Page 97 of Emerald

“Please tell me you didn’t rob the cartel?” I question her because that is fucking stupid if she did.

She smirks and shakes her head. “I’ve been told it’s about twenty million dollars’ worth of jewels.”

“Shit, you need to take it back and hope nobody notices it’s missing.”

“No one is going to know it’s missing because the owner gave it to me.”

I’m so confused, what is she saying? Did someone give her all this for her services? “Who’s the owner?”

“Anna.”

I still. Elena bounces up and down. “You saw Anna.” She nods enthusiastically. “You spoke to Anna.” Elena nods again and I can see how ecstatic she is. “How?” I don’t understand. Elena wraps her hand in mine, walks me over to my sofa, and asks me to sit. She snuggles up into my side as I wrap my arms around her.

“No one touched me tonight,” she starts off. Oh, thank goodness. “Manuel did ask Pedro if he could keep me, though.” My eyes bug out. “Pedro said he could, but I needed to fuck him first.”

“Wait, what?”

“And if I did, he would grant Manuel a divorce from his wife to marry me.”

“He said that?”

Elena nods. “I was then escorted into a room where Pedro Dominguez was, and he basically interrogated me, asking if I am okay with this life. You know, all that stuff.”

“No, I don’t but continue.”

“Anyway, Anna came barreling in with a gun and threatened to shoot me because she thought I was a whore.”

“She didn’t recognize you?” I ask.

“Not at first but then it was all a ruse,” she explains. Right, of course. “Then Pedro told her that she needed to get to know me because I was going to be Manuel’s wife. I’m not, by the way, going to be his wife,” Elena reassures me. Like hell, she will be. “When I got up to her room that’s when she dropped her role as Annika.”

“And then what?”

“We cried and hugged. It was fantastic. Apparently, she was never missing, it’s just what the agency told me so I wouldn’t go looking for her. They told her the same thing,” she explains.

“Why would they do that?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, but that’s what Anna told me.”

“She didn’t try to look for you?” I ask.

“She did but couldn’t find me just like I couldn’t find her.”

“You think you can trust her?”

“Yes, it’s Anna!”

“Is she still the Anna you know?” I question her.

Elena is quiet for a moment. “Some aspects she is.”

“What do you mean?” I push.

“She’s sleeping with Domingo.”

“She’s doing what?”

“Pedro knows about it. Apparently, he had testicular cancer last year and to secure his line every month she sleeps with Domingo to try and get pregnant.”

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