I Married a Mob Boss

Chapter 1: The Bachelorless Party

I stirred my drink in between catching glances at the man—sitting across from me at booth in an all-night diner—whose ring I had on my left finger.
"Sadie, I know what you're thinking, but I promise I can explain," Zach said with the same sad puppy eyes that had begged me to go out with him over three years ago.
"Two years, eight months, and nineteen days... that's how long I've known about "The Boss." Three years, six months, and five days... that's as long as I thought I've known you... and you expect me to listen to anything you have to s..."
"Think about it Sadie. There's a reason there's a gap in that time..." Zach pleaded.
I nearly knocked over my drink. "You mean to tell me you became... The Boss... after we met?"
"You found out about my existence only weeks after I started."
There were so many questions I had, questions that I didn't really want answered.
But he knew what these questions were, and he started answering them anyway.
He took a deep breath. "I witnessed one of the largest deals go down in the history of the gang. I knew immediately that I wasn't going to be the lucky one to go into witness protection... and... honestly... I wouldn't have been able to bear it. I would rather have died, rather have gone to jail, than to be free to do almost anything I wanted with my life other than be with you.
So I panicked, and somehow, that panic fueled a genius plan. It was easy to come across as a college kid, no parents, desperate for money. I rose through the ranks in a matter of weeks. I knew then there was no getting out of this. I became The Boss after you arrested Dick Truitt."
"On our two months anniversary... I left dinner early..."
I stared at my ring.
"Have you killed anyone?"
"Yes." Zach said, without hesitating.
I didn't cringe. He knew I had too.
"Who? How many?"
"Only those deserving of it. Only those who had killed innocents. Which is almost everyone so it's not that hard to seem like a normal heartless mob boss."
"You know the only way out is death..."
Zach sat back in his seat. "Technically, yes. But I was planning on passing down my title after we married. Sort of... retire."
"You could do that?"
Zach smiled. "I'm the boss, darling. I can do whatever I want."
Everything he was saying made sense. I could tell he wasn't lying.
So why was I...
Oh, right...
I'm a detective.
"Why can't we just rat everyone out? Arrest everyone. Then we can go as normal..."
Zach shook his head. "At this point, there isn't a way we could do that where I don't end up still going to jail for a very long time. Coerced or not, I have still done a lot of illegal things in the name of trying to protect innocents."
"That's your thing, then? Innocents?"
He laughed. "I'm a nurse, Sadie, remember? The only difference between me right now and the Zach you fell in love with is that this Zach lived to see today. I have had to do some things I wish I didn't, but I have never brought harm to anyone other than those who deserved it."
"But this gang... they smuggle drugs to high school kids... three died of overdose last year..."
Zach grew irritated. "Unfortunately, that's not my...division... but I'm working on it. I'm working on it."
I paused. He knew that I could tell he wasn't lying. I can always tell when people are lying.
That's when I couldn't hold it in anymore.
He saw the first tear, and immediately his face fell.
"What am I supposed to do?"
Zach slowly reached his hand toward mine. I didn't move when he took it, but I didn't have the strength to squeeze it back either.
"The way I see it, you have three options. 1: you turn me in to the police. I won't lie. I'll come clean. I have evidence that I was coerced, so that'll at least buy me some grace. You go down as the best detective in history and I'll help you unravel the rest of the mob and then I spend the rest of my life in prison. 2: from here, we go our separate ways. I know you believe me, so you can trust that I'll keep doing my best to end this mob. You keep doing your best on your side. No one needs to know what the other knows."
He moved closer.
"And three..."
He reached his hand out and gently touched my face. I finally looked him in the eye.
"And three... I get to marry the love of my life, and we take down this mob... together."
My mind immediately started to race with options... especially the third. Could I really have it all?
"Sadie? What do you say?"