Page 38 of Arranged Obsession
Except no part of me thinks Cormac is actually dangerous. At least, not to me. There have been countless opportunities to hurt me over the last seven years, but he never has. Sure, he breaks into my personal space and steals things, and that’s pretty violating, but there has always been a line. Like an unspoken agreement. Never in my bedroom. Never something important. He followed the rules, and after a while, I started to associate the smell of my ghost with good things.
Strange how fucked up that is.
Now I don’t know what to do. I said the words. I kissed him. We did it in front of a few hundred powerful and important people. If we backtrack, it’ll be a freaking nightmare. I don’t know how the Marino Famiglia’s reputation could possibly survive, much less the Whelans. They’ll be called liars and cheats, and nobody will want to do business with them.
We’ll be a laughingstock.
“What if I stayed?” I ask very quietly. I stare straight ahead, not looking at Lucy. I can’t bear to see her expression right now.
But even though she wasn’t born to a mafia, she knows how important a family name can be.
“That’s assuming Adriano would let you,” she points out. “Based on how mad he is, I’m not sure he will.”
“But what if I did? Would that be insane? Would it be really fucking stupid?” I look at her, desperation seeding in my belly. I’m mad and mortified, but I also keep thinking about that kiss.
How it broke me in ways I’ve never been shattered before.
“It wouldn’t be stupid,” she says, sounding like she’s carefully choosing her words. “But it might be… ill-advised.”
“Why? Because he’s dangerous?”
“Damn right.” She gets to her feet. “You don’t know him?—”
“I didn’t know Finn.”
“At least Finn doesn’t like strangling people to death.”
I grimace. She’s got a point. “What am I supposed to do?”
Lucy looks as helpless as I feel. A crushing desperation washes over me and I have to sit down. Sobs threaten to break from my chest. This is such a damn nightmare, and all I want to do is scream.
Someone knocks on the door. We don’t move and the knock comes again. Lucy hurries over, opening it quietly, then quickly takes two steps back.
Cormac strides inside and stops on the threshold.
I stare at him. My heart starts racing into my throat. If he’s here, that means Adriano sent him. There are about a dozen heavily armed Marino soldiers out in the hall with orders to keep me safe no matter what.
“We should talk,” he says, voice like a thunderstorm.
It sends a chill down my spine at the same time my core clenches tight.
Lucy looks at me, panic in her eyes. She clearly doesn’t want to go.
But I have to face this.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, facing my husband. My abductor. My ghost. Whatever he is. I stare into Cormac’s hard eyes and hold his gaze. “This won’t take long.”
“Yell if you need anything,” Lucy says, glancing at Cormac before quickly leaving the door. The door shuts behind her.
He doesn’t move. My husband-tormentor-nightmare looms, his muscles bulging against his tight tuxedo. A gold wedding band glitters on his tattooed left hand. There are letters on his fingers, but I can’t figure out what they say. Something starting with aDon his left hand and anLon his right. A chill runs down my spine. I gaze up at his throat, at the ink on his neck, and up to his lips, those lips that made me quiver with need up on the altar. And finally, his eyes again.
“Why?” I ask him, one word enough to damn us both.
I expect him to come storming over, but he remains frozen, like he’s struggling to keep himself contained.
He reeks of tension and smells like heaven.
It drives me freaking crazy.
