Page 11 of The Devoted Husband

“Why do you look at me like that?”

Swallowing, he shook his head slightly as he stared at her. “Like what?”

“Like . . . You’ve never seen a more beautiful thing.”

With a low chuckle, Atlas lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I haven’t.”

His confession caused their lips to gravitate toward each other. There, they made love on the couch. He made her come more than she thought was physically possible before they moved to her room. The entire time he was inside of her, Sade tried to convince herself this was a one-time thing. But unfortunately, her heart was open, and her pussy was leaking, and that was a horrible, horrible combination.

Sade

DoNotAnswer:You didn’t have to steal from me.

DoNotAnswer:I would’ve given you whatever you wanted, Smiley.

DoNotAnswer:I think you know that, and you stole it because you thought that would make me hate you. I don’t. I still love you.

After sending Dante pictures accidentally yesterday, it was like a dam had broken. He texted her sporadically over the past twenty-four hours, and it was getting harder and harder for Sade not to reply. She found herself constantly comparing him to Atlas and struggling with Atlas’s love not feeling like enough. As much as she told herself she’d be a fool to be with Dante, her love for him made it harder to stay away. They may not have had the fairy-tale love she thought she’d have with a man, but he’d finally opened his heart to her, and Sade wanted desperately to walk in.

At the sound of the toilet flushing, Sade exited the one-way text thread. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with Atlas’s attitude and insecurities. He’d convinced her to join his family for dinner that day. After hearing she was pregnant, his mother agreed to apologize for the way she’d been talking to and about Sade. Even though Sade didn’t want anyone to know she was pregnant so early into her first trimester, if that was why she could make peace with Vanessa, Sade was okay with it.

Because she was only ten weeks pregnant, Sade hadn’t fully even wrapped her mind around the fact that a baby was growing inside her. A baby that was half of Dante’s, no less. After years of longing for her best friend and sister’s husband, it seemed surreal that she was pregnant with his child, and the twins he thought were his had come from another man.

“You ready to go?” Atlas asked, drying his hands.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Atlas gave her a warm smile. “Thank you for doing this. I know you and Mama haven’t really gotten along lately, but she promised to be on her best behavior today.”

With a nod, Sade stood. “Does she...know the baby isn’t yours?”

“Yes, but I told her the babyismine. She promised not to tell anyone otherwise.”

Sade didn’t trust that, but she didn’t care enough to question him about it. They left their hotel suite as Atlas asked, “We need to start looking into our own home, Day. I know you’re still early in your pregnancy, but the baby will be here before we know it. We can’t bring him or her back to this hotel.”

Sade sighed and nodded her agreement. “You’re right.”

“What’s the holdup? Money isn’t an issue. Is it because you don’t want to settle down in Memphis?”

“That’s part of it,” she admitted as he took her hand into his. “I wouldn’t mind staying here because of my grandparents and the twins, but this city has always held unhappy memories for me.”

“Well...We can create some happy ones with our baby. But if you really want us to leave, we can. I’m cool with anything except the island. I know that’s your place of peace, but it’s a bit too far.”

“Yeah, I agree. I wouldn’t want to take the baby there prematurely. Not to say I think the baby will have medical issues, but I wouldn’t want to have to rely on the ferry if we ever had an emergency.”

They continued to talk on the way to Stoney River in Germantown, and Sade found peace in his commitment to her and her child. She hoped being in the steak house instead of Vanessa’s home would allow them to have a peaceful encounter.When she saw Adam’s mother, Samantha, sitting next to Vanessa...Sade was sure that would no longer be the case.

“Hey, Ma,” Atlas spoke. “Hey, Auntie.”

“You knew she was going to be here?” Sade whispered, referring to his aunt.

“Yeah, I mean . . . I think it’s best y’all tal—”

Before he could finish his statement, Samantha was leaping up from the table and charging toward Sade. In his attempt to separate the women, Atlas pushed Sade backward, causing her to topple over a table.

“Ma!” he yelled, pushing his aunt back as Vanessa cackled. “Are you serious right now? You promised me you’d apologize.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say my sister would. That ho is the reason her son is dead. Did youreallythink she’d behave?”