Page 20 of The Devoted Husband

“I wanted him to suffer for not choosing me, but I’m suffering too. I thought about how taboo it would be for us to be together, but I don’t care about that anymore. At the end of the day, I have to live with the choices I make—not anyone else. Who cares if people approve of what I do or who I’m with if I’m unhappy?”

With a sigh, Sade nibbled her bottom lip.“And then there’s Atlas. When we first started messing off, I didn’t tell Dante because I didn’t want it to make him think about Adam. Then Atlas told me about Imani and Adam’s plot against Dante, and I had to keep it a secret to protect him. I really liked Atlas, but something about him made me hesitate to commit. Now that I’ve been with him more, I know exactly where that hesitancy came from. It was my intuition telling me he had a few loose screws.”

She snickered.“And I’m sure people can say the same about me, but that’s all the more reason for us not to be together. But I wanted to be with Atlas because he was loyal to me...and Dante. He chose me. He made me feel like a genuine prize, and even if it was unintentional, Dante made me feel like I wasn’t worthy of him and his love because of what he did with Imani. So, I guess a part of me felt like I owed Atlas.

“Both men are on different ends of the spectrum. Atlas loves me more than I love him, and I love Dante more than he loves me. That’s why I need to stay away from Dante, and that’s why I need Atlas to stay the hell away from me. But Dante deserves to know about his baby, right? God, this shouldn’t be so hard.Could we actually coparent and not be together? I don’t think I can watch him marry someone else, and he’d kill me if he knew I was with Atlas, even if it was brief.

“In his eyes, Atlas is the man who tried to kill him for his cousin. How will I explain being with him? That will probably make me look just as bad as my sister. No. I should just...keep my distance from Atlas and keep things platonic with Dante. I’ll tell him about the baby and, no matter what, agree to coparent only.”

Feeling lighter, Sade ended the recording and headed to the hospital. Reggie would soon be clocking out, and she needed to see her sister before he left for the day. It didn’t take Sade long to get to the hospital, and when she did, she thought she saw a man who looked like Detective Jones from behind. Convincing herself she was only seeing things, she headed to the second floor and smiled at the sight of Reggie.

“Hi,” she greeted, casually setting the black bag with his cash inside beside where he was seated.

“Hey. Please be quick.”

“Of course.”

As she went into Imani’s room, Reggie stood and guarded the door. Her eyes immediately watered at the sight of her sister chained to the bed, unconscious. Her head was wrapped with a white bandage. There were no marks on her face—or her body. This couldn’t have been a fight; this was an attack.

What had Imani done to warrant this?

Sade took Imani’s hand into hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. I need you to wake up and tell me who did this to you so I can make them pay. I love you, sissy. Rest well.” After kissing Imani on the cheek, Sade left the room. “Were you able to get an update from her doctor?”

Reggie nodded. “Yeah, the swelling is going down. They think they will be able to take her out of the coma soon.”

Relief flooded Sade as she smiled and placed her hand on her chest. “Good, good.” Her fear was this might be another Dante “situation,” where her sister would wake up and have amnesia. “Thanks again, and if she wakes up before I come back...”

“I’ll give you a call ASAP,” he assured, squeezing her hand gently.

Sade gave him a warm smile before leaving. Once she got to the car, she decided to go and tell her grandparents the great news.

Atlas

The sound of knocking turned into a dull bell. Atlas was so drained of his energy he didn’t want to get up to answer. It felt like Sade was his life source, and not being around her made him feel depleted. Atlas’s eyes closed as the doorbell sounded again. He pulled in a deep breath before rolling out of bed. His eyes scanned his dirty room—the stacked pizza boxes and to-go food containers...clothes that he had tossed around haphazardly.

He caught a glimpse of himself in his dresser mirror, but he didn’t look for more than a second...afraid he wouldn’t be able to face himself. He looked out of the peephole and released a sigh at the sight of his father. Atlas opened the door and stepped to the side to let Clay in.

His father’s frown didn’t sway Atlas as he stepped inside. With a scowl, Clay told him, “When was the last time you bathed?”

“What day is it?”

With a scoff, Clay shook his head. “It looks like I got here just in time.”

“I’m not really in the mood for company, Dad.”

“It looks like you’re not in the mood for a lot of things,” Clay said, heading for the kitchen. He grabbed a garbage bag, returned to the living room, and began to clean. “What’s this about?”

“Sade,” he admitted. “I think she’s going to leave me.”

Clay eyed him skeptically, shoving a plastic cup into the bag. “What makes you think that?”

“She’s been different since we came home. Things are perfect between us when it’s just us with no one else around.”

“That doesn’t sound like the kind of relationship you should be in, son. If she changes when other people are around, maybe she’s hiding something.”

“I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s because she’s too loyal to Dante. Even when he’s not around, he’s ruining things. I won’t let him stop me from raising my baby.”

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