If I can get her to fess up, I can make her go with me to talk to Papá about what the cartel’s got up their sleeve, and then we can deal with them without triggering part two of the nasty scene that took place eight months ago. This is the plan I managed to come up with since discovering the phone last night, and it’s the only one I can think of that potentially has the least collateral damage.
I don’t want to kill anyone else, I sure as fuck don’t want to get killed, and truthfully—despite the fact that she’s here specifically to killme—I don’t really want Natalia to get killed either.
I mean… Idolove her. This crazy-as-fuck turn-of-events didn’t magically erase all the feelings I’ve developed for her. That shit’s only going to go away withtime.
So,no. I don’t want her to die. She and all her cohorts just need to be in fucking jail for life. To make that happen, I just need her to fess up and work with me, so I can clue in Papá, and then he can work with the Feds to deal with these assholes once and for all.
And Elle is going to help me with the first step in all of that.
“Hey, Elle,” I pipe up over the conversation, spearing a scallop with my fork and pointing at her. “If someone’slying, is it true they can’t look you in the eye when they’re talking to you?”
Elle blinks her light green eyes away from Colin, who’s seated to my left, and looks at me. “Um…” She crinkles her brow as she chews, swallows, and wipes her mouth with her napkin. “I mean, not necessarily. Why?”
Lili has been chatting up a storm with Natalia the whole time we’ve been sitting here, and Natalia’s been politely engaging her between ladylike bites of wedge salad, butnowshe cuts her eyes sideways at Elle.
“Oh, I’m just wondering.” I pop the scallop into my mouth and wink at Natalia while I chew, then look back at Elle. “So, is that not actually true? That when people arelying,” I say with emphasis, focusing Natalia in my peripheral vision, but looking in Elle’s direction, “they don’t always avoid looking you in the eye?”
Elle squints at me like my questions are one-hundred-percent left-field. She lifts her glass and takes a long sip of water, and Natalia picks up her knife to cut a piece of lettuce into tiny pieces, taking dainty bites of it like she’s just trying to occupy herself without looking suspicious.
Oh,baby girl. You’re justadorable, but alsocompletelysuspicious.
Elle sets down the water, and is about to speak, but then Colin cuts in.
“Who the hell do you think is lying to you, buddy?” he asks, casually leaning back in his chair and smoothing the line of buttons down his shirt.
I flit my hand dismissively. “The realtor.”
Colin cocks his head. “Really.”
I stab another scallop. “Yep.” I jerk my chin at Elle. “You were about to say…?”
Elle folds her forearms across the table. “I was about to say, if someone’s lying, they might actually stare at you, but they might look away for a second because they’re trying to think of what to say next.”
I point at her with the scallop on my fork and thenIlook away from her for a second—probably because I’m totally lying right now—and look at Natalia. She’s staring at her cut up lettuce. “Is that so?”
“Yeah.” Elle turns her hand over in a gesture. “There was a study a few years ago that said something like, people who are lying are more likely to stare at you than someone who’s being truthful because everybody thinks people who are lying can’t look someone in the eye.”
“Now that isinteresting,” I say with gusto and a swing of my fork before stuffing the scallop into my mouth.
“What are you even talking about,mano?” Lili pipes up. “When was that realtor lying to you? She was literally in the lobby the whole time we were in the condo.”
I shrug as I chew and swallow, and Natalia is still staring at her plate of now-wilting lettuce. “Like, right before we went up there. And when we left.”
“But what would she belyingabout?” Lili laughs loudly and picks up her mimosa to salute me with it. “I think you’re paranoid because the Californiaprimosare definitely coming after you at some point, so now you think everyone is out to get you.”
Have I mentioned that I really friggin’lovemy sisters? That was theperfectfriggin’ thing for Lili to say just then because Nataliadrops her fork.
Everybody notices the clatter of Natalia’s fork against her plate, and Lili sucks in a gasp. “Ohsnap, did you not tell her about theprimosyet?”
Natalia’s head is cast downward, her hands suddenly covering her face, and she nods. “He has… and that’s… that’s…” Her breath hitches, and an actualsobbursts from her lips. Then she looks back up at us, and now, her eyes are welling up, and her nose is turning pink, and this is fuckingrich. “I just… I’m so sorry for this. You’ll have to excuse me.”
“OhhhhmyGod,” Lili mumbles, setting down her glass and throwing an arm around Natalia’s shoulders. Shetsksat me, shooting me a stink eye. “Joaquin, why are you just sitting on your ass while she’s all upset like this?” She glides her gaze to look directly at Colin. “I knowColinwould never just sit there whileEllegot all upset. He’s already a better husband than you.”
Thatcomment has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the fact that Lili’s been in love with Colin her entire life and is bitter about him getting together with Elle, but never mind that. Lili has a point, and I have to keep using little moments like this to keep shaking down Natalia so she’ll fess up.
So, I jump out of my chair and cross around the table to help Natalia stand up and step away with me.
I guide her to a corner of the restaurant and hold her upper arms while she stares at the floor. “Natalia, look at me.”
