She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and gnawed on it. Yes, she wanted to confide in Maya, but how much could she tell her? She decided to throw caution to the wind. She’d got to know her boss well since she’d been working for her and she thought she had the measure of her. Maya wouldn’t judge her, she was sure of it. The problem was that Maya was blissfully happy with her partner, Cole, and it seemed a stretch to imagine someone who’d found such love would ever understand what she’d done. But she had to tell someone.
“We’re not a couple in the traditional sense,” she hedged, dusting off her already-clean hands on her apron.
Maya frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean by that.”
Aria sighed. “About eighteen months ago, my mom got sick. Cancer. When she told me that she’d been diagnosed, she also told me that she didn’t have any health insurance.”
“Oh, Aria,” Maya said, her expression filled with worry.
Aria nodded. “She had a little bit of money, but the cost of treatment was so high, and she barely had enough saved to cover half of it. I used all of my savings trying to cover the shortfall, but it still wasn’t enough.” She sniffed. She wasn’t going to cry, no matter how hard it was talking about this. Not again. “We were twenty thousand dollars short, to be precise.”
“And there was no one you could go to for help?”
Aria shook her head. “Mom’s sister has passed away and her children weren’t in a position to help us out.”
“So, what did you do?”
Aria lowered her head. “My mother’s nurse overheard us talking about the medical bills and she took me to one side. She was Mexican American and said her brother had a Mexican friend whose visa was about to expire…and he was looking to get a green card.”
Abruptly, it was too hard to look at her boss. Her friend. She ducked her head and stared at her nails as she forced the rest of the words out.
“She said if I was interested, he would pay me the twenty thousand dollars to marry him so that he could stay in the country.”
“So, you did it, you married him?” Maya’s voice was even, but Aria could tell she was working hard to keep it that way. She took a deep breath and nodded.
“The nurse set up a meeting between me and Diego and we talked. He was well dressed and so charming. I figured he’d come from a rich family and just wanted to live in America. At least, that was the impression he gave at the time.”
Maya gave her a pitying look. “But it wasn’t true?”
“No. It wasn’t. I got the money for my mom and I married Diego. Later, I learned that he’d worked for a Mexican drug cartel. He stole from them—that was how he had the money to pay me.”
“Oh, Aria.”
“I know.”
“So, you’ve never beentogethertogether?”
Aria huffed out a laugh that was devoid of humor. “You mean, have I ever slept with him?”
Maya nodded.
“No, never. He has to live in my house in case immigration comes to check, but we’ve never been together sexually.”
“And the violence?”
“That, um, that came later. He was okay at first, polite, even nice sometimes, but he started to get more and more agitated about something. He wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, but it was obvious that whatever money he had stolen was gone. Then, I overheard him talking to his friend, Mario, and he said that the cartel had caught up with him.”
Maya’s eyes widened. “Is he sure?”
Aria shrugged. “I don’t know if he’s just being paranoid or if they really have found out where he’s been hiding.”
“We have to tell Cole about this,” Maya said.
Aria’s eyes widened. “What? Are youcrazy? No!”
“Aria, Cole works for the FBI. He might be able to help you. If the cartel really has found out where Diego is, then you could be in danger. What if they come to your house? If he stole a lot of money from them, they’ll kill him, and do think they’ll want witnesses?”
Aria shuddered. She’d had the same thought herself, of course, but there was nothing that could be done about it.
