Easter's Lilly Read online

  Mark came over and brought all kinds of papers with him. I guessed they were from Max and Hector’s work all those years in the organization. “Lilly,” he said, “I understand you have been subpoenaed. Let’s talk about your affair with Max.” I sighed.

  “I know this kind of thing can be embarrassing but no surprises. You need to tell me everything.”

  “We didn’t have a physical relationship for the first four and a half years,” I answered. “We only started sleeping together when Diego wanted to get me pregnant.”

  “No sex?” He looked at Max for confirmation.

  “No sex,” Max repeated.

  “You can’t really say you had no physical relationship,” Mark continued. “Was there touching?”

  “Oh God!” I put my hands over my face.

  “I know this is embarrassing, but if you tell me now, I can defend you better.” He looked back at Max.

  “No, there was no fooling around,” Max insisted. We hugged on occasion but that was all. I was too afraid to get her in trouble. I didn’t want her to slip and call him by the wrong name. I was worried about her safety.”

  “Did she ever sleep with you in your bed?” he asked.

  “She slept with me one time,” he admitted. “There was no sex. Diego raped and beat her at the hotel. She took a cab home and came to me. She asked me to make love with her but I refused. I did ask her to stay with me though, so I could hold her and comfort her.”

  “Hmmm….” he continued. “Yeah, this is going to be hard to prove. I’m guessing that no one with believe you.”

  “All I have is the truth,” he answered.

  “So, you decided to sleep with her because Diego wanted to get her pregnant?” He paused. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Max put his hands over his face this time and said, “Oh this is starting to get uncomfortable.”

  “Take your time,” Mark told him.

  “Diego asked me to leave her alone so he could…” He paused. “It turns my stomach to think about it,” he told him.

  “So he could what?” Mark asked.

  “Win her heart. He wanted to make her fall in love with him and then get her pregnant. I was sick.”

  “So, you decided to get her pregnant instead?”

  “I just wanted to lay with her; just once before I lost her to him. So, she took me to bed that day.” He reached over and stroked my hair. “She asked me to get her pregnant. We had just found out Olivia was pregnant, so I guess the idea was there. She asked me not to use protection.”

  “I see,” he said. “Diego would think it was his baby when actually it would be yours.”

  “That was the plan. Not a good one, I’ll admit, but it was all we had. I knew I’d get her out of there soon, so… well here she is.”

  “This looks a little premeditated.”

  “How so?” Max asked.

  “You got her pregnant, knowing you were going to help her divorce him and marry her.”

  “Yeah…” Max said sarcastically.

  “You’re an FBI agent on a case. You’re not supposed to… sleep with your work or should I say…” he started to laugh, “take your work home with you.”

  “Ha ha ha,” Max said. Then he pointed to Hector and just like a little kid said, “He did it too.”

  “We’ll get to him later,” he went on. “You did a very unprofessional thing and got personally involved in one of your jobs. That will not look favorable for you.”

  “Well, I rescued her. She would have been a casualty of war and I didn’t want that.” He sighed. “Besides, I was already personally involved. Diego’s my brother.”

  “True,” he agreed. “And you did know he was using Lilly as leverage. Maybe we can use that. You can say you were trying to keep her safe and you fell in love with her in the process.”

  “That is what happened,” Max answered. “I was her bodyguard.”

  “Okay,” he said. “That shines some light on why you ended up spending so much time with her.”

  “It was my pleasure.” He winked at me.

  “Okay, Hector, your turn.” He looked over at Hector.

  “Yeah, I’m not as moral as my brother,” he added. “I slept with Jorge’s wife because I could. She wanted me to and I did. The fact that I fell in love with her was a consequence. When Jorge found out she was pregnant he assumed it was mine. It wasn’t.”

  “Yes, I know it was Diego’s.”

  “I thought she would come with me after the arrest but…” He hesitated. “She didn’t.” He looked quickly at Max and then down at the floor. “So, she used me and I used her. I think that is really all that can be said about that.”

  “You loved her, Hector, don’t cheapen it.” Max got up and walked over towards him. Then he put his arm around his shoulder. “You loved her.”

  “Okay,” Mark said. “You fell in love with your brother’s wife too. You boys are in big trouble.”

  “We know,” they both said at once.

  “Jorge used to beat her and I mean severely. I felt sorry for her and wanted to love on her. Eventually I became possessive of her and before I knew it, I was in love with her. But she obviously did not return those feelings. I think I was her refuge in a storm. Nothing more than that.”

  “You are only human, after all,” Mark answered. “This crime stuff is hard to watch from the sidelines without getting involved in rescuing the casualties.” Then he looked at me. “You just tell the truth. Diego ignored you and didn’t even want anything to do with you until the night you discovered Johnny was still alive.” He was reading some account that Max had written up for him. “You were already in love with Max by that time and it was too late. Tell the jury exactly what you told me. Also tell the jury how Max didn’t hide the affair. Diego sent him away to get you pregnant. Tell it exactly the way it happened. Max is a good man. I’m sure it will come across that way. The trial starts tomorrow. Before they begin with Max they will bring you out to make him look bad. Just tell the truth.”

  “I can do that,” I said. “Max saved my life. I owe him.”

  “Don’t say that,” Mark continued. “Tell them how much you love him.” I laughed and reached for Max. He sat back down next to me and pulled me onto his lap.

  “I promise, it will be over soon and you and I will be together in our house with our kids.” Johnny winced. I wasn’t sure having him around was such a good idea but I did want to make sure he didn’t run. I really wanted Diego put away forever.

  CHAPTER 27

  Always so much drama.