Page 55 of Sinful Obsession

Surprised, his brows shoot high on his forehead. “You like that?”

“I love everything about you. And you include Malone. Maybe you don’t like the man who fathered you, Archer. But you have to acknowledge the five sons he created. That’s a five-to-one ratio of decent versus bastard. The decent wins out. And…” I draw a deep breath, filling my lungs and expanding my chest. Then I release it again with a noisy sigh. “I suppose, no matter how this case goes, I could wiggle a week into my schedule, where I’m free to wear a bikini and drink from a coconut shell.”

“Really?” His smile lights up and stretches his face. “No matter what?” Then he scowls. “Is this so you don’t have to go to the waterfalls today?”

I snort and push my blankets away. If I’m heading out to work with my husband this morning, then I need a shower and fresh clothes. “We can go there, too. But it has to be during daylight. Not at night like last time. Although,” I move off the bed and stand on sensitive feet, waiting for my body to truly wake up and prepare for the day. “It occurs to me you might be afraid to trespass in broad daylight.” I glance back over my shoulder and find him staring at my bare backside. “It’s against the law to be on someone else’s property, Archer. And the mayor lives up there, too.”

“We’re not stepping on the mayor’s land.” He sits back on the bed, resting his head against the wall, and sips our coffee while I search for something to wear from here to the bathroom. God forbid Cato wakes up and catches me making a naked dash, no matter how brief it might be. “And the actual owners aren’t around, anyway. They won’t mind.”

“So whose land is it?” I tug a silky robe from the closet and shrug into it before turning and showing my husband my bare front. “And why are they never there? A perfectly good house sits up there, going to waste, and countless homeless people are down here, sleeping in the streets. The wealth disparity seems unfair.”

He considers me for a long moment. His brows loosely knitted and his lips pursed into straight lines. But whatever thoughts fly through his mind, he shares none of them with me. “Sometimes, people are born wealthy and never truly appreciate it. Other times, people are born poor, and never truly break away from that. It sucks.”

“So us sneaking in and using their waterfall seems like karma. Minimally,” I admit with a grumble. “But karma all the same. If they cared about their land, they’d use it.”

“And since they don’t…” his eyes follow my hands with rapt attention as I tie the sash of my gown. “Their loss is our gain. Shower,” he brings his focus back up. “Breakfast. Professor Fuckface, and then a swim?”

“Sounds like our Sunday is all planned out. Can we get street tacos and eat them in the park for dinner?”

“Yes, we fuckin can.” Chuckling, he sits up straight so he’s no longer leaning against the wall. When I turn to leave, he lets out a short but commanding whistle that instantly has me swinging back around in curiosity.

“I like that we’re growing into us, Minnnnka.” He sets the coffee mug down and crawls across the bed until he’s sitting on my side, his feet on the floor and his hands on my hips. Tugging me closer, so his legs hug my thighs, he looks up and studies my eyes. “We’re two grown-ass people with two completely different lives and experiences. I won’t ever be able to understand a little girl who injects her own needles. That same little girl who learned her ethical guidelines from a cartoon tiger. Just like you won’t truly understand the boy raised to kill, steal, take whatever the fuck he wants, only to add them to the piles of everything he already has.”

Curious, I cup his jaw and frown.

“But I’m gonna work every fucking day to make sure you want to stay. Not because your free will was taken away, and not because you’re not comfortable speaking up. And in return, you’re going to love me back. You’re already so fucking good at that, Mayet. So perfect, exactly the way you are. So I know we’re on the right track.”

“You’re feeling sentimental today, huh? Sundays are for sap?”

“Every day is for you.” He turns his face and presses a kiss to my wrist, right where a red band marks my skin. “And since we’re on the subject, this isn’t a pity invite onto a case. I fell in love with the woman who refused to stay in her own lane. I adore that about you, just as much as I worry about you. Sometimes, though, I walk a tightrope where one side means I get to keep you with me, and the other, keeping you safe. Yesterday, the latter won.”

“Foolishly.” I fold my back and press a kiss to his lips. “But the revenge sex was fun.”

Chuckling, he smacks my ass and takes my breath away as he powerfully pushes up to stand. “Now I’m gonna try to piss you off more. Because revenge sex could become my next obsession. Go,” he releases me. “Shower. We have shit to do.”

ARCHER

“Mrs. Alves.” I eat crow, metaphorically that is, and sign the papers at the check-in desk at the precinct. I sprinkle my signature on every line that asks for it. My initials on every page after that. While Fletch accepts the baggie of her belongings, and Minka merely observes—best behavior, I suppose—I flourish one last initial and slide the pen and documents back to the officer on duty.

Finally, I turn to the woman who wears a bland gray sweatshirt and pants. Because wearing orange home is not a good look.

“You have my deepest apologies.” I set my hands on my hips since I have nothing physical to offer her. “Detective Fletcher and I endeavor to continue our investigation into your husband’s murder.”

“Is this it now?” Shakily, she accepts her bag from Fletch and takes a hesitant peek inside. “I can go home to my girls? I don’t have to come back here.”

“You can’t leave town,” I admit, though I dip my chin in acknowledgment. “But yes, this is it, for now.”

“And you can’t just keep bringing me back unless you have proper proof I did something wrong?” Her voice cracks as she looks at Fletch. “Because my girls need me, Detective. They need stability.”

“We’ll probably come around and see you,” he acquiesces. “As our investigation advances, chances are that we’ll have more questions.”

“But we’ll do it wherever you’re staying,” I add, drawing her terrified eyes my way. “We’ll come to you, and we’ll do it without prison orange or handcuffs. Unless we find irrefutable proof you hurt your husband, then I guess that’s it.”

“Oh gosh.” Heavy tears burst from the woman’s eyes and trickle down her cheeks. But she doesn’t bellow. Doesn’t howl, though she probably has every right to. “Okay…” Shakily nodding, she reaches across the desk to the box of tissues always kept nearby.

Prisoners cry. It’s what they do.

“W-what do my girls know about all this?” Like she thinks the only woman within eyesight is the correct person to ask, Adrianna looks at Minka. “What have they been told? Where do they think I’ve been?”

---