Mafia's Ex Wife

Chapter Thirty Five

Elisabeth

I wake up to Jax lifting my body up so he can slip out from underneath me. Between the sex and our conversation, I was completely drained and I cried myself to sleep in his arms.

He held me against his chest as I sobbed, gently kissing my forehead. Inside, I knew Jax was losing his shit about his parents, but on the outside, he was calm and soothing.

At some point I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, the clock flashes 6:13AM at me from the bedside table.

The bed shifts as Jax swings his legs over the side, a cool emptiness against my back where he just was. At least I know it wasn't all a dream. 

"Where are you going?" 

Jax bends down, sweeping an intimate kiss across my lips that ends all too soon. "I should get out of here before Harper wakes up. I don't want to confuse her." 

I'm surprised how thoughtful the gesture is. With Mike gone, she's already out of sorts and depending on what happens in the next few days, her entire world could be turned upside down. 

My heart aches a little because it shows a glimpse of what kind of father Jax would have been. I never doubted he would be, but I know he did. It's why he never came after her, and why he's so willing to let someone else raise her. He's worried about messing something up. Hurting her. Letting her down. 

"Will you call me later?" I ask, my voice still heavy with sleep. 

Jax sits on the bed in the curve of my body. His fingers graze my cheek, brushing my hair out of my face and kissing me again. "Yes, but it will be late. I have some things to take care of today." 

Things to take care of. 

That's Jax speak for someone is about to get hurt. 

"Can I see you tonight then? After?"

"I don't know, Lizzie." Jax chews on his cheek. "I want to. So fucking bad. But today is going to be..." I lose Jax for a second, his eyes clouding with a familiar darkness that makes my throat dry. "You know it's hard for me to see you after I handle shit like this. Let's just see what happens, okay?" He gives me one last kiss. "Now get rest, baby. I'll talk to you later." 

For someone with confidence that announces itself before he even enters the room, it always catches me off guard when he doubts himself. He never used to like to see me after he went after someone or hurt someone. Even when we were married, there were times he'd sleep at the club or at Andre's because he didn't want to bring me into his darkness or he was nervous he might hurt me. He never in a million years would have, but he's got Frank running through his veins and that worries him. It's the same reason he wants to keep his distance from Harper. 

He doesn't want to turn into his father, no matter how deep he gets into the underworld. 

"Bye Jax." I whisper, fluttering my eyes closed. 

It's a few hours before Harper wakes up, and when she doesn't, she's ready for breakfast. 

"How do omelets sound?" I ask, taking her hand as we head downstairs. Somehow, after only a few hours of sleep, I feel rejuvenated. I hav a feeling it has much more to do with Jax than it does with the rest I got. 

"Yum!" Harper grins. "Can we put tomatoes in mine?" 

"Of course we can!" 

Harper loves to help in the kitchen. She helps crack the eggs, chop up some peppers and tomatoes and our omelets start to cook. 

Maybe I'm feeling sentimental, or maybe it's the realization that Jax knows about her, but I can't help but think about how much she reminds me of him. Her eyes are like staring into a time machine, the same deep brown color and almond shape of Jax's. She even has some of his mannerisms and it's incredible to watch. 

More than anything in the world, I want to see them together. I want them to know each other.

"Mama, is daddy ever going to come home?" 

Harper's question makes my stomach turn. I'm so mad at Mike for not calling her at all in the last few days. No matter what's gone on between he and I, he should still be around for her. He couldn't even be bothered to say goodbye and now it's been days and she hasn't heard from him at all. 

"Baby, daddy is busy with work right now, but I'm sure he misses you so much." I press my lips together, watching as she shrugs her tiny shoulders and takes my words at face value. Thankfully, she does't catch on that anything is amiss and within a few seconds, she's occupied by something else. 

We finish breakfast and I get her ready for school. She's still at the age where she's excited to go, and doesn't put a fight. I drop her off like usual, and I head to the library. With Arias out of jail, I have a very limited time to figure out what really happened to Emily. 

I find a quiet spot to work one I get there and open up my laptop. I've spent hours combing through Arias' bank records, but nothing is pointing me in the right direction. Nothing is pointing me in any direction at all, actually. The money just prepared out of thin air and I can't make any sense of it. 

Right as I'm about to give up, I find another statement. It's buried so deep down that no one probably ever expected it to be found, and I highly doubt it'll have anything ground breaking on it, but I look anyway. It's mostly just routine charges and deposits, but when I get to the bottom, my stomach flips. 

There are several transactions between Steven Arias and Jax. There have to be at least ten of them all for different amounts, but when I add them together, they total $25 million exactly. 

No. 

This doesn't make any sense. Why would Jax be the one to give Arias the money? I want to believe there's a reasonable explanation for it, but if there is, why didn't he mention it? When I told him about the money I found, why didn't he explain it then? 

Why would he ask me to look into something if he's involved in it? I reach for my phone to try to call him, but just as I do, I get another call. 

I don't recognize the number but I pick up anyway. 

"Is this Elisabeth Mason?" The voice on the other end asks. 

"Yes it is."

"My is Fiona Richards. I'm a nurse down at St Joseph's hospital. We had a patient brought in a few minutes ago and he says he's a client of yours--Steven Arias?"

"Yes, he is?' I wince. "Is everything okay?" 

"He was jumped a little bit ago ad he's in rough shape. Is there anyway you could come down here?"