He looked at the INS agents and said, “Don’t you have first jurisdiction over me?”
One of them shrugged and said, “Well, we would but this marriage business might take a while to check out…”
“I’m not married,” he said. “It was a sham, okay. Send me home.”
Aaron and I watched all of this play out with fascination. Right up to the last minute Igor had gone for self-preservation and personal gain. Aaron had his arm around me and we watched as he was led out to the waiting police car. He wrapped me in a hug and I realized then that all of the other patrons in the diner had been cops.
“You cleaned out the diner?”
“The police did,” he said. Then he grinned and said, “I just bought a couple hours of their time.”
“Thank you, for everything. I love you.”
He brought his sexy lips down and kissed mine with them. Then he said, “You want to go for a walk?”
“I’d love to,” I said.
As we walked along I asked him about the police and the INS and what would really happen to Igor.
“Well, the police and the D.A. are not going to want the headache of trying to prosecute him on the blackmail charges. Now that there is no trace of a marriage certificate he is no longer allowed to be here. INS will more than likely deport him before the police draw a case together. I also have the assurances of their Captains that not a word of this will be leaked. Everyone from the diner was sent home before he showed up. The people there were all cops, so there are no bystanders to report it. Igor will likely go home to Russia and thrive there in the mob. I can tell by his tattoos that he’s a part of it.”
“Wow, I married a mobster. I really am stupid.”
“You are not. I will be the first to admit that you made some stupid decisions, but who doesn’t when they’re feeling desperate. Just know that he is out of your life for good. He won’t be back and he has nothing to use against us now anyways.”
I hugged him again and said, “Thank you so much, for everything, but mostly for forgiving me for the deceit.”
“I do forgive you, but remember, no more secrets between us, okay?”
“No more,” I told him.
We walked along the sidewalk hand in hand and as I enjoyed his company I reveled in the fact that there were no more secrets between us, nothing but love and a bright future to look forward to. I suddenly saw a beautiful colored fountain in the middle of one of the squares where people sat around talking and playing music. I looked into it and saw that people had been using it as a wishing well, throwing in quarters or pennies. An idea struck and I reached into my jacket pocket pulling out Igor’s ring. I’d managed to forget that the offending item had lurked there since our previous fateful meeting in the diner. I closed my eyes and wished that I’d never be stupid enough again to let anyone convince me to lie to Aaron about anything. Beyond that, I had everything I wanted, all of my wishes and prayers had been answered.
Holly Rayner
The Billionaire's Forgiveness (A Winters Love Book 3) Page 7