Mafia's Ex Wife

Chapter Thirteen

Turns out being a pretend lawyer is even more complicated than being a real one.

Still, I try to put all that out of my mind for now and sit in the quiet.

There's a knock at the door.

"Come in. "

The masseuse doesn't answer, but I hear her shuffle around the room. She pulls the sheets back, exposing my bare back as she took some underneath my hips. I hear the click of the lotion bottle and the bed shifts as she climbs on top of it, straddling me.

Woah. This is a little weird.

I've had dozens of massages before. Usually, she just stands next to the bed, but this is a new place and their five star reviews all boasted about a unique technique so I chalk it up to that. 

But when I feel a pair of rough, strong hand side of my back, it hurts me that my masseuse isn't a female. 

It's a man. 

And not just any man. I'd recognize that touch anywhere.

"How's the pressure?" Jax purrs, digging his fingers into my muscles as he rubs up and down my spine, taking special care right above my ass, thumbs swirling. 

For a second, I freeze, naked and pinned between his legs as he hovers above me, a flimsy white sheet the only thing between us. He handles me like he owns me, possessive and rough and expectant. My lungs sting with a smoky cider scent and I don't know how I missed it at the moment he walked in. What's worse is the way my body reacts to him. Have familiar his touch is. How I think about not stopping him. Just for a second, though.

This man has a lot fo nerve. 

"Have you lost your fucking mind?" I scramble, twisting my way out from under him and clinging to the sheet as I sit up on the bed. 

The grin on his face infuriates me. "What? You know I know all the places you like to be touched, Lizzie." 

"You are unbelievable." A flush creeps its way up my neck, and behind the nearly see through sheet, I have no hope of hiding it. If there's anything I hate more than Jax's antics, it's showing him that they work.

"Almost as unbelievable as you not answering your goddamn phone for four days." 

"Right." I press my lips together. "And chance the Costas' having my phone tapped? No thanks."

Jax chuckles and reaches into his pocket. "You always have been as smart as you are beautiful." He tosses a phone to me. "We'll communicate on this from now on." 

Great. A burner phone that I communicate with my ex-husband on. Mike's going to love that one. 

He's still on the bed, and just for me as I teeter toward the edge, trying to keep as much space between us as possible. His eyes settle on my chest, my boobs fairly masked with a thin sheet, and he makes no effort to hide it. "Now, what happened with Arias?" 

"Do you think we can have this conversation somewhere else?" I ask. "And possibly when I have my clothes on?" 

"We don't have many opportunities. Like I said, the Costas's are probably keeping close tabs until they can vet you." Jax looks tired. His hazel eyes are hazy and he hasn't shaved in days, that dark, peppered stumble across his jaw. "What did Arias say?" 

"Absolutely nothing." I roll my eyes. "If he did, I would've told you. In fact, he only barely agreed to let me defend him a few hours ago." 

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Jax, you hired me to do a job, and I'm doing it, but you don't get to dictate how it goes. This is my thing, remember? You're going to have to be patient here and stay in your lane. Just trust me, OK?" 

"Trust you." Jack's repeats. For the first time, his eyes fall away from my vulnerable body and it dawns on me that asking him to trust me after I ran out on him is a tall order. "Do you trust me?"

"Well, considering you broke into a spa room to confront me while I am completely naked..." I can't help but laugh. There are moments when Jax looks so young. So easy-going and relaxed and light. He looks like the man he used to be, and that shatters me, because that version of Jax was my favorite person in the entire world. "You know I do. With my life."

He nods. "I'm sorry. I just... It feels like all I've been doing is waiting and every second I left that bastard live, is another second I'm letting Emily down." 

"You're not letting her down, Jax. Honestly, I think if she knew what you were up to, she tell you to stop. She'd want..."

"Don't." The sharpness in his tone makes my blood run cold. He's never been so harsh with me, and I recoil away. "You've been gone a long time, Elisabeth. You don't get to tell me what she'd want." 

He's right. I know he is, so I don't press any further. 

"I put in a request to get the case file sent over. I'll let you know as soon as they come."

Jax nods again. "Thanks. I'll talk to you soon." 

He sweeps the kiss across my cheek before turning the door knob. Just before he opens it, he smirks over his shoulder. "You sure you don't want me to keep going? It's been a while since I've rubbed you down, but I'm pretty confident I could find my way around..." 

I toss a towel at him. "Get out!"