Easter's Lilly (34 page)

“
We made it,” he said to me. “We made it,” and he gave me that boyish grin. “It’s Easter Sunday and not one got shot.” He laughed. “Just joy and love.” He looked over at his brother. “Things are going to be different now.” Hector hugged him and then me.

Johnny shook Max’s hand and hugged me. Then he whispered in my ear, “If you ever change your mind, I’ll be here.” Max pulled him away by the back of his collar.

“
I don’t think you want to mess with me today,” he said to Johnny. Johnny looked at him disparagingly.

Hector grabbed John and said, “Where are you going to stay while you wait for the trial. I hear it starts next week.”

“
I thought you and Max would put me up,” he said. “Max and Diego have that huge house.” He looked at Max. “Come on, you’re married now, I’m no threat.”

“
You were never a threat,” he corrected him. “But you’re still hitting on her, I don’t want you around.”

“
Come on Max, we can keep an eye on him this way,” Hector said earnestly.

“
Lilly?” Max asked. “How do you feel about him staying with us? The trial could go on for months.”

“
If he becomes a problem, I’ll let you know,” I answered. “Really, I promise.”

“
Okay,” he said. “But the first time I see you trying to stick your tongue down her throat…” He didn’t finish but Johnny got the picture.

As we were heading out the door a man walked over to me with an envelope. “Lilly Montiago?”

Max pushed me behind him and said, “Who wants to know?”

“
Is she Lilly?” I began to feel frightened. I knew Easter was a bad idea.

“
I’m her husband, what do you want?” He reached around Max and handed me the paper. “You have been served.” He turned away and high tailed it down the hall.

“
Diego probably had her subpoenaed to testify,” Hector assumed. I opened the envelope and looked at Max in surprise. “I don’t know anything about Diego’s business. What could they possibly want from me?”

“
To discredit Max,” Johnny answered. “Expose your affair… that kind of thing.”

“
Crap!” I blurted. “This is just great!”

“
It’s fine,” Max said. “I didn’t really hide it from Diego.” He paused and smiled for a minute. “Not very well, anyway.”

Hector laughed and said, “You think?”

“
He knew about it and I never denied it. Besides it took us four years to consummate our relationship. Who waits four years?”

“
Like anyone is going to believe that?” Hector mentioned. “I still don’t believe that.”

“
What about you?” Max said to Hector. “You were warming Olivia’s bed for years.”

“
Yeah, we probably should have stayed away from their wives.”

“
You think?” Johnny said sarcastically, following Hector’s lead.

“
I’ll call the lawyer in the morning. But tonight is our wedding night.” He handed the keys to Hector. Go ahead and take everyone home,” he suggested. “Lilly and I have to consummate our marriage.”

“
A little late for that,” he said, holding Chris in his arms. “Just kidding, go have fun.” Then he put the baby back in the stroller. “I’ll take care of Chris for you,” he said to me. “He drinks from the bottle now, right?”

“
Yes, thanks Hector. There’s formula in the diaper bag.”

“
I’ll watch Dieguito,” John assured us. “I’m glad to have time with him.” They waved and took off down the hall. Little Diego kissed us and helped Hector push the baby carriage down the hallway.

Max and I got our key to our room and he carried me over the threshold. It was our first night as husband and wife and our last night without any strife. We were going to have to start the trial and I would be seeing Diego every day again. As Maxwell took me into his arms I tried to push back all the craziness that was ahead of us. Max was so romantic and so gentle with me. To him it was like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. We made love all night long. He never tired. By the time we fell asleep it was almost daylight. When he finally woke he put his arms around me and said, “Is it over already?”

“
Yes daddy, it is.” I turned to look into those ocean blue eyes.

“
Do we have to go back?”

“
Yes daddy, we do.”

“
Baby girl…” he whispered. “I’m so in love with you.”

“
I love you more,” I told him.

“
That is not possible,” he said. And we began to get ready for our day. We had to call Mark and get started on our testimony. But we were finally married. I felt so safe. I was ready.

—

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 will 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

The trial had already been put off twice, which made the baby seven months old. Dieguito’s birthday passed with not much more than a kiss. We planned to celebrate his 5
th
birthday party right after the first day of the trial. Hector and I went out and bought balloons, streamers, a cake and gifts for the birthday boy while Max, John and Mark went over the trial. It was amazing to me how time was flying by and we seemed to have no control over it. I was so mad that I had to testify. I really wanted to put this whole ordeal behind us. We walked to the courtroom and met Mark outside the door. “Diego and Jorge are in there, Lilly. Brace yourself.” Hector, Max, Johnny and I all followed Mark into the courtroom. By now we had to hire a nanny to care for the boys. I didn’t want them exposed to any of this ugliness. I was glad when I got there, that little Diego was not with me. Diego and Jorge were in shackles at the front table. I imagine there was some fear about their trying something devious, since they had already escaped once. Hector and Max sat with Mark and John and I sat behind them. The judge came in and we all stood. Then she let us all sit back down. Strange custom, I had always thought. Diego’s lawyer was Vanessa Hernandez; we knew her well. She represented Diego in the divorce hearing. Diego looked at me and smiled. Then he blew me a kiss. I had forgotten how handsome he was, though the thought of him putting his hands on me was still a repulsive memory. I feared getting called to the stand so much that my stomach was sick.