Mad Max - Sapphire Knight Page 0,70

If anyone will even take it after this.

“Excuse me, darling? You’re speaking rubbish.”

My heart feels a sense of emptiness as I explain, “I won’t have a job here after this. I’ll probably end up in jail, let alone quietly shoved out the back door from the company. I’m a liability, and those don’t make decent partners to have in business.” It’s fine. I could be dead right now.

He grunts. “You want your job? I’ll take care of it. As for the cops? I’ll handle that too,” he assures me with a careless wave of his hand. He’s always so confident and sure in what he says, not contemplating the consequences. Those powerful suits he wears all the time certainly fit his personality, I’ve come to discover.

“How?”

He shrugs. “It’s what I do. This is mob business, any reach I don’t possess, Joker does. You have nothing to worry about.”

I tear up, so lost in life at the moment. I don’t know which way is up, only down. “And us?” I wait for the next blow to come. Will he send me to my parents’ home with men to watch me? Or another apartment? Will this be my life I have to look forward to, living apart, fucking when he’s up for it? What did I expect though?

He’s broken my trust before, and in return, I shot him and told him I hated him. I don’t though—hate him. Far from it, actually. The truth in that scares the fuck out of me.

“Us?” His brow scrunches. “You’re my wife. I know this life is hard, but I made sure to get here in time.”

I shake my head. Hard is an understatement. “We’re an absolute mess. Maybe we should just divorce and move in opposite directions.” I’ll have to find another church, sell my parents’ home, move cities, and get a new job. I don’t know what else to do. Without Max, Chicago no longer holds much of an appeal. Nothing does, and I’m sick of being lonely with him in the same city.

“Bollocks! I can’t do this anymore. Enough, Ismerlda, just bloody enough already. Come home. I need you there.”

“You need me?”

“I do. And I want you…like nothing I’ve ever desired before. It’s fierce, lovey, the way I feel for you.”

“I want you too,” I softly admit, and his lips fall to mine. He wraps his strong hold around me, my chest pressing against his firm frame. He’s never felt better than in this moment. My husband, my protector. Things are far from perfect, and I suspect they never will be; however, I hope we can build from this. No more pain or betrayal, just loyalties and promises kept to each other. “I’ll come home.”

“You belong there, with me. I don’t want to lose you again.”

I can’t believe he’s confessing this. Maybe he’s as shaken up inside as I am but is better at hiding it. There’s too much craziness in our world to hold back on how we feel. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all of this, it’s that. “You won’t lose me. I’m done holding myself back from you. I want our marriage, to be with you…us.”

“Then you shall have it, darling. It’ll be a wild ride indeed, but we’ll take it together.”

I offer him a bright smile. After the craziness of today, I’m ready to sit back and let him take care of things. I’m tired, and knowing I have the henchman by my side has an immense sense of relief flowing through me. I tuck my arm in his, my large diamond wedding ring sparkling in the sunlight. I want the world to see me walk out of this building in one piece, by his side. No one will ever doubt who my husband is, nor his wrath that’ll follow should they threaten me.

I’m Ismerlda Macintosh, and I’ve fallen for the Chicago Crew’s henchman, the right hand to the newest leader of the Chicago Syndicate. This city is their playground, the world at their fingertips, and you’re merely walking through it.

Give a man a mask, and he will

become his true self.

– The Joker

“It worked.” Thaddaeus smirks. The bloke is close to gloating, not that I can hold it against him. He’s right, it indeed worked.

“Were you doubting it? You suggested I set those Irish up after all, and frighten her right back into my arms. Worked like a charm. Too easy.”

He flashes teeth, his wild Joker smile making a quick appearance. “Of course not. We’ve both learned