Chapter Sixteen

This night is perfect. The food, the company, and the stunning sky that I can't look away from.

Marco has made an effort for this to be a special moment, and I feel grateful, although it's also weird after everything we've been through in the beach house.

I'm pulled out of my daze when Marco tells me that Luca and Enzo are on their way to the house.

They're in Mexico and are about to walk through the door to take me home.

Suddenly, the romantic dinner, me in Marco's shirt, and our private moments, all seem even more wrong than they have before.

The longer I've been in Mexico, the further away I've felt from my real life. That's made it easier to get lost in everything that has been happening, without thinking too much about the consequences.

Home seemed so far away, that it was almost like I was living two completely separate lives.

It's like there is a Mexico me, and a home me.

I stand up, nervous now, and not quite ready to see my family.

Will my brothers see it in my face, how often I've caressed Marco's naked body? Or will they see how much I've craved him when he's not around, and enjoyed him when he is with me? Are they going to sense the betrayal as soon as I come face-to-face with them?

I feel like I might throw up, so I control my breathing as best as I can.

From the hallway, I can see headlights pulling up the driveway, and I know that it's Luca and Enzo arriving.

My head is spinning.

Not only am I in Marco's shirt and my underwear right now, just coming up the stairs from a candlelit dinner under the stars, but I've slept with this man twice today.

I refuse to think about the times before that.

All the while, my brothers have been worried about me, having to give up some of their profits and time managing the business to save me.

The guilt is a burning feeling in my gut.

I rush up the stairs to get dressed, hearing Marco say something behind me. I'm too far away to figure out what he is saying.

I need to get into my own clothes before my brothers enter the house.

I wish I had time to shower the sex smell off me, but I put on a little perfume to try and hide it.

I put on my jeans and tie my hair back into a ponytail.

Now I look more like a girl who has been held captive by a cartel member, rather than a girl who's just had a vacation in Mexico with a handsome and devilish man.

I can hear the men's voices as I rush down the stairs, eager to see my family, and nervous about this exchange.

I've left my bag in the room, not wanting to look too comfy in Marco's house.

As I reach the bottom of the stairs, I see Luca, Enzo, and Marco standing near the front door, a few of their guards standing around them.

Their faces are serious, and Enzo looks a lot more tired than he was when I last saw him.

"Hi. You made it," I say softly as I reach them at the bottom of the stairs.

I wonder if going in for a hug would be a good idea, but Marco stands in between us.

I am still his property, and he's making that very obvious. There's an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"You okay?" Enzo asks me, looking like he can't get out of this house fast enough.

I know that he's working hard to contain his temper, because when my older brother explodes, it's not a pretty sight, and it would fuck up this entire deal, possibly putting us all in danger.

I give him a small smile.

"I'm okay." I stay at the bottom of the stairs, Marco's guards standing on each side of me.

The tension hovering between every person in this room is palpable, the energy so different from what it had been only a few minutes before.

Luca doesn't say anything to me, but his eyes never leave Marco's face.

"Shall we go into the office to sign the documents?" Marco asks my brothers, keeping his tone neutral and not looking at me.

"Just a minute." Luca stops him. "I want to know that we're all going to be walking out of here safely when negotiations are complete. Let my sister go and wait in the car, and I will come with you into the office. Enzo can stay out here."

Luca's distrust is sometimes his strength, and sometimes his weakness. I can't deny that his plan is smart, but I'm not sure that Marco is going to appreciate it.

"I'm sorry, Luca, but I can't allow that. We can all go into my office, Grazia included, and once the deal is signed, you all have my word that you are free to go. But no one is leaving this house until I have your signatures."

Marco's voice is stern, and I notice he has a business tone of voice that is different from how he usually sounds.

"Fine," Enzo says, always one to try and keep the peace before violence breaks out. "Let's get this over and done with."

Marco turns to lead us into his office, and I take a small step off the stairs, my legs still not feeling very stable.

Luca looks at me as we're about to make our way to the office, and I see his face scrunch up into a frown.

"What is that…?" He steps closer, and Marco's guards close in on him. "Grazia, what is on your neck? Did he hurt you?"

Luca's face is getting red, and I instinctively move my hand over the spot where Marco had bitten down during one of our passionate moments.

Shit, did he leave a mark?

I hadn't seen anything in the mirror, but now that I had tied my hair up, maybe there was something there that I had missed.

I see Enzo look at me as well, not saying anything. Then Luca's expression changes, like he's just realized something.

"No. No fucking way." He turns to Marco, his hands balling up into fists. "You said you wouldn't touch her. Did you fuck her?"

Marco looks at me and I can see him trying to come up with an answer that is going to diffuse the situation, but Luca doesn't give him time.

He turns back to me and clenches his jaw.

"Luca… It's not what you're thinking."

I try to get his attention but he's screaming at Marco about how he's gone back on his side of the deal.

Marco stays silent and lets Luca rant, while Enzo puts a hand on Luca's shoulder to try and calm him down.

When Luca takes a break to breathe, Enzo turns to me.

"Grazia, did you sleep with Marco? Is that what the mark on your neck is from?"

He's calm, but he's speaking slowly, which tells me that he's beyond pissed off. Enzo has always been the one who I couldn't lie to.

Even as a teenager, when I went through my very short rebellion phase, he brought me back to reality every time.

But his approach was always with love, and never judgemental.

I can't look at him now, dreading the disappointment that I know his eyes are going to show me.

I wish that this was some kind of bad dream, and that I could wake up before Marco and I had sex today.

The previous times were complicated, both of us trying to get through the situation we were in.

But not today.

Our last encounter was only for pleasure and enjoyment, and the feeling of being close to each other.

At least, that's what it was for me.

"I…uh." I look at Marco for some sort of help, not knowing what the right answer is.

My brothers aren't stupid. They know what is on my neck, so trying to lie to them about that is useless.

But there's still the question of whether I should tell them exactly how Marco and I have felt about one another since he kidnapped me, or continue to play the damsel in distress just to get this whole thing done safely.

If I tell them I slept with him willingly, they're going to be angry with me, and they may choose not to take me home.

I might be sad at the idea of leaving Marco, but I am also so homesick.

I could say that Marco forced me, but then they might refuse to sign the deal with him, and he won't ever let me leave if that happens.

"Does this matter right now?" Marco finally speaks, sounding annoyed that this is even in question.

"Grazia is unharmed, she has been treated as well as can be expected, and she is here, ready for you to take home as soon as we get these papers sorted."

I relax my shoulders for a second, hoping that his speech will do the trick and they'll all agree to move on so that we can get home.

I'll handle my brothers' questions and their reactions to what I have to tell them once we're back on familiar soil.

"No. It does fucking matter, actually."

Luca's temper has gotten the better of him and his voice is loud again.

"Because it looks like you've just played us. It looks like you kidnapped my sister, blackmailed us, and had a great time with her on a Mexican vacation while we were stressing at home trying to meet your demands."

Luca turns to me, and for the first time, I see just how hard he can look when he is angry.

The two of us have fought before—just before his wedding we got into a horrible argument about his relationship with Emelia.

But I have never seen him this angry, not at me, in any case.

"Is this your payback, Grazia?" he asks me. "You were angry about me marrying Emelia and keeping the deal with Carlos, so you figured your boyfriend could help you get even? Did he even kidnap you? Or did you plan it together? You couldn't get it right by trying to get Carlos to hand the deal over to you and Enzo, so you recruited your little Mexican fuckboy to do it with you?"

His accusations sting, and I feel tears stream down my face before I can try to stop them.

Looking at my brother, I'm shocked that he thinks that little of me, but my guilt eats at me, knowing he's not entirely wrong about the situation.

I did try to gain control of the deal with Carlos, but Enzo came up with most of that plan.

And I did sleep with Marco while he was holding me for ransom, but again, that wasn't how things were supposed to happen.

"No…this isn't some big elaborate plan, Luca. I would never do that! And the fact that you're accusing me, after all the shit I've been through for this family, hurts like hell. Shit happened, but I was never trying to steal from you, or the family."

I am fully crying now, and put my hand in front of my face to hide it, gripping the stair railing with the other hand to steady myself.

This is the nightmare that I had thought it might be.

I was hoping that this would all go smoothly, without any hurdles, and I could be on a plane back home before the morning.

But I was a fool to think that could happen. Of course it's obvious that Marco and I have been blurring the lines between lovers and enemies.

We've done it so much lately that my brothers were bound to find out somehow, even without the large mark screaming at them from my neck.

Once again, I have been a total idiot and gotten myself into a mess that I don't think I can get myself out of.