Page 91 of Emerald

“Really?”Pedro asks.

I nod.“I’m not proud of it, but I did what I needed to do to survive.”

“And survive you did,”Pedro adds.

“I’m not happy that he didn’t tell me about his sons. I feel taken advantage of,”I confess.

“If he had asked, would you have done it?”

“Si.”

Pedro’s eyes narrow.“Most women wouldn’t, they think it is disgusting.”

“I’m not most women. Manuel is a handsome, rich man. I would do just about anything to stay by his side and be a part of his privileged life.”

“Anything?”He grins.

“Yes, anything. It is why I am in here with you.”

Pedro rubs his chin.“Are you only after his money?”

I shake my head.“That is a bonus, but I am after the security he can provide. I’ve struggled all my life, I’m sick of struggling.”

“I like your honesty. Many women before you haven’t been so honest.”He nods.“You are the first woman Manuel has brought in and requested that he wants you to be his. Most women are disposable to him.”

My fists dig into the duvet upon hearing that. How many women has Manuel disposed of?

“Has Manuel told you what he does for a living?”

“He is a businessman.”

“That is true. If you want to be by his side, you should know the truth …”Pedro states.

“The truth?”I ask quietly.

“Si, the truth. I think you and my wife will get on fabulously, you are so much like her when she first came here.”My heart thunders in my chest, he’s talking about Anna.“She was a gift to me from some business associates. The moment I saw that woman I was mesmerized and not willing to share her. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and never in my life did I think she would ever fall for me.”

The sound of a door banging against the wall and heels click clacking against the floor echoes through the bedroom.

34

ELENA

“And yet here you are still fucking around with whores,”Anna’s voice states angrily as she steps into the light, and I see her holding a gun.

Shit.

“Princess, it’s not what you think.”Pedro gets up trying to placate his wife. And all I can think about is this is truly Anna. I try to catalog the changes. Her hair is blonder, her nails longer, and she is covered in fake tan. She is covered in diamonds. And the moment she looks away from her husband and sees the woman he is with she stills, blood rushes from her face as she turns gray as if she has seen a ghost and she’d be right, she has. But in that millisecond of a moment, I know she knows it’s me, her friend. I give her the faintest smile before schooling my features.“She is Manuel’s new woman.”

“Manuel’s?”she asks still pointing the gun at me.

“Si, princess. He wants what we have and it’s with this woman. I brought her in here to question her not to fuck her,”he tells her.Which is utter bullshit.

“He wants to marry this woman?”Anna asks, her blue eyes narrow on me as she slowly lowers the gun to her side, but Inotice she doesn’t take her finger off the trigger. She’s not fully relaxed. Will she shoot me?To keep her cover, I’m assuming she would.

“I cannot speak for my friend, but he asked for her to be his,”he explains.

“His?”she questions.

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