My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

Earlier that day...

I sat a safe distance away from Johnny's house in the parked Escalade. I'd gotten here a little over an hour ago, and I'd been waiting for my phone to notify me that there was something worth listening to in Johnny's office.

After I'd almost given up hope that Madelyn would be able to lure the big man into the space my phone buzzed, and I quickly put an earpiece in and dialed into the listening device.

"The whole thing was hand-carved," I heard Johnny say before Madelyn responded with a very forced, "Wow!"

I hated knowing that she was in that office with him, alone. More than that, I hated knowing that I was the one that had put her there.

"You're very beautiful, Madelyn," Johnny said and I bit down hard as I clenched the steering wheel. I knew she was doing this for me more than anything. She would never have gotten involved in this if I hadn't told her everything about my past. Her mother had been murdered and she'd never found the courage to do anything about it. But, I'd spurred her along and put her into danger as a result.

"Thank you," Madelyn replied awkwardly. There was a moment of silence and I wished I knew what was going on. If Johnny put his hands on her, I didn't know what I'd do.

"So," Madelyn continued. "This is the desk where you do all sorts of important business."

"I suppose you could say that," Johnny replied. I could hear his ego clear across town and I knew Madelyn was tapping into it.

"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."

I could almost imagine Madelyn's reaction to Johnny saying something like that to her. If she were free to do as she pleased, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have been listening to her kneeing him in the balls.

"Oh, I know that. But, I just really love the idea of being married to a powerful man. So, I'm just interested in what someone with that sort of power does." I grimaced, but I knew she was working her charm on him. I knew that all this, and the recording I was currently creating from it, would be what we needed to put this fucker away for good.

"You're powerful, aren't you Johnny?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," he replied, falling victim to Madelyn's obvious charm.

"Tell me about it. I want to hear about how you always get your way."

The next two hours was a confession tape unlike I'd ever heard any mafia don provide. While names were mostly left out, I got actions, dates, and locations of a number of unsolved crimes. All of this coming straight from Johnny's lips.

The most interesting of all was his explanation for why he was in Miami, something I had wondered about for a long time. It was the missing piece to go with the transcripts, Mark’s journal and the information the banker had given to me.

According to Johnny, he was oh so powerful and his street businesses did so well that he needed a way to "invest" the money. Apparently, Johnny flew from Miami to Peru to purchase gold. Likely from his cousin who was the Minister of Economy and Finance and operated several illegal-made-legal gold mines in the rainforest. The gold was purchased, flown back to Miami where it was handed over to a refinery, and turned into a legal commodity so that it could be sold in the open.

This was Johnny's newest way of turning illegal drug money into money that could be deposited at a bank. Apparently, his businesses had done so well that it had outpaced what a bakery could ever reasonably sell, and rather than open up additional locations, he'd decided to go big.

Madelyn was an expert at getting him to talk. She asked follow on questions, aimed at making him spill instances of bribery, extortion, and murder. He must have felt extremely safe inside the walls of his house for him to lay all this on the line. More than that, he was telling it all to Madelyn. He seriously underestimated the girl.

I thought about the last conversation I had listened in on between Mark and Henry. I thought about how Mark had told Henry that the Feds investigating him were from Miami. All of it made sense now. No one up North was investigating Johnny's drug business. That was old news, and the people in charge were already bribed enough so that the business could continue to churn.

But this new endeavor into the gold market was something else entirely. This involved a different set of government workers. Ones that Johnny didn't have as much control over. Ones that Johnny obviously didn't feel like he needed to worry about. But he was wrong. He'd overlooked their reach.

And, if I had anything to do about it, I was going to make sure he paid for it.

The tone of the conversation seemed to turn away from the business side of things and back to what had made me see red before. I threw the car in drive and headed towards the house. I already had the excuse worked out in my head about why I'd be interrupting.

I wanted Madelyn out of Johnny's office. And then, I wanted the phone number to the Miami District Attorney's office.

"I'm transferring the files now,"I said to the agent on the other end of the call. "When can your guys move in?"

The agent seemed stunned on the other end of the line. "That's not really information I'm willing to give out. But, do understand, we need to review and verify the information you're giving to us."

I all but growled through the phone. "Do you not understand what I'm saying to you? The girl who got you all of this information has put herself in an extremely compromising position to get it to you. I need the arrest to be made and I need to get her out of there."

"That's really outside of my concern at the moment. She's not one of ours. You and she did whatever you want to call this out of your own free will."

"I did this because no one in the government did their fucking job."

"Again, I believe you're referring to different government offices than the ones that I run. We'll be in touch if we need anything further."

"What the fuck!" I screamed as the call hung up.

I'd dropped Madelyn and Johnny off in the downtown area earlier that day. But, I knew that Johnny was going to want to take her back to his house again in the evening.

Almost as if I'd summoned it, my regular phone rang. I looked at it and of course it was Johnny. "Got a job for you. Get down to the basement."

It wasn't the call I'd expected, but I knew what it meant. Johnny had someone he needed dealt with. He did all his torture in-house. He didn't always use me, but I was the cleanest out of all his guys. I knew how to extract information without things getting too messy. None of this pulling teeth or cutting off fingers business you saw in the movies. I think Johnny had grown accustomed to my style.

I, of course, hated it.

But I was in it, and the only way out was through.

It didn't takeme long to arrive at the basement. My apartment was close to the North End bakery for a reason because this sort of life meant you were always on call. I made my way through the bakery and a few of the guys nodded as I made my way towards the back. They all knew what this was and no one was going to get in my way.

As I descended the stairs, I realized I just needed to put Madelyn out of my mind. If Johnny was here in the basement, that meant that she was at least away from him for the time being. She and I would just need to hold on for a few more days before the agents did what they needed to do.

I opened a door I'd opened too many times before--

--and froze.

Because it wasn't some gangster chained to the wall on the other side.

It was Madelyn.

"Your thing iswhatever I tell you it is. Now, my bride and I were just about to consummate our wedding. So, you're free to watch or you're free to wait outside," Johnny said as he walked up to Madelyn's prostrated form and unzipped his pants.

His hands tugging at her skirt was more than I could take. I walked up to him and pulled my own gun out of my holster. I grabbed the silencer from my other pocket and screwed it in slowly.

I already knew the gun was loaded and I clicked the safety off before pressing it to the back of Johnny's bald skull.

I let the metal dig in slightly and he froze.

"Max, what in God's name do you think you're doing?" he spat.

Madelyn was looking at me with those big blue eyes of hers and I could see the fear but also the relief reflected in them. It was sad, really, because this was no time for relief. What I was doing, what I was about to do, would seal both of our fates.

Neither of us might make it out of this room alive tonight. And that was all on me.

"I'm doing what I should have done five years ago," I said in a dangerous voice.

"I'll kill you for this, you know that, right Max?"

"I might not make it out of here alive tonight," I replied. "But, I'll die before I let you touch her."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Johnny replied, still holding deathly still but obviously confused by the situation. He hadn't suspected me at all.

"I'm talking about the girl," I said. "So go ahead and take your hand off her thigh, zip-up those pants and I'm going to let you take two steps back because I don't want your stench anywhere near her anymore."

"You fucking piece of shit," Johnny cursed, but he did as I instructed. The adrenaline coursed through my body but my hand holding the gun against his skull didn't shake. I had dreamed of pressing the barrel of my gun to this man's head for so long. That was the part I wasn't nervous about.

Johnny took slow steps backwards and I kept pace with him the entire time. "What now?" he asked me. "What's your plan now, Max, hm? You shoot me and every mobster in Boston upstairs is gonna hear it. You think you're gonna get away with it? What? You think you and this little slut are going to live happily ever after? You fucking cunt, you sealed your fate the moment you thought to double-cross me."

"Is that so?" I replied, enjoying how nervous he was getting. In some ways, I knew I had all the time in the world. Johnny could bluster all he wanted, but the guys upstairs knew what went on down here. A muffled gunshot wouldn't be anything of concern. More than that, they knew not to bother me when I worked.

"What? You think you're going to get away with this?" Johnny spat.

I chuckled darkly. "No. Not exactly. But, I do think I've gotten away with it longer than you know. Tell me, Johnny. Billy Thompson. Does the name ring a bell?"

"Who?"

I growled and pressed the gun harder against his head. "Better remember, Johnny. Your life fucking depends on it."

I could feel Madelyn's eyes on me the entire time. I hated that she was still chained up, but there was no way I could get to her at the moment. Worse than that, there was no way I could stop her from watching this. She was going to see what five years of living in the underworld had done to me.

She was going to watch all of it.

And then she would likely never look at me again.

"My mother," Madelyn said in almost a whisper.

"Shut the fuck up, cunt," Johnny said and I took the gun off his skull for just long enough to hit him hard in the head with it. He cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees and I placed the silencer back on him.

"You'll speak kindly or not at all," I said to him. "Now, Madelyn. What was it you said?"

"My mother," she replied, her voice steadier and the venom in her eyes returning. "What did you do to my mother?"

"I didn't do anything to your mother," Johnny hissed. "That was all on your daddy dearest. I just hired the guys to clean up after his mess. Man can't control his temper on the best of days."

Madelyn looked at me and I nodded. She had gotten her answer. Even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear, she had gotten it.

"Think again. Billy Thompson. War veteran and your murder victim."

Johnny chuckled darkly. "You think I know the names of everyone I have killed in this town? This shit is on automatic. Has been for years. Don't pay your debts? My guys think you might be a threat? They wouldn't hesitate to take care of something before it became a problem. I can see this man's death has consumed you. But know it's not something I've even been aware of."

I don't know what I thought I would get out of all of this. After five years, to hear Johnny say that yes, it was likely him that had ordered the death of my friend, but that he didn't even really know or care, was not something I had expected. I didn’t know what I expected, actually. But, it wasn't that.

My heart felt heavy but at the same time, it felt at peace. I wanted Johnny to suffer for what he'd done. I wanted him to suffer and then I wanted him to die. And while the suffering might have been a little expedited this evening, I wasn't going to let him walk out of this room.

At least that's what I had thought. Because seconds later the door behind me slammed open and the words "Everybody freeze," echoed through the black room.