Page 5 of Forbidden War (Forbidden 2)
KARINA
“What the hellwas that all about?” Marco rails, tossing my bag into a corner. “Start talking.”
I drop onto the edge of his bed, miserable and overwhelmed. I’ve got no fight left in me right now, but a small fire still burns in my belly, waiting for the right moment to flare up.
My voice is tired as I say, “I already told you. I heard what you said, about why you married me. As far as I’m concerned, it makes this entire relationship invalid.”
Pacing the room, Marco scoffs, “You know nothing. Which is what happens when you eavesdrop. You hear things you don’t understand.”
Infuriated, I jump to my feet. “I wasn’t eavesdropping! I was trying to find my husband and happened to nearly knock on that door at the exact moment you revealed the truth about our marriage. Which, thank God I did. How long were you planning to keep up the façade?”
“Regardless of what you heard, did you really think that taking off into the night was your best option? Where did you think you were going to go? Did you even think at all?”
The fire burns a little hotter. “Why do you keep making it sound like this is my fault?” I shout back. “You’re the one who manipulated me into this whole thing! Why would I stay with a man that only married me so he could use me against his enemies?”
Marco turns away, which irritates me even more since I can’t see the look on his face. Is he thinking up more lies to feed me? Rolling his eyes? Showing any sign of remorse?
“I had to tell my brother something to appease him, Karina. Telling him that I married into the crime family responsible for murdering our father for any reason other than business would have resulted in Armani getting the marriage annulled behind my back, or maybe just stabbing me in the neck with a pencil. You don’t know what my brother is capable of.”
He finally turns to face me. He looks…upset. Lines fan from the corners of his eyes.
“I don’t know if I believe you,” I say quietly.
“Believe what you want, but know this—I can’t justify my actions by simply telling my family that I care about you. Armani doesn’t trust you. He thinks you’re a mole. I had to defend you somehow.”
The sincerity in his tone takes the wind right out of my sails. I sit again and fold my hands in my lap, warmth spreading in my chest.
“You really care about me?” I murmur.
Even though he’s not willing to say he loves me, his tone is tender, soothing. I can’t help wondering if, for a guy like Marco, this is as vulnerable as he can make himself so early in a relationship. Or maybe it’s just more wishful thinking on my part.
“Of course I do,” he says.
He moves over to the bed and drops to one knee, his hand on my thigh. My first reaction is to pull away, but then I fall into his intense blue gaze and a familiar ache unspools inside me. Nothing this man can say or do to me seems to have any dampening effect on my attraction to him. Which makes him even more dangerous than I realized.
He goes on, “I might not have had the best intentions at first—because, yeah, I’m usually kind of a womanizer and a dick—but I wasn’t trying to get into some spy shit. And the more I got to know you, the more I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving you with your family to get married off to some jackass who’d probably be just as abusive and controlling.”
My blood goes cold. So I was a charity case. It all makes sense now. Poor, pathetic Karina, needing to be rescued. I might as well just be a friend with benefits and not his wife.
“So, marrying me was your good deed for the year? You should have just adopted a dog from the shelter and not brought so much trouble into your life.”
His expression hardens. “The trouble isn’t just mine. It’s my whole family’s.”
“Sorry for ruining everything by not seeing through you sooner.”
“No, that’s not what I was—look, it’s your trouble, too, Karina. This is so much bigger than the two of us. Let’s talk this out, and then we can try to decide what to do, okay?”
I press my lips together, glaring daggers. But as angry as I am, and as much as I hate the situation I’m in, I need to set my emotions aside for the moment and figure out my next steps. Negotiate some kind of arrangement with Marco. It’s not like I can just walk out the door.
“I’m listening,” I finally say.
He drags a chair over from the window and then drops into it across from me, so we’re facing each other.
“So. Our marriage has pushed our families, who were already enemies, into a full-blown war. Someone killed Father Alfredo the morning after our wedding, which I mentioned before, and I’m sure you’re aware that there’s an unspoken agreement between the mafia and the Church—an agreement that your uncle apparently has no problem breaking. And it’s not going to stop there. It’s only going to get uglier. Deadlier.”
“I know. My uncle isn’t…a good person.” I think of Livvie again and my gut burns with nausea.
Marco swallows and looks down. “Understatement of the year, but no, he’s not. That murder was a very clear call to battle, and who the hell even knows what’s coming next? But the one thing I do know is that you won’t survive going back to your family.”
“I get it. You and Mercutio have made that abundantly clear.”
He sighs a long breath. “Option one: we get this thing annulled.”
I shake my head. “Not an option. Assuming my uncle even forgave me afterward, which he wouldn’t, he’d just force me to go through with the marriage to Pietro and then have you killed.”
And there’s something else—Livvie’s life is at stake, too. Getting my marriage annulled won’t save her, and it sure as hell won’t convince my uncle to send her back home.
Guilt washes over me as I think about Livvie’s uncertain fate. Should I tell Marco about the phone call I had with my father? The Bellantis don’t know that my family has Livvie, or that they’ve threatened to make her take my place in marriage to Pietro. I want to tell Marco, but I can’t help thinking the information I got is a trap of some sort. A test that I can’t possibly pass. If I tell him the truth, will he think I had something to do with it? I know every second that goes by is one more second that Livvie is in unthinkable danger, but I’m so conflicted.
Poor Frankie. About to have a baby and her younger sister disappears. The Bellantis have been dealing with my family’s deceptions and violence for years while I was quietly trying to keep my head down and stay alive, and I can’t help thinking that’s what I should do again now—keep my head down, keep my secrets to myself. Surely my family will show their hand soon. I should let the Bellantis find out on their own. But what if I’m wrong?
“Marco…” I start to say.
