After a long beat where Marco stares Will down, he finally laughs. “You think this little girl can hurt me?”
“She does have a fork right beside her hand. She could have easily stabbed you in the eye with it. I was just trying to keep you safe.”
Marco glances down at the fork on the table and huffs. “You’re not wrong. She could have. But I know Gianna. She’s a mouse. She won’t fight back. She won’t hurt me. But I appreciate your concern, Will. It was a smart move in hiring you. I have to leave now. Before Enzo finds me here. Take Gianna to the new safehouse.” He tells Will the address so fast that I’m not sure if Will can remember it. I can barely remember it and it’s my life on the line. “Will, a word before I go.” He pulls Will over to the side of the room.
I have to strain to hear what they say to each other.
“She is not yours,” Marco says to Will. “Don’t touch her. If I find out she’s not a virgin on our wedding night, I’ll know who’s responsible. So don’t be stupid. Do your job. Keep her hidden. Nothing more.”
Will slowly nods.
Marco’s smile is tight as he gives me one last look before leaving the house.
I stare down at my plate of food. Why would Marco tell Will that? Of course I’m not Will’s. He has never touched me and never will. That’s insane. Will doesn’t have romantic feelings for me and I don’t have romantic feelings for him.
And yet… my mind flashes back to when I saw him shirtless as I stitched up his arm. How vulnerable he looked. How open. How handsome. We shared a strange moment together that night.
And then last night when he came into my room after not murdering that woman he was hired to kill. He had been distraught and was acting like I was the cure. But I have no idea how to be the cure for him. I have no idea what I even want in life except freedom. The power to make my own choices and not have my life chosen for me.
Will sits down across from me, his expression closed off, like a brick wall.
“What did Marco mean?” I ask.
He startles. “You heard that?”
“Yes. I don’t mean anything to you. Why would he tell you not to touch me?”
“Because he’s a possessive ass. That’s why. Nothing more. And I won’t touch you. You’re just a job to me.” There’s no emotion in his voice. Only pure coldness.
For some reason, it stings, though I’m not sure why and I shouldn’t worry about it. Will means nothing to me. Nothing.
Yet, why do I feel like I have to keep convincing myself of that?
We leave the current house to go to the new one. Will doesn’t tie me up or blindfold me fortunately. It shows that he’s not worriedI’ll run because I won’t make it far, which is concerning. But at least I can look out the window and have some sort of freedom.
Neither one of us says a word on the entire drive. I keep sneaking looks in Will’s direction. I can’t get Marco’s words out of my head. How he told Will to not touch me… almost like he was worried Will would touch me.
And did he really stop Marco from touching my face because he was worried I’d hurt Marco? Or was there another reason?
The new house in question is another suburban cottage on a nice street tucked away so no one will find me here. At least I don’t have to stay in squalor but it only makes me think that this is Marco’s ploy of making me his. Let me stay at his nice properties until he comes to marry me.
“Why didn’t Marco just marry me today?” I ask once we’re parked in the driveway. It’s the first words I’ve spoken in thirty minutes.
“Do you want Marco to marry you?” I can’t decipher his tone. Is he annoyed with me? Angry with me? Or just doesn’t care at all?
“Of course not. I just don’t know why he didn’t marry me right then and there.”
“He’s trying to get a plan in place. After your brother found him the first time and stopped your wedding, I think he’s worried your brother will be able to do it again. So he’s trying to get everything ready so he can marry you in peace.”
“Oh.” That’s even more scary. Marco with a plan will be harder to take down than Marco without one.
Will gets out of the car before I can say anything more. I follow him into the house, knowing I can’t run.
“You should take a shower,” he says. “Get cleaned up.”
“For a long day spent locked in a room?”
“Don’t fight with me right now, Gianna,” he sighs.