “I need to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t try to stab me tonight.”
“Can you really sleep beside me? Worry I’ll smother you with a pillow?”
He makes a point of taking out a gun from his jacket pocket. I didn’t even realize he had a gun on him. I go cold. He sets the gun on the bedside table where it’s in clear sight for both of us.
“Duly noted,” I say. “I won’t try to kill you. I don’t want to die myself. And I meant what I said after you saved my life. I tried telling my brother that we shouldn’t kill you. For a moment, I did change my mind.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t trust easily, do you?”
“No.” He takes off his jacket and unties his tie.
“What happened to you?”
He stops before he can get to his shirt. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you clearly don’t trust people. That has to be for a reason. What’s the reason?”
“Why do you care? I thought we agreed to live our lives apart?”
“I just want to know.” And my father wants me to make this work. I don’t want Marco trying to kill me or Cormac. If getting on Marco’s good side will help with that, then so be it.
He unbuttons his shirt, revealing his bare chest underneath. I force myself to look at him. God, why does he have to look so good? For a forty-year-old man, I wish he was balding with abeer belly.
“I’ve been betrayed by too many people. My original boss, Enzo Bianchi, betrayed me when he went to work with the Bratva. I never agreed with it.”
“And yet, you’re now working with the Irish.”
“The irony doesn’t escape me.” He slips his shirt off before his hands touch his belt.
“Is that the only reason?”
“What other reason would there be?” I don’t look away as he takes his pants off. Thank god he has his boxers in place. I’m not sure what I’ll do if he takes those off next. But then he turns to one of the suitcases in the room and grabs a pair of sweatpants and puts them on. I let out a sigh of relief.
“You said you didn’t want to lose another girl,” I comment. “What did you mean by that? Did you lose someone in the past? Is that why you are the way you are?”
“I didn’t lose anyone,” he says in a tight voice, keeping his back to me. His back muscles are a thing of beauty. “Stop asking questions.”
“Fine. But what’s going to happen tonight?”
“I thought we’d go to bed. It’s been a long day. You can change into whatever you want. I don’t really care.”
“You don’t want to…”
He finally looks at me with an expression I can’t decipher. Partly dark and partly… vulnerable. “I don’t want to what?”
I motion at the bed. “Don’t we have to… you know.”
“Have sex?”
I swallow hard. “Yes.”
