ϟ Ezra POV ϟ
I'm the luckiest man on Earth.
Lilac lays in my arms, asleep. The sunlight dances through the window, but I hold my right hand up, blocking it from hitting her face. Even though she looks heavenly in the sunlight, I don't want it to disturb her sleep.
My left hand rubs up and down her back. Touching her soft skin feels like touching a fucking angel.
Her shut eyes blink as she takes a breath, telling me she's about to wake up. And she doesn't need to know I've been letting her sleep on me for the two entire hours I've been awake. It feels like an honor to even have her sleep on me.
The most beautiful shade of blue meets my eyes. I lock eye contact with the goddess herself, and a smile instantly forms on my face, "Good morning."
"Good morning," she says with a tired voice.
I rub my knuckle against her cheek, "Sleep good?"
"Mhm - wait, what time is it?" she squints her eyes in an attempt to see the time on the clock above the door, and she gasps seeing that it's 1 pm.
She attempts to get up, speaking quickly, "Oh my god, it might as well be Christmas."
I wrap my arm around her waist and flip her over, pinning her underneath me. She smiles up at me, "Wow, really is Christmas, huh?"
"What if we stayed in bed all day?" I suggest before lowering my lips to kiss her cheek.
She giggles as I kiss her cheek a few more times before responding, "Well, we could."
"Yea?" I smirk, my eyes darting around her face.
"Mhm," she mumbles before putting her lips against mine. "As long as you make it worthwhile."
I kiss her back with all of my love. Her sweet lips kiss me as her painted nails glide down my back.
"Ezra!" Eliza shouts from the other side of the door before repeatedly banging on it.
I pull my lips away from Lilac's, looking at her with a 'you've got to be kidding me' look.
Eliza bangs harder when I don't respond.
"What," I call out.
Lilac wiggles trying to get out from under me, but I keep her there, making her huff.
"Get up, I have news for you," Eliza says from behind the door.
I let out a sigh as I listen to the sound of her high heels walking away.
"I wanted to stay here all day," I say to Lilac, tugging down on her lower lip.
Her blonde hair sprawls on the pillow, and she smiles, "Tomorrow."
Tomorrow and every other day of my life.
I roll over, letting her free. She stands to her feet, and I do, too.
She goes into my connecting bathroom, and I follow her in. She picks up her toothbrush, and I pick up mine.
I stare into the mirror, looking at her as we both brush our teeth at the same time. She laughs through the toothpaste, and I just stare at her. Admiring her.
God, do I fucking love her.
Then she laughs again. I take the toothbrush out of my mouth to ask, "What are you laughing at?"
"I was thinking about spitting my toothpaste at you. But I won't!" she put her hand up in surrender.
"Hm..." I trailed off, turning toward her.
Her eyes grow big, "Don't, Ezra!"
She laughs and holds her hands in front of her face while I keep holding the toothpaste in my mouth, making it look like I was going to spit it at her.
"Ezra if you don't get your ass downstairs I'm gonna set your house on fire!" Eliza yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
Lilac's laughter died down as I leaned over the sink and spit my toothpaste out. I put my hand on the top of her head for a moment, "You got lucky this time."
"Oh I'm so scared," she said sarcastically.
I stare at her for a moment, and then quickly go to pick up my toothpaste. She yells and runs out of the room, "No!"
I smile to myself while setting it back down.
Lilac runs out of the room and starts running down the stairs. I call out to her while taking my time walking, "Careful, sweet girl."
Asher, Martín, and Eliza's voices reach my ears as I reach the bottom of the stairs. I follow the direction they were coming from, into the living room. They all sit, spread out around the couches with serious faces.
I stand beside Lilac and put my hand on her back. I ask Eliza, "So, what do you have to tell me?"
"Somebody came forward for the reward. They say they know who it is, but they're keeping their identity anonymous. They want to be sure that they're going to get the money if they tell you," Eliza spoke out loud to everybody.
I rub my jaw for a minute.
"Set up a meeting with them. For tonight, I'll get the money," I tell Eliza.
She nods and stands up from the couch. I point at Asher and Martín, "You guys come with me. Eliza, stay here with Lilac."
"I can't come with you?" Lilac asked me with a little bit of sadness in her eyes, which made my heart hurt.
Cupping her face in my hands, my thumbs rub up and down her soft cheeks. I speak gently to her, "I want you to stay here today, where you're safe. I don't want you leaving and possibly getting hurt before we get the name later tonight, okay?"
Lilac's stubborn. I was fully prepared for her to argue with me, and tell me no. But instead, she nodded, "Okay."
I press a long kiss against her forehead, "Good girl. I'll be back soon, this won't take long. I'm just getting the money."
"And you're just gonna carry it with you?" she asks me while raising her eyebrows. "What if you get robbed or something?"
I shake my head, "No. I'll keep it in our other house, until later tonight, since nobody knows where it is but us two."
She nods, looking satisfied with my words.
I release her face and turn around, gesturing with my head for Martín and Asher to follow.
This person better not be bluffing, and they better give me the name tonight. I'm tired of all this shit, I'm tired of Lilac constantly being in danger.
This ends tonight.
-----
"Holy shit I think I just came my pants," Martín spoke in awe from behind me.
I narrow my eyes and glance at him over my shoulder. I hold eye contact with him for a few seconds before shaking my head slightly, "Don't say that shit again."
"Got it," he said quickly.
I turned back around to look at the open vault in front of me. Strong lights lit up the green money, which was all in stacks of 100-dollar bills.
I toss both Asher and Martín large black duffle bags and say, "Lets get to work."
We all grabbed stacks of the money, putting it into the duffle bags. I better not be putting in all this fucking work for nothing, this person better be telling the fucking truth and not wasting my goddamn time.
"I'm sweating my fucking ass off," Asher started to complain after a while.
Martín smirked, "Wipe your sweat with one of the bills. Ezra has a countless amount in here, he won't miss one."
"Seriously, dude. He has enough to wipe his ass with," Asher grunted while putting more money in.
Martín grunted also, "Even I could wipe my ass with them and I have IBS."
"Can you two princess shut up and talk about your favorite makeup later," I say while zipping up my full bag.
Once they had theirs full, we headed back outside. We tossed all three bags into the trunk of my car, and I shut it quickly. My gun sat nicely in my waistline, just in case anybody tried anything.
"Okay, you guys go back home. I'm taking this shit to my other house," I order them.
They nod and turn around to walk back to their other car. But Asher freezes.
"I have a bad feeling about tonight," he looked at me over his shoulder and whispered.
"Nothing bad is gonna happen. We'll get the name, then put a bullet through their head," my voice was strong and confident. There was nothing I wanted more than to kill this fucking person, and protect my Lilac.
He didn't respond at first, just looking at the ground. He whispered, "I hope so."
I stand there for a moment, watching them drive away. Once I finally snap out of it, I get in my car, and start speeding down the road.
I don't care about losing 50 million dollars. I don't care that I'd get on my knees and fucking beg for information on whoever wants to hurt Lilac. I don't fucking care about anything.
All I care about is her. And I need to protect her.
❀ Lilac POV ❀
"Family dinner!" Eliza shouted from the kitchen.
I stopped flipping through my magazine and turned my head on the couch. I could see the table in the kitchen set with 5 plates, filled with food.
Hearing Ezra make an annoyed noise made me turn back and look at him with a smile. He sat on the couch, too, letting my legs rest on him. I asked him, "Don't like family dinners or something?"
"I selfishly wanted to be alone with you," his deep voice reached my ears as he rubbed his hand up and down my leg.
I sat up, and patted my hair down once I did. I told him, "We have all night to be alone together."
"Once this guy calls and I go out and fucking murder whoever it is," he said bluntly, crossing his arms and making his muscles flex.
I stood up off of the couch and grabbed both of his hands, pulling him up also. I looked up at him, "Mhm. But you don't wanna do that on an empty stomach."
I pulled his hand with me as I walked into the kitchen. The smell of the chicken was the most prominent and made my mouth water. I asked Eliza while taking a seat, "Did you cook this all yourself?"
"Mhm. Who do you think taught Ezra to cook," she smiled widely, sitting across from me.
Ezra sat beside me, and Asher and Martín found their way in not long after.
We all filled our plates, and Eliza put a glass of white wine in front of us all. The food was mouthwatering, and Eliza started to tease Ezra that she was a better cook. He didn't seem to like that, and told her to watch out for the next time he cooks because he might poison her food.
A smile stayed on my face the entire dinner. I didn't feel ashamed to eat, or like I didn't deserve to, like when I lived with my parents. I felt cared about, with Ezra keeping one hand on my leg under the table and taking glances at me to make sure that I was eating.
It was a dinner of happiness. The kind of dinner I never had before.
We all sipped on our wine once we finished our food, and Martín was in the middle of telling a story.
"And then, when I went to school the next day, there was-"
Ezra's phone ringing cut Martín off. At the speed of light, Ezra answered the phone and raised it to his ear.
A voice spoke on the other line while we all watched him quietly.
"Okay. I'm coming now," he spoke into the phone before quickly ending it.
He shot up out of his chair, making it slide out behind him loudly. He pointed at Eliza, "They said they'll meet now. Let's go get the money and meet them - but make sure you have your gun with you, first."
"I'll stay here with Lilac," Asher offered, but Ezra instantly shook his head.
"No, you think I'd let her be alone with you? Asher, your ass is coming with me. Martín, stay here with Lilac," Ezra said while rushing toward the front door.
I basically ran after him. It was like he was so focused on this, that he wasn't thinking about anything else.
"Wait," I called out to him, making him stop in front of the door.
He turns around, and I quickly walk up to him.
A million thoughts fill my brain, as I just stand there for a moment. So many different sentences formed in my head. I'm worried, I don't want anything bad to happen to you, I love you.
"Be safe. Okay?" I almost whisper.
His focused expression turned to a soft one. He replied, "I will."
Putting his hands on my jawline, he leans down and kisses me. His mouth moved softly against mine, the warmth in my stomach growing.
Ezra kissed me longer than usual. He kissed me deeply, like he never wanted to let go.
But he had to. He stared into my eyes, "I'll come home to you soon."
"I'll be waiting," I replied quietly.
He kissed me again, but quickly this time.
He felt to make sure he had his gun before exiting the house, Eliza and Asher following him quickly.
Watching the door shut made my stomach squeeze with nerves for a moment.
I wasn't nervous he'd be unsuccessful, but I don't know....I just had a weird feeling.
"I'm gonna go up to the balcony and have a smoke, wanna come?" Martín asked me while pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
I gestured toward the living room, "I'm gonna keep myself busy in there, watching movies and stuff."
He nodded, and started to head up the stairs.
I went into the living room, trying to find a good movie to distract myself so that I didn't think of how nervous I was. I groaned and tossed the remote when no movies looked good enough.
So I started to play a game to keep me busy. Then, thirty minutes had passed. Then, an hour.
"Lilac," Martín called my name.
He entered the living room, and a smile formed on his face seeing that I was playing Wii Sports alone.
"Don't judge," I cross my arms at him.
He raises his hands up, "Hey, no judgment here."
I set the controller down, and walk a few steps over to him. He told me, "Ezra got you some flowers that are at the other house, and he wants me to take you there since he thinks it's safer there."
"Okay," I don't argue, trusting Ezra's judgment. I'm not stupid, I'm not going to argue when there's someone out there that wants me dead.
I follow Martín out, going over to one of Ezra's extra cars. It was sleek and white, and even though I didn't know much about cars, I was impressed by it.
"Why don't you drive?" Martín asked, watching me admire the car. "I don't know the address of the house, anyway."
My mouth turned up, "Really?"
"Yea. Here," he tossed me the keys.
I got into the driver's seat, and Martín got into the passenger's seat. I loved driving this car. The noise it makes and how fast it goes makes adrenaline rush to my head.
We pulled into the driveway, and Martín followed me up the stairs.
I entered the house, my face lighting up seeing Lavender run over to me. I pet her, "Hello, beautiful!"
"She's cute," Martín smiled down at her.
"I know right," I continued to pet her.
"The roses are upstairs," Martín told me.
My hand paused, and I felt my eyebrows lower. Ezra has already gotten me roses before, why would he get me them again?
I walked up the stairs, and entered the bedroom on the left. Martín followed close behind me, and my eyes went to the bouquet of roses on the table.
Martín's phone started ringing as I walked over to the table. I smiled at the roses, gently touching them with my fingertip.
"Какво?" Martín said into the phone while I continued looking at the roses.
[Translation: What?]
I could hear somebody on the other side speak to him for a while.
"Аз съм с нея," Martín replied. "Скоро ще я убия."
My fingertips paused and my entire body turned to ice. My head lifted up a little as my heart picked up in my chest, and with how loud it was beating, you could probably hear it from downstairs.
I turned around and started talking quickly while walking, "Hey, Martín, I think I'm gonna go-"
Both my words and my steps were cut off. A copper taste filled my mouth, and a sharp pain came from my stomach. Martín now stood in front of me, holding onto my shoulder while he stabbed me with his other hand. He slowly removed it, and the sound of it leaving my skin made me sick beyond belief.
My hands pressed onto my stab wound that soaked my shirt. My eyes were wide as I went into a state of shock.
[Translation: I'm with her. I'll kill her soon.]
I forced myself to slowly look up at him, and he stood there with a blank expression. He wasn't upset. He didn't care.
"Normally, your head would've never picked up hearing me speak in Bulgarian..." he tilted his head at me and trailed off for a moment. "But your body language told me, you understand perfectly."
My body started to feel light and the corners of my eyes started turning black. I lost my balance, holding onto the table behind me and nearly falling from my hand being wet with blood. I whispered, "It's been you this entire time?"
Feeling weak beyond belief, I slowly sank to the floor, my back pressing against the wall behind me. He just stared down at me, nearly with a smirk.
"Ezra's time of being the most powerful man has come to an end. It's time somebody else takes over, me," he smiled wickedly at his own words. "If you're dead...he has nothing left, and I can finally take over."
My ears started to ring and my vision started turning black. My blinks were heavy, each one being harder than the last.
He crouched down in front of me, his brown eyes looking unrecognizable.
"Keep your friends close," he spoke slowly, tucking some hair behind my ear before his mouth turned up in a smile. "But your enemies closer."
Word count: 3048