I raise a gloved hand to her face, brushing back a few windswept strands of hair.“Can I kiss you?”
Her lips part, and her breath shudders out of her.In the distance, I hear reporters shouting my name, but there’s only Inara.Only us.
I cup her cheek and lower my head.My lips brush hers, and I’m instantly, painfully hard.I was already aroused, bickering with her in the close quarters of the clerk’s office.But now I’m ready to rip her clothes off and mark her here, in public.
I drop my hand, feeling as shaken as Inara looks.
And I realize why I was so quick to file marriage papers and mark her with my name.All my obsession, all my intense feelings add up to one thing.
Love.
It’s not an emotion I’ve allowed myself to feel.All-consuming desire, yes.But the need to comfort, care for, and control her has alchemized and turned into something more.
IloveInara.
Have I told her yet?I almost want to shout it out now, shout it to the world.
“Mr.Roy!”Reporters are surging forward, shouting questions.Only the solid barrier of my security team holds them back.
I move back to the microphones, holding up my hands.“No questions today,” I tell them.“Please respect our privacy.My media team will be in touch.”
“Mr.Roy!Wait!”The press isn’t taking no for an answer.Nadia is already striding toward me, ready to take over and rebuff all questions.
But one reporter calls out to Inara.“Mrs.Roy!Is it true the Bondage Killer killed your entire family?”
My head snaps back, searching for the speaker.It’s a man’s voice, but he’s hidden in the crowd.“Who said that?”I bark before I can stop myself, and the mics pick up my question.
The reporters also look around, sensing blood in the water.“The Bondage Killer?”they mutter to each other.“Is it true?”
The same speaker calls out again, “What about reports that the serial killer is back and targeting you?”
I don’t have to look back at Inara to know that she’s gone still and stiff, shut down in the face of a threat.
I need to shut this down right now.
“Know this,” my voice rings out.“I will not tolerate any attempts to pry into our private lives.”A few reporters lower their arms, cowed.I glower at them and the cameras, giving them a glimpse of the monster I’ve worked so hard to hide.“And if anyone seeks to harm or threaten my wife, it’ll be the last thing you do.”
Inara
“I didn’t directly threaten anyone,”Rex says.
“You didn’t have to,” Nadia replies.“You looked like you were about to leap off the stage and strangle someone with your bare hands.”
We’re in the back of a limo, riding to Hotel Magnifique.After the disaster of a press conference, Nadia took over.She ended the line of questions by announcing that she’d emailed them all detailed press kits.Reporters stopped shouting to check their inboxes then and there.She deftly dangled the possibility of private interviews to a few select news outlets, then bundled Rex and me into this car.
Now she’s reprimanding Rex for bungling the statement she gave him.I’ve never seen anyone attempt to give Rex orders, much less dress him down, so this is kind of fun.
“It’s not like I pointed at any of them and said outright that I would kill them.”
“Good job,” Nadia deadpans.“Do you want a cookie?”
I love this woman.If I weren’t already married, I’d be tempted to see if she would top me sometime.
“Legal is shitting themselves,” she says, swiping on her phone.“It’s all hands on deck, trying to spin this.”
“That’s what I pay them for.”Rex sounds like a sulky child.“Get my money’s worth.”
“Oh, you will, Mr.Roy.And we’re billing overtime.”
