My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

"Doris? Why are we here?"I asked, looking up at the brick ranch house that I knew too well. The old white Chrysler Town Car was sitting beneath the carport just like it always had. It was as if nothing had changed. Except that everything had.

Within the days following my father and Mark's arrest, the two of them, in an attempt to throw one another under the bus, confessed to everything. Mark implicated my father in my mother's murder, and my father implicated Mark in the cover-up of both my mother's murder, Billy’s murder, and quite a few others at the behest of Johnny.

I knew it wasn't exactly the revenge Max wanted for Billy’s murder, but in some ways, it was better. Max and I visited Billy’s grave the day after everything had happened, and I could tell Max felt at peace and that he'd finally done right by his friend. It was the same for my mother. Neither Johnny nor my father would be tried for their murders directly, but they would suffer the consequences for the parts they played in their deaths.

Johnny, of course, was being tried for a host of horribles, but had not given any statements. In a rare move that shocked most of Boston, the magistrate judge had refused to grant him bail. So, he was spending his days leading up to his trial behind bars.

The evidence was stacked so high against him, I wasn't sure whether it was hubris or just plain stupidity that caused him to plead "Not Guilty," but he'd done it, and all of Boston was waiting for news of when his trial would be set.

I kept in regular contact with Laura through all of this. She told me it would be quite some time before Johnny's trial went forward. Big cases like this always took a while. But even still, I was told to stay close because I would be a key witness in the case. Even though I wasn't under witness protection, I was still being protected. Max had shown up at the mansion the morning after everything had happened, and he hadn't left my side, except for this afternoon, when he said he needed to run an errand and that he'd be back.

Max was the government's other key witness, but he didn't seem as concerned for his safety as they did. But, from his perspective, he'd lived next to Johnny, under cover, for over five years. He knew the ins and outs of the family and how it worked. Max was anything but imprudent. So, if he wasn't worried, I wasn't too worried.

My father, on the other hand, did not have the temperament that Johnny had. He'd jumped at the chance for a plea deal and pled guilty. From my understanding, his sentencing would be delayed until after Johnny's trial and his testimony. That way the judge could reduce his sentence, but only after he behaved himself.

The business had been audited, of course, and anything that had been gained through illegal means had been forfeited as part of the plea deal. However, the business itself wasn't illegal and the legal operations had passed 50/50 to me and my sister as my father's successors.

Scarlett had not taken Mark's confessions well. With a strength I'd not expected of my sister, she immediately filed for divorce and had told me she wanted nothing to do with the family or the business any longer. In some ways, I wondered if my sister also felt like this was a rebirth for herself. She was finally claiming a life that she wanted.

She agreed to let me buy out her side of the family business for a small sum because sadly, the business's legal aspects weren't worth much. But, in the span of a week, I'd gone from the fiancé to a mafia Don, to the boss bitch of my own business. Life was weird, but at least my gilded cage was gone. I'd already signed up for business classes at the local college, and until I felt ready Doris was going to help me run things because she knew a surprising amount about the day-to-day logistics.

"Come on," Doris said. "There's something waiting for you inside."

"Okay," I said slowly, getting out of the car. We walked up to Phil's house and I smiled. I knew I'd only spent a few weeks here, and it seemed like a lifetime ago, but they were happy days for me.

We stepped inside and I heard quiet voices talking in the living room. Doris and I headed towards the sound and I turned the corner to see Max and Phil sitting across from one another, Phil drinking a beer and Max chuckling lightly at something he'd said.

As we entered both men stood and Doris shooed them back into their seats. I made my way over to Phil and hugged him. "Hey, little miss," he said to me. "Glad to see you safe," he said as I nodded my head. I pulled back and Doris made her way over to Phil and the pair sat down. It looks like they'd reconnected and I was so happy for it. I looked at Max and he put his hand out, inviting me to stand next to him.

"What's this all about?" I asked him as I approached. I looked at him and then at Phil, who was looking at us both with an approving smile.

"There was something I needed to ask him before I could ask you," Max said to me. He looked at Phil who nodded his head and stood.

"Come on, love," he said to Doris. "Let's get you something to drink."

"What?" Doris huffed. "I want to stay!"

"The kids have some things to talk about," Phil said, all but lifting Doris into the kitchen. "You can see them after."

I giggled as Doris was basically carried into the other room, complaining the entire time.

I turned back around and gasped. Max was on one knee in front of me.

"Max, no what are you doing?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "At least let me ask you before you say no, princess," he joked.

I clasped my hands over my mouth as I realized what I'd just done. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry! Please, start over."

His smile was genuine and he pulled a little box out of his pocket. Max looked down at it as he started to speak. "Two months ago I met a princess who decided to lay on the floor in an evening gown while talking to a guy the rest of the world was scared of. This girl seemed entirely intent on breaking the rules. And she sure as hell broke all of mine. My rules were pretty simple. Rely on no one but yourself, trust no one but yourself, and don't fall in love. That last one wasn't really even a rule I had to think about anymore, because I'd become so incapable of it.

"I don't know how you did it, Madelyn, but you smashed through each one of my rules. I thought I'd protected myself with bulletproof shielding. But you came along and showed me just how vulnerable I really was.

"And for the first time in my entire life, I'm okay with that. Because it's you. And, because I love you. So," he said, opening the box, "if you'd do me the honor of breaking that last rule for good, I'd really appreciate it."

Tears streamed down my face as he spoke his truths to me. I didn't want to stand above him any longer. I wanted to be down on the floor with him. I collapsed into him and he caught me effortlessly. I looked up at him with tears streaming down my face.

"I never thought I'd be free from the life that was chosen for me. I thought I'd be doomed to read the lines in a play that was written for me for the rest of my life. You saved me from that. You saved me from everything, Max. I only broke your rules because you broke the bars of my cage first."

His lips pressed against mine and the tears mingled between our lips. I wasn't entirely sure that I was the only one crying anymore, but that was okay. I wasn't sad and I knew he wasn't either.

He pulled back and brushed his callused hand across my cheeks, wiping away my tears. "So, is that a yes?"

I nodded my head and a grin broke out over his features. "Of course it's a yes," I said. He pulled the ring from the box and slipped the small piece of metal on my finger. I looked down at it and gasped. "Doris hooked a guy up," he said as I recognized what was on my finger.

It was one of my mother's rings. Not her engagement ring, but I was glad for that. The last thing I wanted to wear on my finger was something my father had given her. Instead, this was a simple band that I remembered her wearing when I was a child.

"It's not a diamond, but it was the only thing of hers left," Max started to say, but I shook my head and looked into his pale gray eyes.

"It's perfect."

Max held me close and pressed his lips to mine. In that moment, I never felt freer.