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“As you wish.” Ivan gives the woman beside him a kiss on the cheek before walking behind Mr. Andres Cruz, also known as Andy to his family and the government, who has been trying to set up a base here on the island. “He’s lobbying with the current president for amnesty and a complete pardon of all criminal activities with the promise of the use of his men for protection. They’d become private sicarios for the government and he’d be untouchable, but to do so, they need us gone.”
“Okay.” Thiago nods while those around us all glare at the now crying man on his knees. “And Jadiel?”
Ivan tilts his head at the man kneeling beside Cruz. “This asshole was hired by Andres and his diplomat father to befriend you and gain access to our networks. The wife’s role in this operation was to open the door of initial contact via Luna by bumping into her casually and making small talk. That was their first mistake…” One of the compound guards walks over to my brother-in-law and hands over a file. It’s thick, and from what I can tell, it has a mixture of pictures and papers. “Mr. and Mrs. Rojas are guilty of bad decisions and greed, because their plan, after seeing the lavish life you lead, was to double-cross Andy and team up with our Colombian allies. They’d even contemplated kidnapping your wife to do so.”
“The Lucas family?” I ask, ignoring their attempt on my well-being. Their idiocy isn’t worth a second of my concern. “Do they not realize just how close this famila is?”
“No.” Ivan walks over to the wife now and hands over a sheet of paper with something written on it. “They’re much too confident to realize it would’ve been a death sentence on its own. Neither Alejandro nor Javier would’ve agreed to a sit-down. They’d be dead the moment either man stepped a single foot on Colombian or Chicagoan soil.”
“And how did Mr. Cruz take his paid informants’ plan of betrayal?” Thiago’s calculating eyes are on the wife, though. As if he sees something we don’t. “Or is this an eye-for-an-eye type of situation? She plays both sides—riding both dicks—and then claims loyalty to the man left standing?”
I know my husband, and he’s antagonizing Jadiel. But why?
Jadiel’s eyes snap toward my husband then. A cloud of disbelief and then anger sweeps across his expression. “What did you say?”
Ivan pats Mrs. Rojas on the head as one would a dog. “Read it or I’ll play the video. Tell your husband the truth.”
“Mr. De Leon, her part in this can be explained. Even though I know I’ll die here, I’ll vouch for her.” Andres’s words cause my brows to furrow. What the hell is going on? “Going into this, I knew the risk and so did my family. I’m not going to deny any of what we did, but I ask that you hear her out in private. It’s the least I can do for her.”
“Please stop. I’ll disappear...I’ll—”
“Your honesty is appreciated, Cruz, and because of it, we’ll deliver you to your family for a proper burial. However, she will do as she’s told.” Ivan’s words leave no room for either to argue. “Understood?”
“Yes,” they say in unison, both looking toward the floor.
“Tell me what, Belinda? What did you do?” her husband interjects then, but his pleas don’t affect her as they would a woman in love. No. This chick is afraid for herself. Saving her own skin while he’ll rot. “Motherfucking tell me!”
“Go on, Belinda. Don’t make him wait.” My eyes shift to Thiago’s, and he’s amused by this. Smirking at Jadiel. “Is she usually a liar? Does she sleep with everyone you meet?”
“She loves me,” is Mr. Rojas weak reply and for a very quick second, I pity him.
Anyone with two fingers’ worth of common sense can smell the deceit. I noticed it when she first approached me, how envy dominated her features, and then the desperation to gain my approval as a friend. What she failed to do in her research of me is take notice of how small my inner circle is. How I don’t trust easily.
Belinda looks at my husband, widening her eyes while trying to appear pathetic. “I beg of you...please, anything else. Spare me this embarrassment.”
Another strike for her and whoever did their homework on us; we don’t respect those who beg. And while I might not be as ruthless as the man I love, I do stand by the rules of my family always coming first.
“You have two minutes to explain.” Silence ensues, and I can’t help but look over at Andy after showing so much concern for her. Head down and hands twitching, his body is moving slightly away from his business associate. My husband notices this too and nods at Ivan. “Sixty seconds.”
“I slept with Andres.”
There’s a choking sound from the man she married. “You did what?”
“And?” This came from Ivan while the facial expressions of those around us are of distaste.
“And, they promised to let me walk away and disappear after all was said and done. That my husband and father-in-law would be dead, and the money they’d earned would become mine to start over again.”
“What’s your motivation for this?” I asked a few seconds later. “Why betray your husband?”
“Because he’s been my abuser since the day we met. He’s cheated and beat me for years, and this was my only way out. I’m desperate to end it all.”
Out of all the things she could have said, those were the only ones that could pull at my heart strings. Belinda could’ve been my mother a few years down the road. My mother could’ve pulled a crazy stunt like this to escape my father, and would I have condemned her for this?
The answer is no.
No, I wouldn’t have.
“Can you prove this?” Because if it were true, I’d plead her case, and by the small squeeze of my husband’s hand, he knows it too.
