Page 160 of Risks of Temptation

He tugs me closer to him. "We will someday soon have a better life than this. I promise you."

I kiss him. "I'm happy with our life, Malin. I only ever wanted you. I am your wife. You are my husband. I have everything."

"Still, I will do better for you, I promise."

I wish he would believe me when I say I only care about being with him. It's the only thing in my life I've ever been sure about. But he doubts my words and I'm not sure how to convince him.

Malin is still in contact with Gustave almost daily. He finally tells me it's time to leave Belize and we go back to Mexico. A few days after arriving, Malin hangs up the phone and sits next to me.

"Are they okay?" I ask, as I always do.

"Yes. Gustave has several guards with Bernadette and Penelope. He's with William."

"What are they doing?"

"Trying to gain control of the cartels."

Several days later, I hear Malin on the phone. He has a towel around his body. "Goliath is dead, and Ryker killed him?" He paces in front of the window.

Who is Goliath?

"Kalim?" Malin tugs at his hair. "He needs to back off."

I put my arms around his waist and kiss his spine.

He clasps his hand around mine. "The President got approval for his budget increase on the War on Drugs. He'll have more money to outbid the others for control of the cartel."

My stomach flips. Malin explained to me about all the power the War on Drugs initiative gives the President. The increase in the budget accelerates his ability to have full control.

I've not seen the President since before Malin and I got married. He was at the event in Belize when I got food poisoning. If ever I was relieved to be sick, it was so I didn't have to see him.

But I still see his eyes. One day, I woke up in the middle of the night.

"What's wrong, ma belle?" Malin asked.

"The eyes in the bedroom suite Bernadette trained me in. They were the President's, weren't they?"

"Yes," he confirmed.

I tighten my arms around Malin and lay my cheek against his warm skin. I snap out of my flashback when he says, "There are reports Zoe got mobbed at the Texas border. She disappeared again. My money is on Dirk." Malin spins, dips down, and pecks my lips. His forehead wrinkles. "I'll see you soon." He tosses his phone on the bed. "Morning, my beautiful ma belle." He kisses me again, but this time, he moves me backward until the back of my legs hit the bed.

"Is everything okay?"

"It will be."

"Who is Goliath?"

"The Guatemalan drug lord."

"Ryker killed him?"

"Yes. But I don't want to talk right now, ma belle. We have an hour until we need to be in the car. There are things I need to do with my time." He kisses my collarbone.

Flutters erupt in my belly. "Like what?" I whisper.

He switches to French. "Make you claw my back and scream my name at least a dozen times."

We spend the next forty-five minutes lip-locked and sweaty. We take a quick shower. I take my purse, a lingerie outfit I like from the new collection he had delivered, and my Malin collar.