Page 54 of Risks of Temptation
"I'm telling you the truth."
"Half-truths."
He shifts on the rock.
I rise and go to the fire. "I won't live in the dark anymore. So don't claim you believe I'm strong but refuse to tell me what is happening and then throw more lies on top of it. You proved you're like everyone else in my life. Well, guess what, Malin?"
He steps in front of me. "What, ma belle?"
"I don't need more of the same in my life. So don't call me your ma belle anymore. Don't touch me. Don't feel it's your duty to stay with me."
His jaw twitches. As he stares down at me, the rip in my heart exponentially grows. His light-gray eyes turn darker, and the intoxicating lime and leather smell of his skin becomes more potent.
The noises of the jungle become muffled through the pounding in my ears.
"I'm trying to protect you," he insists.
"Hiding the truth from me isn't protection. It's distrust in my ability to handle life or keep things between us."
"Bel—" He takes a deep breath and gazes at the trees.
"I'm such an idiot," I mutter, trying to hold my emotions in.
Why did I think he was different?
Why did I believe we could be something?
Santiago must have stolen my brain when he kidnapped me. I know better than to trust a man.
"You aren't an idiot. There are things no one knows, not even my team of brothers. And the depths of what I'm a part of, I don't want you to have any understanding of."
The man in front of me isn't who I thought he was. Like everything in my life, I've been disillusioned about him. I assumed we could be real. I was wrong.
No matter how much I want him, I can't have him. He may be the only man who's ever touched me and not made my skin crawl, but nothing physical I do with him is worth being lied to or kept in the dark.
My voice shakes. "I'm sorry I expected anything from you."
"Bel—"
"Don't call me your ma belle!"
Hurt fills his face. "I'm making decisions to keep you safe."
Tears fill my eyes, but I don't let them escape. "Everyone's always making decisions for me. It's always to keep me safe. I don't need anyone else in charge of what I can handle and what I can't. I thought...no, I hoped you were different. You aren't. You're just like everyone else who wants to keep me in the dark."
