Page 64 of Beautiful Dangerous

Slipping on high-heeled ankle boots, a diamond bracelet – an anniversary present from Javier, and one of the few expensive pieces of jewelry I own, I’m not one for ostentatious displays of wealth, this wasn’t always my world, remember? – and large hooped earrings, I check my reflection in the full-length mirror, cocking my head as I trail a finger lightly over my collar bone.

“You look beautiful.”

I turn around slowly, and I smile at him. My handsome husband. A man who was once my world, until I started to realize I could live in one without him. And now I don’t knowwhatI’m feeling. Do I want my old world back? Or am I missing the new one I was just starting to get used to…?

You know the answer to that one.

You know…

“Thank you.” I move away from the mirror. “I should go and see how Celine is getting on, our first guests will be here soon. I’ll leave you to get ready.”

As I pass, he reaches out and rests a hand on my hip, and I stop. And I look at him. And my stomach jolts for all the wrong reasons, confusion and that irrational fear swamping me.

Irrational fear?

You’re scared because you have every reason to be.

“We need to talk, Olivia.”

“Now isn’t the time.”

“Now is the perfect time. Come. Sit down, please.”

I perch myself on the edge of the bed.

“I won’t be a moment.”

He disappears back into the closet, emerging just minutes later in dark-gray suit pants and a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up over his forearms, he looks so handsome, and whatever else I’m feeling I can’t deny that.

“You and I, Olivia, we have always been a team, no?”

I look at him as he sits down opposite me, leaning forward, his hands clasped between his knees, his eyes staring deep into mine. “Yes.”

“I want that to continue. I want you and I to run this cartel, together.”

Okay…

But that means you have no choice but to stay here, with him.

When the hell was there ever another option…?

There could be…

I take a moment, and a long, deep breath as I look at a man I once loved beyond life itself, but who now feels more like a stranger. And I hate that that’s happening, but the reality of this fucked-up situation is brutal. “I was under the impression that I would no longer be needed anymore.”

He arches an eyebrow, and frowns. “You are very much needed,hermosa.”

“You walked into this house, like you hadn’t been dead for over two years, and you took all control back, just like that. And now you’ve had a sudden change of heart?”

“Let’s just say that people have given me cause to rethink my plans.” He smiles at me, and again my stomach flips over but it’s out of a wariness I haven’t felt with this man since the evening I first went to his Mexican estate. That ill-thought-out night when I’d been blinded by his charm; his good looks. “What you did in my absence, Olivia, went beyond remarkable.”

“Don’t patronize me, Javier.”

“Lo siento. Forgive me, I didn’t mean for it to sound that way, but what you didwasremarkable. You kept this business going, you brought people into our circle that can only be beneficial to us. You gained their trust, and because of that I have contacts who only want to deal withyou. Endo French, for one.”

“You’ve spoken to him?”

“It’s his product we have stashed away in the bikers’ warehouse. Eddie and I spoke to him this afternoon, I gather he’s on his way to San Diego as we speak?”

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