Mafia's Ex Wife

Chapter Twenty Four

Elisabeth (5 years ago)

"Where have you been?" I lean against the door frame watching Jax fumble around the kitchen like a bull in a china shop. It's like the harder he tries to be quiet, the louder and more erratic he is. Cabinets slamming, feet stomping. At this point, he's probably woken the neighbors up, too.

My voice startles him, but he gets a goofy grin on his lips when he sees me. "Hey Babe."

He takes a beer out of the fridge, popping the top off on the edge of the granite counter and I cringe. By the looks of him and the slur in his words, he's already had plenty.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"You mean with the damn marching band performance you're putting on out here?" I raise an eyebrow. "No not at all."

Ironically, he didn't wake me up but only because I've been up for hours wondering where the hell he was and why his phone was off.

"Oh she's spicy, tonight." Jax smirks, leaning back against the calendar.

I get a whiff of a sweet floral scent I wouldn't be caught dead in. "Why do you smell like cheap perfume?"

"Because I own a strip club, Elisabeth."

I hate when he says my name that way. Almost like it's an insult.

I walk further into the kitchen, debating my next move. Jax is obviously drunk, but I'm not going to stand here and let him lie to me.

"Except you weren't at the club. Because I was there."

Jax jerks his head up. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from there?"

"I was there because we were supposed to meet be meeting Sammy and Ben for drinks, remember?" I roll my eyes. "Well of course you don't, because you didn't show up."

There's a flash of remorse in his eyes as he steps forward, closing the distance between us as he snakes his arm around my waist, pressing my body into his. "Fuck Lizzie, you're right. I totally forgot. I'm sorry."

He bends his head forward, nuzzling into my neck. The scratch of his few day old stubble sends an electric rush through my core. Sometimes I hate how viscerally my body reacts to him. Like I've got absolutely no control.

Not tonight, though. I want to know the truth.

"Do you forgive me?"

"For standing me up on a date, leaving your phone off, and then stumbling into my house smelling like another woman and trying to gaslight me into thinking it's because of the club? Not a fucking chance." I twist out of his embrace and put some distance between the two of us. "Tell me where you were."

Jax clenches his jaw, slumping his shoulders as he realizes he isn't going to sway me so easily. "Do you know how many dumb, submissive, fall-in-line women come through my door each day? There are dozens every single day. And of all the ones I could have fallen in love with, it had to be you." His smirk turns into a sweet, gentle smile as he takes me in his arms again. I don't fight it, letting him hold me. "I had to fall in love with the brilliant, hard-headed lawyer. Obnoxiously independent. Fiercely loyal. Gorgeous brown eyes that see into my very soul. The only person in the world brave enough to tell it to me like it is."

"Do you ever wish you'd married one of those girls instead?" I almost choke on the words. His life would be a hell of a lot easier in more ways than one if he had.

Jax's eyes darken like he's offended I would even ask.

"Not for a single fucking second, Lizzie."  His lips find mine in a rough, demanding kiss that reaches down to my toes. He fists my hair, pulling back just enough to make my core vibrate for him again. He growls, "Don't ever let me hear you question that again."

"Okay." My teeth sink into my lower lip, heat simmering in my stomach. God, I love when he dominates me like that. I may not be the submissive type on the outside, but that's all I want to do when we're in the bedroom. Lay down at his feet. Let him throw me around. Feel his strong hands at my neck. I want to be at his mercy. Dominated. Owned. 

There is nothing in this world that he could ask of me that I wouldn't do. 

He loosens his grip, but the feeling is still there. 

"I was with Frank." Jax says. It strikes me as odd that whenever he talks about his dad, he is his first name. "He wanted to talk more about the deal with Bruno. He doesn't think I should take it, and he hired some girls to come and try to convince me to see things his way."

My heart skips. Jax and I have enough for hills to climb in our marriage without having to deal with the constant interference from his family.

"Nothing happened." Jax says before I can even ask. "I saw what he was doing, and kicked them out before they even had a shot."

Relief floods me. It's not that I don't trust Jax, it's that I don't trust anyone else. Case in point, Frank. He knows Jax and I are happily married, so why would he bring girls there to try to tempt him? The thought of it makes my skin crawl.

"I should have told you, and I'm sorry I didn't. I just knew you'd be upset and there's already so much contention between us and my parents. And I definitely should have called and told you I wasn't going to make it to dinner with Sammy and Ben. I honestly completely spaced it. my mind has been all over the place lately."

I feel for Jax. He has the weight of his entire family and organization on his shoulders, and he wants to do right by everyone. Unfortunately, that's not possible. not in the Mafia world, or the real world. Someone is always going to be upset by the decision you make. 

The emotion in his eyes catches me off guard. Jax is tough as nails both inside and out, and  it's rare that I see any break in that. When I do, it guts me.

"It's okay.'" I say.

"No, it's not." He shakes his head. "I was an asshole tonight, and no matter what I have going on, I should never let it affect you." 

"Aren't we supposed to be a team?" 

"We are a team." Jax rests his forehead on mine, gently thumbing my cheek. "But it's my job to protect you, not to make you feel inferior or give you doubts about our relationship. You're the most important thing in the entire fucking world to me, Lizzie. You know that, don't you?" 

I swallow the lump of emotion in my throat. "Of course I do, Jax." 

"Good." He nods. "I want you to always remember that, okay? No matter what happens in the next few months, I want you to know that. Every second of my life, you were and are the most important thing to me." 

There's something ominous about what he says that feel heavy in my heart. It's meant to be reassuring, but why does it feel like he's about to go off to war? Like he's preparing for battle? Preparing to not come home?

"Just sit up here, baby. Let me make you feel good. Let me make it up to you."

I want to ignore the dread in my chest, but I can't, and as he sets me up on the counter, inching my panties and disappearing between my legs, tears pillow in my eyes.

The end is coming, and I can feel it in my bones.