THE MAID'S FORCED VOW

Chapter Nine.

The car was silent for the first few minutes after we left the warehouse. Micah sat in the back seat, wrists still red from the rope, staring out the window like he didn't quite believe he was allowed to.

"You okay," I asked, reaching back to squeeze his hand.

"I will be." He managed a small, tired smile. "You got married to save me. I owe you way more than a thank you."

"You don't owe me anything," I said. "Just rest."

Damon drove without speaking, his eyes flicking to the mirror every few seconds, checking the road behind us. When we finally dropped Micah at his apartment, promising a car would watch the building overnight, I felt the adrenaline that had carried me through the last twelve hours finally start to drain away.

I didn't realize I was shaking until Damon reached over and steadied my hand on the seat between us.

"You did well tonight," he said quietly.

"I didn't do anything. You're the one who stopped his men."

"You're the one who got him to admit the truth." Damon kept his eyes on the road, but his voice had softened into something I hadn't heard from him before. "That took more courage than most people I know have."

I looked at him, really looked, and for the first time I saw past the CEO who never smiled and the stranger who had signed a marriage contract with me. I saw someone as tired and afraid as I was, just better at hiding it.

"What happens now," I asked. "I'm actually your wife. That's real now, isn't it."

"It's real," Damon said. "On paper, and apparently to everyone who's about to find out about it by tomorrow morning."

"What does that mean."

He glanced at me, and for a moment something like worry crossed his face. "It means by noon, half the city is going to know Damon Cross got married overnight, and every reporter in this town is going to want to know why."