“Ryan noticed something odd about one of the smaller accounts that shouldn’t have had any activity. He could see where all the money was taken out and then the next day all the missing money was deposited again.” I glance over at Joey, who has sat up and is now leaning with his back against the wall. “Ryan digs some more and finds out Joey has been taking the money and gambling with it all over town. He thought he could put it back and no one would know.”
“It was only a hundred grand. It was nothing,” Joey says defensively.
“Nothing to you because it was in my pocket,” I say and take a step closer. “You used my money as your piggy bank, but you didn’t stop while you were ahead. You lost it all, and when you couldn’t pay it back, you went to the feds.”
Jema gasps from behind me, and I’m glad she understands the severity of what Joey has done.
“Joey tried to roll over on all of us, but we have friends at the feds who helped us out. They brought him to us and told us what he tried to do, but that’s not his worst crime,” I say, and Joey presses his lips together like he can keep me from saying it out loud. “Come on, tell her what you did.” Joey shakes his head, and I turn to Jema. “He offered you up as payment.”
“What?” Her eyes widen as she looks at me and then at Joey.
“The feds brought Joey to me at the warehouse, and he knew you’d track his last location. The night you fell and hit your head?” She nods for me to keep going. “He was counting on you coming and told me that you were his payment. He said I could do whatever I wanted to you to cover his debts.”
“Jems,” Joey starts to say, but she cuts him off.
“You knew I’d come save you and that’s how you treat me?” I see the anger in her eyes, and I step between them again.
“When you showed up at the warehouse, I pretended to not know why you were there. I was trying to scare you away, but you wouldn’t give me a straight answer. Then you ran.”
“And you always chase,” she says.
“It’s because I love you, Jema. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were the one.” Reaching out, I cup her cheek, and to my relief, she leans into it. “I knew I had to protect you, and all I could do was hope that you’d fall in love with me before you got your memories back.”
“I do love you,” she says softly. “And whether all of my memories come back or not, I’ll still love you. I know in my heart that no one else has ever protected me or taken care of me the way you have.”
Joey tries to say something, but it comes out choked and unintelligible. When I glance back at him, I see there’s more blood pouring out of his mouth, which means his lungs are now filled with it. There’s nothing that can save him, although I have no intention of trying to.
“If you’d like to take Mrs. Roven upstairs, I’d be happy to clean up this mess,” Edward says.
“Thank you,” I say to him as I lift Jema into my arms. “Right now, I’d like to be alone with my wife.”
Epilogue
Jema
“You know, being a crime boss's wife isn’t as easy as people think. You’re lucky I take it very seriously,” I say to my husband as I finish putting on my red lip stain.
“Is that so?” Salvador fights a smirk in the mirror as he watches me put on my final touches.
“I mean, you didn’t really give me much of an option.” I remind him of his sneaky way of marrying me and how I didn’t get the chance to turn him down.
“Where that was concerned, kitten, it was never going to be an option.”
“I know.” I huff a fake breath of exhaustion. “The things I have to put up with.”
I love putting up with everything he does, and we both know it. Is it crazy the man all but kidnapped me and tricked me into this? Some would say so. I, however, find it romantic and loving.
My birth parents got rid of me, and now I have a man who would die before he'd let anyone else ever touch me. I’m sure that’s messed up in a weird, codependent way, but I don’t care. My husband is obsessed with me, and not only does he come with a lot of money but also a butler! I'm over here living the dream, so I'm not going to complain about it. Except to my husband, obviously.
"I appreciate your patience with me," Salvador says, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t laugh.
If anyone needs patience, it's him. He often says I'm a wild card and he never knows what he's going to get. Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to get with myself most days.
"You're welcome."
"Fine line, kitten," Salvador warns.
I mean, really, he's partly to blame for my antics. He encouraged it with "punishments," as he calls them. Weird name to call something I enjoy, but whatever.
