One Month with the Magnate by Michelle Celmer Read Free Book Online Page B

in this case she didn’t have much choice. There was no way she could admit the truth.
    They sat at the small kitchen table in her mother’s apartment, having tea. Isabelle had been avoiding her calls for three days now, since she moved into Emilio’s house, but in her mother’s last message her voice had been laced with concern.
    â€œI went by the motel but they told me you checked out. Where are you, Isabelle?”
    Isabelle had no choice but to stop by her mother’s apartment on her way home from the grocery store Thursday morning. Besides, she’d picked up a few things for her.
    â€œSo, your new job is a live-in position?” her mother asked.
    â€œRoom and board,” Isabelle told her. “And she lets me use her car for running errands.”
    â€œWhat a perfect position for you.” She rubbed Isabelle’s arm affectionately. “You’ve always loved helping people.”
    â€œShe still gets around well for her age, but her memory isn’t great. Her kids are afraid she’ll leave the stove on and burn the house down. Plus she can’t drive anymore. She needs me to take her to doctor appointments.”
    â€œWell, I think it’s wonderful that you’re moving on with your life. I know the last few months have been difficult for you.”
    â€œThey haven’t been easy for you, either.” And all because of Isabelle’s stupidity. Not that her mother ever blamed her. She’d been duped by Lenny, too, and held him one hundred percent responsible.
    â€œIt’s really not so bad. I’ve made a few new friends in the building and I like my job at the boutique.”
    Though her mother would never admit it, it had to be humiliating selling designer fashions to women she used to socialize with. But considering she had never worked a day in her life, not to mention the indictment, she had been lucky to find a job at all. Even if her salary was barely enough to get by on. It pained Isabelle that her mother had to leave the luxury of her condo to live in this dumpy little apartment. She’d endured so much pain and heartache in her life, she deserved better than this.
    â€œThis woman you work for…what did you say her name is?” her mother asked.
    She hadn’t. That was one part of the lie she’d forgotten about. “Mrs. Smith,” she said, cringing at her lack of originality. “Mary Smith.”
    Why hadn’t she gone with something really unique, like Jane Doe?
    â€œWhere does Mrs. Smith live?”
    â€œNot too far from our old house.”
    Her brow crinkled. “Hmm, the name isn’t familiar. I thought I knew everyone in that area.”
    â€œShe’s a very nice woman. I think you would like her.”
    â€œI’d like to meet her. Maybe I’ll come by for a visit.”
    Crap. Wouldn’t she be shocked to learn that Mrs. Smith was actually Mr. Suarez.
    â€œI’ll talk to her children and see if it’s okay,” Isabelle told her. She would just have to stall for the next month.
    â€œHave you been keeping up with the news about Western Oil?” her mother asked, and Isabelle’s heart stalled. Did she suspect something? Why would she bring Emilio up out of the blue like that?
    â€œNot really,” she lied. “I don’t watch television.”
    â€œThey showed a clip of Emilio and his partners at a press conference on the news the other day. He looks good. He’s obviously done well for himself.”
    â€œI guess he has.”
    â€œMaybe you should…talk to him.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI thought that maybe he would talk to his brother on your behalf.”
    â€œHe wouldn’t. And it wouldn’t matter if he did. I’m going to prison. Nothing is going to stop that now.”
    â€œYou don’t know that.”
    â€œYes, I do.”
    She shook her head. “Lenny would never let that happen. He may have been a thief,