Mafia's Ex Wife

Chapter Three

Elizabeth

When I go back inside, a blanket of goosebumps cover my body.

Seeing Jax again after all this time is like seeing a ghost. Like he's someone I knew in another lifetime, maybe even an entirely different world. Like he's someone I buried years ago, and now he's back, risen from the dead.

He haunts me in the same way as a ghost, too. Jax is danger personified. With that hotter than sin smirk, the Glock hidden underneath his shirt, and all his smooth-talking, he's a threat to every shred of this quiet, idyllic life I've built—not to mention my sanity—and he knows it. Not only knows it, but it thrills him.

For a moment, I wonder how he even found me, but then I remember this is Jax Hale we're talking about. I should have known that, sooner or later, he'd show up out of the blue like this. I couldn't hide from him forever and his return to wreak havoc on my life was just a matter of time.

He isn't angry or vindictive like I expect, but maybe the trauma of losing Emily weighs down his volatility. There's a little more scruff to his chin and a more mature look in his eye, but he's got his same charm and that chippy cockiness you hate to love.

His Harley roars to life as he peels out of the driveway, and I get an all too familiar quivering deep inside. For a moment, I'm nineteen again, sitting on the back of that bike, clinging to him like my life depends on it. I can still smell the leather, taste the whiskey on his lips. The winds rips through my hair as he guns it faster and faster, chaos and passion and the entire world at my fingertips.

Part of me craves that out of control, larger-than-life feeling again, but I made my choice a long time ago, and as the noise of the bike fades into the distance, so does that nostalgia. I have to protect my family now. Not just from Jax, but from the girl I was when I was on the back of that bike with him.

"So that's the famous ex-husband, huh?" Mike arches an eyebrow at me as I shut the door, locking it behind me in some sort of half-assed attempt to put even more resistance between myself and Jax.

"Not what you were expecting?" I ask as he follows me back into the kitchen. I pick my wine glass up and down it, ready for another. Tonight took a turn I wasn't ready for, but it's got me oddly calm. The worst thing I could imagine was Jax showing up here. It was what I feared the most all these years, what weighed heaviest on my mind, what kept me up at night anxious and panicked. Now it's happened and I almost feel relieved, but maybe that's my optimism talking though, and I'm just in a state of shock.

Mike lets out a sharp laugh. "Uh, no. I pictured way less Hell's Angel's and a little more prep school Polo star when I imagined the guy."

There is a hint of insecurity in his voice that I don't recognize. Mike is the quiet and subtle type of confident. Even though he could, he doesn't flaunt his dominance or intimidate others or throw his wealth around like candy. He's not the guy I have to defend my choices to, or be careful who I talk to or spend time with, and he never questions me or our relationship. Always steady, never anxious or insecure. Reliable and honest to a fault. The man is the pillar of composure, and when we met, it was that right there that caught my attention.

But I saw the look in his eye tonight, and Jax makes him nervous.

Jax makes everyone nervous, and that's exactly the way he likes it.

Leaning back against the counter, I grab Mike's hand and pull him into me. "He's the ex for a reason, Mike. You know that, right?"

"Oh, yeah." He grins, gently brushing his lips across mine and kissing the corner of my mouth. "I'm not worried about that guy." This time, he kisses my jawline, and I tilt my head to the side. "He had his chance, and he blew it, and I thank God every single day that he did."