Page 26 of The Don

I hold my hand up to her. “You can stop now.”

“Why?” Adele appears confused.

“Spousal privilege.”

Her jaw tightens and her eyes narrow. I don’t care that I’m not married to Ruben. They think I am, and I’m using that to my advantage. Adele takes a sharp breath and stands. “Here’s my card.” She reaches into her pocket and extends her hand with a business card. Storm growls at her, and she places the card on the table. “If you ever want to get out of this life, call me, and I’ll help you. I’ll put you into WITSEC.”

I take the card and offer her a small smile. I know exactly what I’m going to do with this card once they’ve left.

Adele walks out of the room without turning to look at me again.

I stay seated for what feels like an eternity before all the agents leave the house. I stand and head in from the patio. Storm is following behind. Ruben’s office door is open and I can hear him and Josh talking. “Excuse me,” I say, making myself known.

They immediately stop talking, and Ruben stands from behind his desk. “My apologies, I should’ve come and checked on you already.” He runs his hand through his hair and intakes a deep breath. “Are you okay?”

Josh is still sitting and he looks over to me. I take the business card and slide it across the desk toward Ruben. “She wants to offer me safe haven in exchange for information on you.”

Ruben looks at the card. Josh leans across the desk and takes it. “I might use this for myself.” Ruben flicks him a murderous look. “Or not.” He places the card back on the table.

“I see.” Ruben looks at the card, picks it up and hands it to me.

I look at the offensive square and shake my head. Storm nudges my leg. “It took a while before it occurred to me that they thought we were married, so I claimed spousal privilege.”

“Shit,” Josh murmurs.

Ruben looks to Josh, then to me. His smile is enough. “What are the implications for Eliza?”

“She perjured herself.”

“No, I didn’t,” I say. “They assumed we’re married. It’s not my fault they didn’t do their due diligence.”

“What exactly did you say to hottie Adele?” Josh asks.

“She was attempting to offer me WITSEC, and I stopped her and said two words. ‘Spousal privilege’.”

“That’s it?” Josh asks.

I nod as I push my fingers into Storm’s fur coat. “They assumed Ruben and I are married because of my last name. Is that my fault?”

Josh snickers and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Reality is they had no idea who you were until this morning. You’ll be on their radar now and they’ll figure out that you’re not married to Ruben, but Adrian. And I know Adrian is on their radar, so I’m amazed they don’t know you’re his wife.” My shoulders tense at Josh’s words. “They might try to come at you for defrauding them.”

“It’s not my fault they didn’t do their research and made assumptions,” I repeat.

Ruben chuckles. “We’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it. But for now, Josh, you can leave.” Josh stands and gives Ruben a handshake, then offers the same to me. But Ruben clears his throat, forcing Josh to retract his hand. What’s that about? Once he leaves, Ruben gestures for me to sit. “I have to apologize for you having to go through that.”

“I have a question. Something I’ve been thinking about.”

“What is it?”

“Adrian would tell me that if I ever left him, he’d kill me first then turn the gun on himself.” Ruben stiffens in the chair, he crosses his arms in front of his chest as a vein protrudes on his temple. “Do you think I could ask Josh if he can get me an annulment? Or a divorce? I don’t want to be associated with him anymore.”

Ruben shifts in his seat while his nearly black eyes are locked on mine. “There’s no divorce in this family, Amorina.” I feel all the air leave my body. I’m stuck with the monster. “But it doesn’t matter in your case, because soon you’ll be a widow.” The hardness doesn’t leave Ruben. He looks at the card and lifts his eyes to mine. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep that? It might come in handy at some point.”

“I don’t like bullies, Ruben,” I repeat the same words I used earlier. “They have no interest in me. They only want to advance their own careers and that’s all. If I helped them—which I won’t—they’ll go home and forget about me. I deserve more than that.”

“Yes, you do.” His arms relax and he’s not as intimidating as he was only moments ago. “Adrian will die, but I’ll always look after you.”

My heart flutters with his kind words. “I want to be able to look after myself...” I pause and stop before I say something that might cause Ruben to laugh. It’s best I end my sentence there.

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