Where Loyalties Lie

by Ramsower, Jill

  Her eyes became glassy before sweeping the room for anyone who might be watching. “Fucking hormones,” she muttered, wiping at tears before they could fall. “You can’t go saying shit like that, not to a pregnant lady. And what about you? You don’t think I haven’t noticed how much you’ve changed in the past few months?”

  I chuckled, placing my hand on her back. “Come on upstairs. I think it’s time you and I had another chat.”

  I walked my protégé up to my apartment—the apartment I now shared with Emily. After spending two weeks together in the tiny cabin, living together felt more natural than being apart. We wanted to be together; there was no reason to keep separate apartments for some arbitrary courtship period.

  The moment Maria entered, her eyes narrowed. “Are you living with a woman?”

  I smirked. “Have a seat. There’s a good deal I’d like to share with you.”

  A half hour later, I’d told Maria facts about me that, up until recently, I’d never considered trusting her with. Maria and I had reached a point in our relationship where I felt it was important for her to know the truth, and I knew I could trust her with the sensitive information. I wanted her to know. Wanted her to feel as though she was equally welcome to talk to me if she ever needed to.

  “You sly bastard. All this time, you’ve been working as an assassin, and I never had a clue.” Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Is that how you and my father came to know each other?”

  “Your father is well connected in many ways. Perhaps he’d enjoy enlightening you about how our paths crossed, but that’s not a story for me to tell.” I smirked.

  As expected, Maria huffed with agitation. She never liked being refused. “So this trip you’re taking next week, will it be for pleasure or … work?”

  “A little of both. Of course, I’m fortunate enough to enjoy my work most days, but this excursion will be particularly enjoyable.”

  Maria grinned, her eyes glinting with perfect understanding. “Well then, I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.”

  Three days later, I was back in San Antonio. This time, I’d come alone. What I needed to do was a one-man job, and I certainly wasn’t going to risk bringing Emily with me. In fact, I’d told her I was meeting up with Uri to help him on a project in Denver. I didn’t want her to worry, but more than that, I wanted to surprise her when I got back, and that wouldn’t have been possible if she’d known where I was.

  I spent several days on reconnaissance, tracking Emily’s uncle and learning his habits. Killing him would be simple, but only after I’d spent the proper time researching my target. It was crucial his death was unquestionably an accident. We didn’t need anyone looking into why he might be killed if there was any chance it might point back to Emily.

  Adrián drove his Harley almost exclusively, and like most bikers, he was highly territorial about the bike. No one else went near it, which made it a perfect means of execution.

  He also never wore a helmet, making my job that much easier. I’d have to pass along my appreciation after his rotting heart beat for the last time.

  Most modern bikes were almost entirely electronic and contained anti-tamper software that alerted the owner when the bike was moved. However, that didn’t prevent someone from plugging into a terminal and entering a new code into the bike’s primary computer system.

  If someone, like myself, had the proper equipment to link a laptop to a motorcycle, they could tap into the acceleration and braking systems without the driver ever having a clue. It wasn’t a simple task, so the risk to the everyday bike enthusiast was minimal, but I happened to have a friend who was exceptionally good with computers.

  Before I’d even left New York, I’d had Uri get me everything I needed. I watched Adrián until I felt confident about the best opportunity for a motorcycle crash, then waited until three a.m. that night to set my plan into motion. Uri guided me through the process in my earpiece, instructing me on how to connect the electronics, then we worked on overriding the bike’s programming.

  Adrián Reyes had started each day with a drive to a mechanic’s garage about ten miles from his home. The trip took him on a highway that curved through the hilly countryside.

  The perfect setting for a fatal accident.

  After I finished with the programming, I waited in my car, not allowing myself to sleep. Adrián rolled out of his house, as expected, just after ten in the morning. He hopped on his bike and pulled onto the road, completely unaware that this would be the last time he ever walked this earth.

  I followed him at a safe distance. It was important that my timing was perfect so that I could pull over after the accident as a concerned citizen, ready to render aid.

  I could tell the second our programming kicked in.

  When Adrián’s bike hit the seventy miles an hour mark, the computer initiated a dramatic acceleration. The motorcycle shot forward. Traffic at that time of day wasn’t bad, so he didn’t have to swerve to avoid other vehicles. He was going fast but maintaining control, that was, until he tapped the brakes. Following the commands of its new programming, the bike’s braking system locked down the second the brakes were initiated. There was zero chance a driver could control the spinout of a bike locking up at almost ninety miles an hour.

  The wheels wobbled, straightened, then caught a bump and sent the bike flying into the air in a twisting tornado of shiny chrome and black leather. Adrián was immediately thrown from his seat, launched forward like a child’s toy, and sent careening onto the pavement before him. Even if he’d had a helmet on, the outcome would have been dire. As it was, there wasn’t the slightest chance of survival.

  I pulled my car onto the grassy median when I neared the wreck and ran toward the prone driver. His head was a mangled mess of grated flesh and oozing blood. I noted he wore a silver skull pendant on a black corded necklace, the same as he’d worn the day of Emily’s staged death. Before other motorists approached, I yanked the necklace from his lifeless body and wadded it in my palm.

  “Oh, Jesus. There’s no way he’s alive. Did you check for a pulse?” A young man in khakis and a polo walked up behind me with a fist pressed to his lips.

  “Yeah. He’s gone, but I hadn’t had a chance to call the police—can you do that?”

  “Sure, man. Fuck. I’m never gonna get that image out of my head.” The kid pulled out his phone and began to talk to the operator while I slowly stepped back from the body.

  More and more people gathered around, and before long, sirens wailed in the distance. Before the authorities had a chance to arrive, I slipped away, keeping my smile hidden, until I was safely back on the road.

  ***

  “I never told you, but I knew something was up with you when we came back to your apartment, and I found the gun you keep strapped under the sink. I mean, I could tell you were different anyway, but that was the clincher. Who does that but psychos and assassins?” Emily stood at the stove, stirring a white sauce in a pan. She had on leggings with an off-the-shoulder baggy sweatshirt and stood with one foot propped against the opposite knee like a flamingo. She was talking absently, but I was steadfastly fixed on her as if she possessed the very meaning of life.

  Fuck, I loved this woman.

  “What that tells me is you went snooping in my cabinets,” I teased her.

  “I was looking for ointment for that cut on my cheek,” she shot back in defense.

  “Attached to the underside of my sink?”

  “Well, that was kind of an accident. It just happened to catch my eye. I’m observant like that. It’s a burden I bear.”

  As always, she brought a smile to my face. I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her from behind. “And now, this apartment is yours, just as much as it is mine, so you can snoop any place you like.” I grazed my teeth over her earlobe, eliciting a sultry moan.

  “I’m cooking, Tam. If I don’t keep stirring, this sauce will burn.” Her words said one thing, but her arching backside sa
id another.

  I lifted one hand out in front of her and allowed her uncle’s necklace to dangle from my fist. “Take the pan off the heat. There’s something I need to do.”

  She held unnaturally still; the only sound in the room was the gentle hiss of the gas burner. Without taking her eyes from the silver skull pendant, she turned off the stove.

  “You went back for him,” she whispered, taking the necklace into her hands and turning to face me.

  “I did, and I’ll take care of anyone else who is ever a threat to you.” I wove my fingers through her hair, drawing her gaze away from the pendant. “Instead of a ring, I’m coming to you with the ultimate statement of my love for you. When it comes to you, there are no boundaries. There is no measure for my love and no limit to what I would do for you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Marry me, Emily.”

  Two crocodile tears dropped from her lashes. “Yes.” She nodded, then threw her arms around my shoulders. “Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you so much, Tam.”

  We held each other for long seconds, simply enjoying the feeling of having everything we could ever want there in each other’s arms.

  “Just so you know, I have no intention of denying you a ring,” I added. “I thought we could go shop for that together.”

  She chuckled before pulling back to meet my eyes. “I think that sounds perfect. You know I’m not all about material things, but I think I’d love to wear your ring.”

  The blood in my veins ignited with a ravenous hunger for the amazing woman before me. My woman. To love, cherish, and protect with my life. I’d professed my love and protected her; it was time to cherish … by worshiping every square inch of her body.

  Diving in for a kiss so ardent it melded our souls together. We were both so frenzied in the minutes that followed that we didn’t make it farther than the kitchen table. By the time we were done, the sauce she’d been cooking was a total loss.

  I didn’t regret it one bit.

  Epilogue

  Emily

  They say you can’t miss what you’ve never had, but I begged to differ. The second we landed in Little Cayman, I was acutely aware that I’d been missing out after twenty-seven years of life without stepping foot on a real beach. Sure, I’d been to Galveston, but the brown-water beaches of the Texas coastline didn’t count. They didn’t even remotely compare to this postcard-perfect Caribbean paradise.

  We spent a full week relaxing on the beach, biking across the island and exploring the spectacular reef life. Our villa came with a stretch of private beach and a plethora of blue-tinged iguanas, the island mascot. The tiny resort provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner, each brought to our villa, so there was no need to see other people. We worked on puzzles at our glass dining table and lounged in hammocks beneath picturesque palm trees.

  It had been the perfect honeymoon.

  On July first, six months after I told Tamir that I loved him, I took his last name at a small ceremony at the courthouse. Neither of us had any family, so we had no interest in a formal affair. Grace joined us along with Uri, but Asaf and Alon were out of the country. Maria also joined us. I’d had the pleasure of meeting her when I started back at the gym. She struck me as an odd character but sweet in her own way.

  Our ceremony was short, primarily composed of the vows we’d written for one another. Tamir wore a suit. It was the first time I’d seen him so formally dressed, and I nearly forgot my vows at the sight. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, but even more mesmerizing was the way his eyes lit every time he looked at me. I wore a knee-length ivory lace dress that Tamir took great pleasure in stripping off me later that evening.

  It was the perfect start to our new life together, and it only got better when we got up the next morning for our honeymoon. It was my first trip to the Caribbean, and I could definitively say that it would not be my last.

  I had adored every minute of our time together, but I had started to get antsy to get back home. The beach was beautiful, but the city had also grown on me.

  “Put that thing away. I thought we were on vacation.” For a stoic, assassin type, Tamir sure did enjoy teasing me. Fortunately, I had no problem returning the favor.

  “I was just checking email, and I’m glad I did. I got a message from my bank asking to verify my login credentials so that my account wasn’t frozen.”

  Tamir stiffened on the lounge chair next to me. “Em, tell me you didn’t give them your login.”

  I slid my eyes to the side. “Gotcha.” I grinned impishly.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that.”

  “Before you dole out your punishment, we did get a job offer.”

  I’d taken on an active role on the administrative side of Tamir’s contract jobs. As it turned out, Tamir had plenty of money for both of us. Apparently, contract killing was a rather lucrative business. I quit working at the restaurant and spent my free time volunteering at the shelter and serving on the board of a human trafficking task force. My part in Tamir’s work didn’t require all that much time, but I loved being a part of what he did. We discussed each job together, deciding as a team whether he would take the contract.

  Every penny of my uncle’s money was given to the shelter as an anonymous donation. The director and her staff were ecstatic. After spending plenty of time with them and the women they helped, I was confident the money was going to a truly worthy institution.

  “Oh, yeah? Who’s the mark?”

  “A judge—a very, very dirty judge.”

  “Sounds promising.”

  “The only thing is, it’s time sensitive. We’d have to leave first thing in the morning.” Technically, we had one more day scheduled before our flight home.

  Tamir swiped the laptop off my lap and snapped the lid shut. “Fine, but that still gives us one more night, and I have plans for you.” He swept me into his arms, bridal style, and started jogging toward the placid water. “But first, I believe I owe you one.”

  I squirmed and giggled, no match for his strong arms. The moment he was waist-deep, he tossed me into the crystal clear water, then took my hand as I resurfaced and pulled me back toward him. He lowered himself to join me neck-deep in the water, allowing me to slip my legs around his middle.

  “Such a bully,” I teased with a smile.

  He nipped at my bottom lip. “And you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You’re forgiven,” I whispered.

  “I was thinking, after this job, maybe we discuss having a family.”

  Between a full day of sun and the shock of his words, my head dipped and spun. “What?” The single breathy word was all I could muster.

  “Family means a lot to both of us, and I know you miss Isaac and Averi. I thought maybe it was time we consider starting our own family.”

  “What about you and your job?”

  “What about it?”

  “I guess I assumed since you had gotten this far in life without children, that it wasn’t something you wanted.”

  He pressed his forehead to mine. “It had nothing to do with want and everything to do with the right person coming along. I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than raising a child with you.”

  I couldn’t believe I could end up so lucky. I had wanted children, but Tamir was older, and I had accepted that being with him might mean not having children of my own. To have him and a child—I couldn’t imagine a more perfect life.

  “I’m ready whenever you are.” I grinned.

  Tamir’s eyes lit with mischief. “We’d better get practicing, then.” He scooped me from the water, plundering my mouth in a heated kiss. “They say it can take months, and I never was a quitter.”

  I threw back my head and laughed as he carried me to the outdoor shower. He made good on his promise three times that night. Two months later, we got confirmation that our rigorous efforts had paid off.

  Tamir had given me my life
back and then filled that life with immeasurable joy. I wasn’t just lucky; I was the luckiest woman in the world.

  * * *

  Thank you so much for reading Where Loyalties Lie!

  If you enjoyed the book and are interested in reading more of my work, there are a couple places you can go from here. The Five Families is a series of interconnected standalones, and Where Loyalties Lie is a spinoff novel branching out after book 3.

  Didn’t catch the beginning of The Five Families series?

  Check out book 1, Forever Lies:

  Five minutes in a stalled elevator was all it took to turn Alessia Genovese’s world upside down. She was just one among millions of New Yorkers, but now, she’s landed on Luca Romano’s radar, and he isn’t about to let her walk away. Dragging her into his world of lies and deceit, Luca’s secret agenda shatters Alessia’s perfectly crafted life. Sometimes lies are easier than the truth…

  **Head to the back of this book to read chapter 1!

  Curious about the mysterious Maria?

  You’ll want to read Blood Always, book 3 in The Five Families series:

  It should have been a simple arranged marriage, but fate had other plans. He saw her untamed independence as a challenge. She saw his alluring authority as a threat. Their lives were altered irrevocably—from enemies allied by a strategic marriage to something dark and consuming.

  Something that tasted like obsession.

  All caught up?

  Up next is Impossible Odds, book 4 in The Five Families series:

  Buckle up because Giada’s gotten herself into a world of trouble with a mysterious bad boy. This is one book you won’t want to miss!!

  Make sure to join my Facebook reader group and keep in touch!

  Jill’s Ravenous Readers

  A Note from Jill

  I hope you enjoyed this little departure from my Five Families series. I mentioned in the acknowledgements of Forever Lies that my great uncle was associated with the mafia, and that I grew up hearing my father’s stories about my uncle and his adventures. What I didn’t mention is that my dad was also a fan of the Israeli Mossad and its no-nonsense mentality. He loved watching movies involving the Mossad and recounting stories about their publicly known missions. When I started writing, I had no doubt I wanted to include one of their soldiers in my Five Families world and give him his own story. Tamir was reserved, calculating, and absolute in his beliefs, and I loved that Emily was his perfect counterpart.