“People attest on the stand that I’m an honorable and upstanding man, so I can’t possibly be Nammota.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” she asks, hopeful.
“Not entirely. If we go this route, then the prosecution can call their own character witnesses to the stand. I’ve made more enemies than friends in my life, so it might benefit them more than me.”
“Well, you have me, Kevin, Shelly, the guys at Kelex, your family…”
“My sisters might take the stand unless my father puts pressure on them not to.”
“He’d do that?”
“Of course. He and Miriam have decided to keep their distance and treat me like the black sheep of the family—which isn’t completely wrong.”
“They’re such assholes,” Andrea protests, appalled.
“It won’t look good to a jury that my own parents won’t take the stand for me.”
“We can still make it work. I’ll testify the shit out of your character, baby.”
“That’s another reason I’m reluctant to go this route,” I explain, lowering my voice. “I can’t have you and the people I care about put on the stand to lie for me. Perjury is a serious offense, and I won’t see you or Kev hurt by this.”
“So what? We don’t lie?”
“I’ll make sure my lawyers don’t put you on the stand, so you won’t even have the temptation to do it.”
“But the prosecution will, Lex. They’ll have me on the stand like last time. And I don’t care what you think or what you want, Iwilllie.”
“Andrea, you need to be reasonable about this. Even if you lie, I might not make it out of here. But if you’re caught doing it, you risk prison time. Obstruction of justice, accessory to a crime, you pick one. They can get you in serious trouble.”
“If the situations were reversed, wouldn’t you lie for me?” she asks, irked.
“What I would do doesn’t matter. I’m asking you not to.”
“Then we have a problem, Lex. Because lying is probably the least problematic thing I’m willing to do to get you out of here. The prosecutionwillhave me as a witness, and Iwilllie to save you.”
Irritated by her stubbornness, I blow air out of my nose and lean back on the stool. I look away, trying to calm down, and my hands come together on their own to crack knuckles. Andrea stays quiet as well, seemingly as annoyed as I am by this turn of events.
Suddenly, she lets out a small gasp, like she’s had an idea, and leans forward, drawing my eyes back to her. A smile is on her lips, and her eyes twinkle with excitement, pleased with her epiphany.
“Let’s get married,” she blurts out.
I can probably count on one hand the times my brain has entirely stopped working. And all of them were because of this unpredictable woman. This one, though… It’s a whole other kind of dysfunction.
I don’t even have time to fully grasp the implications before my brain commands my mouth to say, “No.”
I know why she’s suggesting it, but the mere idea is revolting. She deserves so much better than a grim ceremony in the prison’s chapel, followed by a nonexistent honeymoon. There are no conjugal visits in federal prison, so we wouldn’t even be allowed to have what could resemble a wedding night. But even if any of that were acceptable, I’m not doing this to her, knowing I might be locked up for the rest of our lives. Bullheaded like she is, she’d probably refuse to divorce for years to come, and I can’t let her do that.
“Lex, spousal privilege,” she insists. “They can’t make me testify if we’re married.”
“I know, but no. I’m not marrying you, Andrea.”
“What is so preposterous about us marrying?” she asks, offended.
“I’m not marrying you forthis.”
“Then do it because you love me, and because I love you. It’s not like we weren’t heading there, anyway.”
“In a couple of years, maybe. But this—”
