My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

I spokewith Scarlett about random things for another hour or so before she finally left to go back to her rooms. She gave me a hug for the first time in years, and my conscience couldn't make up its mind about whether or not it felt bad about using her this way. On the one hand, if Mark was hurting her and I was able to get him arrested, that would hopefully solve that problem for her. However, that would change her life irrevocably and I'm not sure that's something she'd want.

I pushed my feelings towards my sister down. I didn't have the capacity to think about any of this right now. I needed to feed Max this new information. First, what my father had said to me, and then everything I'd learned from Scarlett.

And, even though she said she'd never seen Mark write down Johnny or my father's name in his journal, that didn't mean that there wouldn't be very useful information in that little book. His being here at the house might be an opportunity to get my hands on it. And, I might have to use Scarlett to do so.

But, before I did anything, I needed to talk to Max. I waited until it was late at night before I locked myself into the bathroom with the little phone he'd given me and pressed it up against my ear.

"Yeah," his familiar voice replied on the second ring.

"It's me," I said back.

"I heard what happened tonight." I paused as I processed his words and then thought about the listening device.

"You mean with my father?"

"Yeah," he replied back.

"What did you think?"

"I think you were fucking brilliant," he replied back. My mouth dropped open and I almost fell off the lid of the toilet I was sitting on. I couldn't stop my heart from swelling with a bit of pride at his words. Max did this to me. He made me feel things in a way no one else could.

"Um, thanks," I replied.

"It was fast thinking, Maddie. I was seriously worried for a moment. You did good." I blushed at his words, but he continued. "And I got it all recorded. It's the most incriminating thing we've got so far."

"Well, not exactly," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"My sister just left my room a few hours ago. She and I talked and she opened up. Apparently, Johnny has been a big topic of Mark's phone calls for the last two years they've been married."

"Oh? How did you get her to open up to you on something like that? It seemed like she was the one that got you in trouble with your father in the first place."

"She did. She found me in my father's office last night when I was setting things up."

"Fuck, Maddie. I didn't know that."

"Yeah, but she bought the contract line too. Apparently she and I can bond over being forced to marry men not of our choosing."

"So," Max said, "What did she say?"

"She told me all about a conversation that she overheard Mark having with Johnny. About two years ago. That the Feds were looking into deaths and why he hadn't investigated or prosecuted. That he was worried the other families might cooperate with the Feds and come after Johnny and of course, Mark."

"Shit," Max cursed through the phone and I nodded. "Yeah. But that was two years ago. You were with Johnny at the time, right?"

"Yeah, I was," Max said.

"Was there anything going on around that time?"

I could hear Max sigh through the phone. "Just the same stuff that's always going on at the Bakery. Assignments get sent out and things get done. I was a lot lower on the totem pole back them. Still am, in all reality. I'm not privy to any of the business dealings. I'm just a bit of intimidating muscle that Johnny likes to use. I think he likes the fact that I'm a vet. Intimidates people more or some shit."

"Yeah," I said slowly. "But, I guess two years ago would have been how long after your friend's death?"

"Three years," Max said stiffly.

"Could the call have been about that?"

Max was silent for a beat. "I dunno. I have a hard time believing that the Feds would care about the death of one person who allegedly overdosed. I know that story is farfetched because I knew Billy. But, the Feds don't. Plus, the timeline seems a little stretched. There had to be something else that went on that maybe we aren't aware of."

"Scarlett says that Mark keeps a journal. Writes down every call he's had. Every person he's talked to."

"Fuck," Max cursed.

"Yeah. Getting a look at that could be huge. And he's staying at the house, so I bet it's with him."

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Max spoke. "Look, Maddie. I want a look inside that book as badly as you do. But, I'm a little nervous about you going for it. If you get caught, it's not going to be hard to put together the fact that you were snooping around your father's office and then went after the journal. It's too risky."

I sighed. I knew he was right, but I also disagreed. "You said once we're in, we're in," I replied to him.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we act stupid and lose our minds. I'm still alive because I'm careful. Don't go pull a fast one on me, Maddie. Not a cool look."

I ground my teeth and thought about what I wanted to say. "I'm not going to do anything stupid. But, if I think I have a chance at the journal, I'm going for it," I said.

"Don't, Maddie." His voice was firm and authoritative and it also made me angry.

"Don't tell me what to do, Max."

"Of course I'm going to tell you what to do, especially when you're acting like an idiot."

Now I was really angry. "I'm not acting like an idiot," I replied, trying to keep my voice down. "I'm trying to get us the information we need. I don't have five years to sit around and wait like you do, Max."

"I'd rather not find out what happened at all than lose you too, Madelyn. I can't afford to lose someone else I love."

I paused, completely unable to process what he had just said. My brain stuttered and it convinced me I'd misheard him.

"What did you just say?" I asked, my heart weirdly hopeful.

He didn't answer right away.

"Max?"

"I said I can’t afford to lose someone else I . . . have care of."

"What?"

"Whatever, Maddie, don't go for that journal. I swear to God."

"You have care of. Max, that doesn't make any sense."

"Maddie, I've got to go. I'll see you in a few days' time when Johnny brings you to the bakery. Don't fucking touch the journal."

The phone went dead and I looked at the screen. I stared and stared at it. I hadn't misheard him.

Max Holt said he loved me.

A soft knock on my bathroom door pulled me out of my daydreaming. No one should have been in my room and my heart pounded wildly in my chest. I erased the phone as quickly as possible before another knock sounded again. I looked around the bathroom frantically and ended up hiding the device in the toilet paper rolls under the sink before opening the door slowly.

Doris was on the other side and I clutched my hands to my chest. "Oh my god, Doris. You scared the bejesus out of me."

She gave me a knowing look before saying. "I think you've got some things you need to share with me."

"I'm not sure what you mean, Doris," I said as I slid past her and pretended to get back into bed.

"Don't you go lying and keeping secrets with me, Madelyn. I've been around the sun many more times than you. Besides, I had my ear pressed up against that door the entire time. I know all of it."

I gulped. I'd completely forgotten that Doris was the only one with keys to my room. Well, I hadn't forgotten, per se. I just never expected her to spy on me.

I didn't want her pulled into any of this. What Max and I were doing was dangerous. I didn't want her involved.

"It's too dangerous for you, Doris," I said to her with pleading eyes. There was no use trying to lie to her anymore.

"And it's not dangerous for you?"

"I've got no other option! I can't marry Johnny!"

"And why do you think I wouldn't want to take on some of that risk for you to help get you out of that situation? I'm a lot older than you. If something happens, I'd rather it happen to me."

"Oh my god, Doris! Please don't say that! I couldn't live with myself."

She came over and patted my hand as she sat on the bed. "You don't have to carry this all on your own, my dear. That's all I'm saying."

I hugged her tight before pulling back. "Is the door locked?" I asked her.

She nodded her head.

I climbed out of the bed and headed back into the bathroom. "Then, I'll tell you what's going on."

An hour later and Doris and I came out of the bathroom. Once the floodgates opened, I couldn't hold anything back any longer. I told her about Max, about Miami, about my mother, all of it. She got the whole story and when I went to bed that night, I went to bed with a new plan on how to get that journal.

I hungup the phone and stared at it in disbelief. I was turning into a woman, apparently. Because I was saying things like "I love you" to a girl I'd slept with twice.

What the fuck was I doing?

Saying things like that to her wasn't going to help the situation. She was reckless. She'd shown that the first time she'd run away from home when this whole thing started. Worse than that, I knew she was gonna try and go for the journal and me saying something like . . . fuck, what I'd said, was only going to cement it in her head that she needed to do it more.

Why was this girl turning me into such a fucking idiot? I couldn't understand it.

I sat down heavily on the bed and went through the motions of wiping the phone before tucking it back into its hiding spot. Tomorrow I had to head to the Bakery early for a job assignment and the next day was the day Madelyn was supposed to be visiting.

I seriously needed to get my emotions in check before she got here. Seeing her with Johnny wasn't going to be easy to watch. That I knew. And if I continued to behave like some love-sick school girl, I was liable to blow the whole thing right through the roof.

I tried to distract myself by thinking through the information we had learned today. So, Johnny and Dimes had been doing business for a long time together. And Mark had been involved for at least the last two years, if not longer. All of that seemed to line up with what Maddie and I had thought was true. That both her mother and my friend had been murdered and Mark had used his power and influence to cover up the crimes.

Also, Mark said that he was worried about the Feds and about rival families coming for Johnny. I tried to think through who the other families in the New England and New York area were. Mafiosos were incredibly organized. It's why the Feds weren't ever able to really pin Al Capone with the many, many murders he'd ordered and probably the few he'd committed himself. No, instead, the only thing they could get him for was failure to report illegally earned income. The fucking IRS for the win.

Johnny operated the same way. The worst crimes were carried out by the lowest guys. They knew the least and were often the dumbest. And it was set up that way because shit doesn't flow uphill. It was always hard to trace a crime back to the boss who ordered it. But, Johnny was careful. The families had learned the lessons of those that had fallen victim to federal investigations before them. Johnny led a lifestyle completely in line with the income the bakery purportedly made. He could afford nice things, but he wasn't buying multimillion-dollar beach houses. When we went to Miami, he stayed at a nice hotel, but he wasn't renting out an entire mansion in South Beach.

It probably frustrated the Feds to no end.

Now, the other families could still be an issue. As far as I understood it, the Maldonado's had essentially been handed their right to rule New England in the 1950s. The Bianci Family boss had ruled the entire area during the Prohibition era through the 50s. Gaspare Bianci had been a ruthless boss, and had dealt with competition from rival ethnic gangs as well as competition between Italian families most murderously. But, he'd come out on top and ruled The New England Crime Family, as he had dubbed it, until he decided to retire back to Sicily. He'd handed the family over to Johnny's father at the time. And when Johnny's father had been murdered, it had made its way to Johnny as the firstborn. He was just 26 at the time.

Even though it was nearly a hundred years ago, if I knew anything about gang wars, it's that they didn't die off. I was fairly certain that the Irish and Jewish gangs that had been put down during the Bianci era were still operating on the outskirts of Boston. There was no way that they weren't looking for their chance to try and regain their territory.

Not only them, but the other Italian families that had lost the bid as head family. I knew a lot of people weren't particularly happy that Gaspare Bianci had handed the chair down to the Maldonado's. I'd heard the rumors that many believed Johnny's father, Filippo, wasn't qualified to lead. After learning what I'd learned from the banker the other day, I was starting to wonder if certain people were already in the know on the Maldonado history.

I shook my head, not wanting to guess at things. I needed more information. And I needed to get my head straight before the weekend.

I climbed into bed and switched off the light. The darkness usually haunted me, and I'd gotten used to it. But tonight, I managed to keep it at bay.

Because, try as hard as I might, Madelyn Dimes was all I could picture when I closed my eyes.