My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

"Did you sleep okay, my dear?"Johnny asked me at breakfast the next morning. He'd had to repeat the question because I was barely paying attention to what was going on. The events of last night kept running through my mind.

Max breaking into Johnny's house, climbing through my window, taking me in the bathroom, before leaving under cover of darkness. I wasn't quite sure that this was my life or how I had gotten here.

"Mm, yes," I said with a smile as I put a piece of fruit into my mouth. "It was a great night."

Max had told me that he had a plan in the works that should be able to get us what we needed to finally get Johnny arrested. That I just needed to hold tight for another day or so until he was able to get the information he needed. He wouldn't give me any other details because he'd said he didn't want to get me in any more trouble. I wasn't sure how knowing less could be better for me in the moment, but I trusted him.

I trusted Max.

It was an odd feeling. My entire life I'd never been able to trust anyone save for Doris.

More than trusting him, I knew with each passing day that I was falling in love with him. I didn't know how and I couldn't even define it, but I knew it was true.

I also knew that him saying it to me over the phone had been an accident, but that he'd meant it, even if he was incapable of saying it to me again.

Through all of this, my responsibility was to try and get Johnny to show me the house and end up in his office and get him talking. That was my goal for the day.

"I thought maybe you'd like to tour Cambridge today," Johnny suggested. I looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"Actually, I'm really tired and your house is so lovely. What do you think about just staying in?"

Johnny gave me a lascivious smile and I reminded myself that this situation was only temporary. We finished our breakfast in relative silence before he stood and offered me his hand. I took it and accompanied him through the house for a few hours as he explained to me the rooms, the origin of the different antique pieces, and the significance of the wallpaper. My boredom and desperate attempts to hide my yawns were proof enough that we were from very different generations and not meant to marry, at all.

When we made our way back to the first floor, he tried to walk by his office and I made a point of peering in. "Oh, I love this desk," I exclaimed as I took a small step inside the room.

My excitement towards something in the house must have been reassuring because Johnny stepped into the office and invited me in further. It was sort of an oddity to think that Johnny controlled most of Boston's underground. In some ways, he seemed so tame and unassuming around me. But, I wondered if it was all an act. Or, I wondered if he'd simply lost his edge.

I made my way over to the desk and pretended to examine the old oak monstrosity. I estimated that its age was likely close to Johnny's and internally giggled.

"The whole thing was hand-carved," Johnny said to me as I ran my finger along its edge, hoping I wouldn't catch a splinter.

"Wow!" I said, hoping desperately that I sounded interested.

Johnny came up next to me and put his hand on mine. I smiled nervously at him. He looked at me and moved in to kiss me. I turned my head at the last minute and allowed him to place a kiss to my cheek. I tried to keep the smile on my face and looked down at the floor. If anything, I was putting on a fairly good "nervous virgin" show and that seemed to do it for him.

"You're very beautiful, Madelyn," he said. It was awkward just listening to it.

"Thank you," I said. He brushed a piece of hair back behind my ear and all I could think about was how much I wished it was Max touching me and not Johnny.

"So," I said, trying to keep the conversation going. "This is the desk where you do all sorts of important business."

Johnny chuckled lightly. "I suppose you could say that."

I gave him a fake pout. "My father never lets me get involved in the family business. I wish he would."

"Why would you want to get caught up in a man's world, my dear? It's messy. Better for you to stay young and pretty and not worry about such things."

Internally I groaned but kept up my act. I walked around the desk and stood behind it. "Oh, I know that. But, I just really love the idea of being married to a powerful man," I said, looking right at Johnny. "So, I'm just interested in what someone with that sort of power does."

Johnny looked at me intensely. I knew he needed one more push to start talking. "You're powerful, aren't you Johnny?" I said, walking back over and putting my hand on his shoulder. He dared to slip his hand around my waist and I let him.

"Yes, I am," he replied, his ego growing bigger than his stomach.

I made a point of biting my lower lip before saying, "Tell me about it. I want to hear about how you always get your way."

The corner of Johnny's mouth turned up into a rather disgusting smile, and I had to force myself to stay put because I could feel him getting hard next to me.

"You're quite the vixen, my dear."

I smiled at him and pushed away, walking over to the door and closing it. "Yes, I am," I said. I sat down on the sofa and patted the leather next to me. I hoped to God whatever Max had set up in this room was turned on and working.

Johnny sat down and I made it a point of curling up next to him. "Tell me, Johnny. Tell me how you rule Boston."

I wasn't a lawyer,but by the time Johnny finished talking, I was fairly certain he had confessed to a host of different crimes. If Law & Order had taught me anything, there was definitely conspiracy, kidnapping, extortion, and hints of homicide sprinkled throughout his ego-fest.

I hadn't even had to do much. I just showed the initial interest in his business, told him I thought it was hot and he did the rest. I really hoped that Max was somewhere on the outside listening in and was able to get this over to someone with authority to do something about it.

Not only had he implicated himself, but he had implicated Mark and my father as well. Of course, everything he'd said had been without names and there had been no mention of my mother or Max's friend.

I still couldn't believe how simple it had been to get him to talk. But, I supposed that was the danger of ego. It eliminated your fear, to your own detriment.

"Johnny, wow!" I said, still curled up next to him. "I never imagined you were in charge of so much. It's like you're connected to everything."

"In a way, yes," he replied with a smug smile.

"How lucky am I?" I replied, still carrying on the act because I wasn't sure what else to do at the moment.

Johnny must have seen it as a sign that this was his chance to move in on me because he pulled me close and I had no way to pull away. "You are very lucky," he replied before bringing his lips closer to mine.

His eyes were closed and I grimaced as his lips pressed against mine. I kept my mouth shut firmly even as he tried to push into it clumsily with his tongue. A knock on the office door was proof that God still existed and enjoyed toying with his subjects.

"Johnny? Max Holt is waiting outside. He said he was scheduled to pick you and Ms. Madelyn up this morning?" It was Eleanor.

I used the opportunity to blush and pull back from Johnny.

"Tell him to go away," Johnny barked, trying to pull me back into him.

"Johnny, that would be rude," Eleanor replied. I had a feeling she knew what was going on behind this door and was doing her best to save me from it.

"I don't care," Johnny yelled back, sounding almost childish as he tried to move back into me.

"I am not telling that man to simply go away, Johnny," Eleanor said sternly through the door.

"Fucking killjoy of a hag," Johnny muttered under his breath to my horror. I sat frozen to my place on the couch as Johnny got up and wrenched the door open. Eleanor was standing there and I turned to look at her and gave her the smallest of nods, trying to thank her for what she was doing. "Do you enjoy making my life miserable?" Johnny asked her as he breezed past her.

She turned to follow him. "You'd be nothing without me, Johnny. Don't forget that," she said in a scolding tone.

I got up from the couch and made my way out into the foyer of the house. Max was standing there and I drank him in. He looked tense and I wondered if he'd been able to hear just what had gone on in the room in real-time. It would certainly explain his sudden and unannounced appearance.

"Max," Johnny said in an extremely annoyed tone. "I thought I told you I would let you know when I needed you this morning."

"Yeah, you did," Max replied. "But, then it became afternoon and you still hadn't said anything and I wasn't gonna risk being late, so I made my way over."

Johnny growled. "I didn't text you because you weren't needed."

Max shrugged. "You said morning."

I jumped in to try and calm things down. I reached out and grabbed Johnny's hand because he looked about ready to punch Max in the face with it. "Johnny, it's okay, really." I looked at him with a warm smile, and he seemed to calm down. "Besides, we have plenty of time to spend together. I don't have any reason to return home," I said, the words heavy in my mouth. "Perhaps we could have lunch and do some more touring and then return here?" I proposed.

I waited for his answer and internally prayed that our outing would give Max enough time to get something in the works because I did not want to spend the night under Johnny's roof again.

Johnny looked at me and then back at Max before finally nodding. "Go on and get in the car," he said. "I'll be out in just a minute."

I squeezed his hand before pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Max's knuckles turning white. I hated making him feel this way, but I loved that he did. It was an odd contradiction, but my whole life had been like that recently.

Max turned on his heel quickly and I followed him out the door and into the Escalade. When the doors were shut, we both started speaking at once.

"Did you--"

"I went--"

We both paused and then he said, "You first."

"I got him talking in his office," I let rush out. "Just like you said to."

"Yeah," Max said. "I heard it all."

"How?" I exclaimed.

But Max shook his head. "No time for that now."

"Is it enough?" I asked him.

He was quiet for a minute before Johnny walked out of the house. "I hope so," he said before we both had to act like we were nothing to one another.