An Assassin's Oath

“Ezra, Ezra, is it true that you cheated on Calum with this new guy?”

“Miss Quintero, over here. How does your father feel about your secret marriage?”

“Ezra, what do you have to say about Calum Sinclair’s allegations of your sordid affair?”

“What does this mean for the future of HQ enterprises? Will you still be taking over after your father retires?”

I feel Ezra stiffen beside me. I squeeze her hip, and she gazes up at me briefly and smiles lovingly. She turns her gaze to the photographers in front of us. “Yes, the rumors you heard are true. I am married, and no, I never cheated on Calum because we were never together. Our intended marriage was nothing more than a business arrangement between two families. I decided to follow my heart, and…” She turns her startling blue eyes up at me. “I married the man I truly love.” I lean down and press my lips to hers chastely and pull back. “I’m very happy and in love. As for my position at the company. I’m not sure; you’ll all find out soon enough.”

“Ezra, are you pregnant? Is that why you had to elope?”Ezra laughs and shakes her head.

“No, I am not pregnant. We got married right away because we didn’t want to waste any more time apart. Damien and I have been seeing each other discreetly on and off for a long time. He’s always been the one, and I’ve only truly loved him. That’s all there is to it.”

“That’s enough questions. If you’ll excuse us, I’d like to take my beautiful wife out to lunch.” I say and press a kiss to her forehead before I take her hand, and we walk through the crowd of people to my car.

“Ezra, why do you have so many bruises all over your arms?” Ezra freezes, and she looks over at me. She turns slowly and looks back at the photographers and grins, showing her pearly white teeth.

“Those bruises are a reminder of a very passionate night my husband and I spent consummating our marriage.” She states impishly and winks. “I like it rough.” She slides into the passenger seat, closes the door, and the photographers run over, snapping photo after photo as we get into my maroon, Alfa Romeo giulia quadrifoglio—My Beastess.

We drive off, and she exhales slowly, relaxing into her seat.

“You did good.” I glance over at her, and she shrugs.

“Not my first rodeo. I did what I had to. They’re like vultures. They won’t stop digging—I hope you know that.”

“They can dig all they want. Provided we keep up appearances and play the loving married couple, they’ll get bored and move on eventually.” I assure her as we speed down the highway. I glance in the rearview mirror and notice a blacked-out sedan tailing us. I swerve in and out of traffic, and it follows. Ezra looks back and sees the car close behind us. “Sit tight.”

“Damien, that could just be the paparazzi.” I shake my head.

“That’s not a pap. That’s a hitman.”

“What?”

“Hand me my gun from the glovebox.”