"Welcome everybody." Joseph said as he got about half way down the staircase. "Thank you for coming to celebrate the new contract we have signed with President Jefferson. I do hope that you enjoy yourselves." We made eye contact halfway through his speech. He didn't smile once.

By the time we had stepped off the last stair he was surrounded by tens of women all seeking for the attention of the most notorious eligible bachelor in the country. In my opinion the world. He gave them all small nods and continued on his way with each of them trailing behind him. I made my way towards him which proved to be more difficult than I had thought it would be. It seemed everybody in the room was begging for the chance to hold a conversation with him.

"Joseph!" I sort of raised my voice just enough to be heard above the rest. His head immediately snapped to the sound recognizing it as mine. "Could we talk for a moment? Please." Thankfully it was a bit quieter now that I held all the attention of the people around me. I was desperate to be in his arms again and seeing all these other women hanging on him was not helping at all.

He didn't say anything just nodded. He grabbed my hand and lead me from the crowded ball room. We didn't stop until we were all the way in his room. As soon as the door was closed behind him I wrapped my arms around him. There was no hesitation on his part. As soon as I hugged him he engulfed my in his arms. He buried his face in my hair and kissed me once on the neck.



"I missed seeing you. Holding you. More than you will ever understand." He murmured his head still hidden.

"Joseph. I am so sorry. For everything. For pushing you away, for blaming you, just everything. I need you in my life. I can't function knowing that you wont be there for me to talk to when things happen. It makes things not worth doing." I said while I brushed my fingers through his hair.

He sighed and pulled me tighter to his body. "I feel the same little one. I never want to fight with you ever again. That was torture. I can't even sleep knowing that you might be hurting because of something that I did or said."

I pulled away from his arms and stood an arms length away. "I love you Joseph Copland." A brilliant smile lit up his face.

"And I love you." A look of determination took a hold of his face. "Marry me." My eyes widened.

"What." I whispered looking him in the eyes to make sure that he meant what he was saying.

"Jessica I love you. I can't imagine a life that you're not in. You are my life now. I swear I will protect you, and love you, and care for you. You will never want for anything as long as I live." I stayed silent processing his request. It was so sudden. "Say yes baby." He took my hands and leaned his forehead down to rest against mine.

I nodded and closed my eyes. I did love him. His words were true for me too. Thinking about living a life without him was like trying to live without air. It just wasn't even possible. "Ok." I whispered.

"Ok?" Joseph said leaning back.

"Yes. Yes I will marry you." I laughed. He laughed along with me. This moment was surreal. He picked me up in his arms and spun around in circles.

"I'm going to be the happiest man on earth." He said when he finally put me back on the ground. I stared into his eyes for a long time just taking in the beauty of his face, and the life I just agreed to. I believed I would be the happiest woman alive too.

"We should get back to the party. I stole you away before you could greet anyone. I'm sure that they're all wondering where you are." I hated to end this perfect moment but there were responsibilities that had to be taken care of.

He sighed in disappointment. "You are probably right. If it were up to me we would stay here for the rest of the night." He wiggled his eyebrows surly suggesting something that made me both blush in embarrassment, and churn with excitement. He laughed at my reddening cheeks. "You are too perfect to be real. Too perfect to be mine." He said planting a kiss on my lips. I kissed him back thoroughly enjoying the feeling of his lips against mine. He gripped the back of my neck and pulled my waist closer to his body. He groaned and pulled away leaving my lips no doubt swollen and red. "I just can't get enough of you little Jessica. You're my own personal drug, but in my opinion much better than the real thing."

"You've done drugs before?" I asked incredulously. I didn't take him for the type which was stupid because he was a mafia boss. Obviously he'd done drugs before.

"Yes it was a bit of a problem actually. After my parents both died I didn't feel like I had anywhere to turn. Drugs were the only thing that I felt made me feel better. But it never lasted and then I felt worse after I came down. I have Matthias to thank for not being an addict to this day." I wished that I could have been there for him when he was young. Someone that he could trust and just talk to so he didn't feel like he was so alone.

When we got back to the ball room. It was just as before. As soon as he entered people stared and then rushed in to try to talk to Joseph. He however quickly steered away from those people and headed another direction with his arm firmly clasped around my waist. We stopped before a group of men that I recognized from the front of magazines. These men were the biggest fish here.

"Hello gentlemen." He said shaking hands with each of them. "This is my fiance Jessica." He introduced me. Suddenly I was self conscious that I didn't have a ring.

"Hello." I nodded at them. They all stuck their hands out for me to shake the women standing in the circle went in for a hug.

"I have heard about all the things you've been through together. Joseph must love you a great deal to go after you all the way in California." A man I recognized from my magazines as a very wealthy CEO. He too was a very handsome eligible bachelor. "You must be quite the woman." He sent me a wink and smirked. I knew in that moment to not be with this man alone. He didn't seem like the kind of guy that cared if a woman was single or not. He took what he wanted and damn the consequences. Joseph's arm tightened around my waist.

"Thank you." I smiled at him being polite and then quickly looked away. Conversation flowed freely among the group of people. I felt the eyes of the people around on me several times. It was becoming quite uncomfortable. I fidgeted in my spot. Joseph glanced down at me. He knew right away that I was not feeling this scene anymore.

"Gentlemen, Ladies, Its been wonderful talking to you but I think that we will be leaving now. I wish you all well." Joseph said excusing the both of us.

"It was very nice to meet you all." I smiled my very best smile.

"Likewise." And other comments like that were spoken back to me as I nodded to each of them.

"I think that went well don't you?" Joseph asked me as we made our way through the mass of people.

I nodded and smiled at him choosing not to answer.

We got stopped several more times before we made it to the door. Joseph was polite to each of them asking how they had been and then excusing himself as quickly as possible. My leg was beginning to throb. The pain killer I had taken before I came was wearing off. I winced every time I stepped on it.

"Jessica baby are you alright?" Joseph asked as I limped along side him trying to keep up with his pace.

"Yes I'm alright. My leg just hurts a little. The pain pills are wearing off." I said as we stopped for a minute. I gently rubbed the muscle around the wound. That some times helped with the throbbing.

"Here." Joseph swept my legs from under me carrying my in his arms.

I felt like I should've protested but I didn't have it in me. I was so much better than walking. "Thank you." I said and rested my head on his shoulder.

"You're welcome. I am sorry for keeping you standing there for so long. I should've taken into account that you were shot." He laughed a bit at the end, as did I.

"Yes you should have. How selfish of you." I said laughing with him.

We stopped at the top of the stairs. To the left was my room. To the right was his. Did I want to stay in my own room or did I want to stay with Joseph in his room. Joseph stayed rooted in his spot waiting for me to make a decision. I stared into his eyes. There really wasn't a decision to be made anymore. I didn't want to be alone. "Can I stay with you in your room?" I asked. For some reason it was a hard question to ask.

For the second time a brilliantly bright smile lit his face up. "I thought you would never ask." He turned right and to his room we went.

Once we were there I went to the bathroom attached to his room and washed the makeup off my face. I peeked my head out of the room. He was rested on his bed reading a rather large novel. "Joseph?" I called. He lazily raised his head in response. "Do you have something that I could wear to bed? All I have is my dress." He rose from the bed setting the book on the dresser.

"You can wear these." He handed me some of his clothes."They'll probably look better on you than they do on me." I thanked him and closed the door to put on the clothes he gave me. The shirt long enough to cover half of my legs. That was all he gave me so I figured I would change my underwear in the morning. The sneaky bastard I knew what he was doing.

I came out of the bathroom and went straight to the other side of the bed. The book was still on the dresser so I figured that he hadn't picked it back up and was just waiting for me to finish. His eyes followed me as I limped to the bed and crawled in beside him.

"I'm sorry that your leg hurts." he said pulling me to his side. I laid my head on his chest. "Do you want me to go get your pills from your room?" he kissed the top of my head and rubbed his hand up and down my arm.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just go to sleep. Besides it doesn't really hurt much if I'm not standing on it." I smiled up at him. He turned the lamp off on his bedside table.

"Goodnight Jessica. Sleep well." He whispered into the darkness.

"Goodnight. I love you Joseph."

"and I love you."

For the first time in a long time I slept without dreaming about the terrors of the world. I dreamed about the future that Joseph and I would have together.