"Ma belle, you look green," Malin says and puts his hand on my forehead. "You feel like you have a fever."
I run to the bathroom and get sick. Malin sends for the doctor who tells me I have food poisoning. Malin stays with me. Bernadette and Gustave go downstairs to the party.
A few hours in, I'm sitting on the couch with Malin. He has a cold washcloth on my forehead. Gustave and Bernadette rush through the door.
"There was a shooting. Zoe Diego was singing, and the lights went out. Jorge Cano and Eduardo Macias are dead."
"Is Zoe okay?" I cry out. I didn't even know she would be at the party.
"No one has seen her. It's like she disappeared," Bernadette replies.
Malin takes my hand. "And Dirk hasn't surfaced?"
"No."
"Then my money is on him."
Silence fills the air.
Malin finally says, "So Jonas Torres is the only drug lord left?"
Gustave's voice drops. "I'm not sure. There is something else."
"What?"
"Jonas has not been seen in weeks. He should have been at the event and was not. Jonas's brother, Evandro, seems to have taken over leadership of the cartel."
"But no announcement has been made?"
"No."
"What does Louis know?" Malin asks.
"He claims nothing."
Gustave and Bernadette fly to Colombia with Penelope and William. I want to go with them, but Malin says it's too dangerous for me to be with Penelope.
We wait in Belize, never leaving the apartment.
"I'm starting to feel like our life is meant to be spent in embassy apartments," I say to Malin one day.
"I'm sorry, ma belle. You deserve better than this."
I straddle him. "I'm not complaining. I was just making an observation."
He sighs. "But you should not have to deal with this."
I stroke his cheek. "I told you that wherever you are is where I want to be. While I prefer France, this is better than not being with you."
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.