That as the certificate. The long contract was the pre-nup.
“When you witnessed Manzi kill Dia, I thought that would be an inconvenience. You fascinated me at the time, but ever since we first met I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. When Roza told me who your father is and how deeply connected he is to the MacKenna family, I decided my plans would have to shift. Manzi complicated things. But you might fix all my problems.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I climbed up onto my bench, breathing hard, leaning back against the cold tile wall. It was freezing against my skin.
“Plans, Cassie. I had plans, so many plans. That party, that was the beginning of my revenge, but Manzi decided to ruin things before they even began. Now though, I see another way to get what I wanted.”
“I don’t know how forcing me into some illegal marriage could do that.”
“Legality isn’t the problem here.” He stepped toward me, a beautiful monster. I thought I might be sick. “I find you attractive Cassie, more than I think you even realize. It takes all of my strength not to rip you to pieces for my own pleasure. But more than that, I think you’ll be useful. You can open doors to me with the MacKenna family that would otherwise remain shut.”
“You want to use me to get close to my father?” I could barely believe what I was hearing. “I’m not involved with him anymore. He doesn’t give a shit about me.” Ruined, you’re fucking ruined. Those were his words.
“That’s just not true. Your father cares very much about you, which is why he’s been watching you for weeks.
My eyes widened. “You’re lying.”
“I’ve never lied.”
“Roza did when she made me sign those documents.”
“A misdirection at best. You could’ve asked to read the pages.”
“My father wouldn’t bother to watch me, no matter what you think.”
“Your father’s good, I’ll admit it, but not good enough. He won’t be able to find you here, not if I don’t want him to.”
“What happened that night with that Italian? The one who nearly killed me?”
His face darkened. “That was a mistake.”
“I didn’t think you made mistakes.”
“Giatno let slip to my spies within his organization that he was pulling his men away from you in order to dedicate more resources to finding his son. I believed that information was good, and so allowed my men to back off in order to have a private meeting with you. Unfortunately, Giatno hoped I would do exactly that, and made his move. Only he didn’t expect me to show up in person.”
“You wanted a private meeting with me? I don’t understand.”
He only stared at me with an earnest and longing expression.
“You were never in real danger. Listen to me Cassie. We can do something big together. I can give you things you never imagined—“
“I don’t want anything to do with you.” I tried to push past him, but he wouldn’t let me go. He held onto my hips, and when I struggled, he pushed me down onto the bench and kept me pinned there, kneeling between my legs. “Let go of me, you asshole.”
“You’re my wife now, whether you like it or not. There are several judges on my payroll and a very large staff that will all attest to being at the wedding. You can play along and keep yourself alive in the process, or you can fight hard and make things fun for me. Either way, I will get what I want.”
I tried to take calming breaths but his hands held me down and all I wanted to do was struggle, fight, scream, kick.
He tricked me into marrying him. He used me as some pawn—and lured me here in the process.
I struggled and said through my teeth, “Let go of me.”
“Not until you understand. I have worked very hard to get to this position and I can feel my revenge slowly slipping away—“
“Revenge?” I gaped at him, barely suppressing a scream. “This is all for revenge?”
“For the murder of my father by the MacKenna family. They killed him in cold blood at the wedding of my cousin three years ago, and in all that time they haven’t been brought to justice. I will burn this world to ashes before I allow them to go unpunished forever.”
The intensity of his words made me stop struggling. I took deep breaths like he showed me in the car and that helped, but I still could barely understand what was happening.
“How does forcing me to marry you help with that?”
“It brings them to the table. Your father will make it happen, even if there are those within the MacKenna organization that don’t want it. They know I’m dangerous.”
“It’s not going to work. I told you, he doesn’t care about me. I’m damaged goods.” I tossed the words out like sour spit.