Page 38 of The Devoted Husband

What if I would have allowed more? What if we would have had sex? There’s no way I would have been able to justify that. There’s no way he could have explained that. I would have known it was real, right? The last thing I need is to be paranoid over this. Over him. I know I’ll feel better once the bars are on the windows. I can’t believe this is my life. I wanted a man who wanted me, but this is a bit too much. And he’s acting as if what he’s doing is normal. Maybe it is for him. Either way, I’m just glad I dodged that bullet.

Dante

Three Days Later

Looking into Atlas, Dante learned of his background. He was an IT specialist in the army. When he wasn’t deployed, he ran his own security system company, which explained why it was so easy for him to watch Sade. His home was in East Memphis, but he spent most of his time at his parents’ home in Southaven, about thirty minutes away.

Hacking his phone or social media accounts was impossible because of his training. After Atlas shared a flyer for a neighborhood block party on his Facebook page, Dante figured he’d show up there. He rented a car with tinted windows and pulled up, not bothering to get out and mingle with the community members. Apparently, Atlas’s cousin was the one who put the event together, and as Dante suspected, he did show up.

Dante watched his every move. His mannerisms. His expressions. How quickly his mood shifted. Atlas was in his car three hours later, and Dante was a safe distance on his trail. Atlas went to his home, where Dante used a jammer to disable his Wi-Fi. He waited until Atlas turned off the lights before he parked across the street from his home.

Then he put on gloves, a mask, and his hoodie and exited the car. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Dante crossed the street and casually approached Atlas’s front door. Before he could enter, he heard the sound of Atlas’s security system beeping and alerting him that it was offline. A light in the far corner cut on, and Dante cursed under his breath. A part of him wanted to kick the door down and still go after Atlas, but the element of surprisewould work best in his favor. So, as much as he didn’t want to, Dante jogged across the street—determined to finish this later.

Dante was awakened from his sleep by the feel of a thick rope wrapped around his neck. Before he could try to insert his fingers under it, it was used to lift him from the bed.

“Did youreallythink I didn’t see you follow me home?” Atlas gritted. “I was waiting for your ass to come in.” Atlas shoved him down and straddled him, pinning his arms, making it impossible for Dante to use them to get out of bed. “I saw you fucking her. You were inmypussy. Did she tell you she was pregnant withmybaby?” Atlas tightened the rope around his neck. Dante’s eyes watered as he struggled to breathe. “I was going to let you live. Hell, I ran you off the road. Sade wanted us to be...even. But you fucked it up by not leaving the city when you found out about us. And now, you have to die.”

With his energy waning, Dante did the only thing he could think of to do. He lifted his legs and wrapped them around Atlas, using them to push him down onto the bed. Coughing, Dante quickly grabbed his knife from under the pillow and shoved it into Atlas’s side.

“Ah!” Atlas groaned, rolling over and grabbing his side.

Hopping up, Dante jabbed the knife into his throat and watched as blood quickly oozed out. He held his neck as he struggled to regulate his breathing. The burning in his throat made the coughing worse. Straggling out of bed, Dante grabbed his phone to call 911 before walking down the hall to wake up his parents and tell them what had happened.

“His family is going to blame me for this too,” Sade said as she paced.

After being questioned and having pictures of his neck taken for evidence, Dante made his way to her to let her know that Atlas was dead. He also wanted to ask her about what Atlas said regarding her being pregnant with his baby. Could that have been the truth?

“He broke into my parents’ home and tried to strangle me. It was clearly self-defense.”

She shook her head. “That won’t matter to them. They blame me for Adam’s death, and they will blame me for this too.”

“Come here,” Dante demanded, gripping her hand and pulling her onto his lap on the bed. Her fingers slid across his bruised neck, but they stopped when he asked, “Are you pregnant with his baby?”

Her body stiffened as her eyes flickered. “He said that?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah, he did.”

“I’m not pregnant with his baby, Dante.” Relief instantly filled him, but before he could fully bask in that moment, she added, “I’m pregnant with yours.” For a moment, Dante’s heart stopped, and he forgot how to breathe. “That’swhat I wanted to tell you. I’d told Atlas I wanted you and me to get back to our friendship and have a healthy, coparenting relationship. I guess he felt like if you knew I’d been with him, that would get you out of the way.” Her chuckle was bitter as she looked toward the ceiling. “He wanted to help me raise this baby, and I didn’t realize just how serious he was about that until now.”

Dante’s hand lowered to her stomach as his forehead rested on hers. “You’re having my baby?”

Sade giggled. “Yes. I wanted to wait until a special time to tell you, but...”

“Smiley, I don’t care about that. You’re having my baby. That’s all that matters to me.”

“Are you . . . really okay with that?”

Dante laughed lightly and released a shaky breath as his eyes watered. “I raised a set of twins that weren’t mine, and now the woman of my dreams is giving me a baby of my own. I’m perfectly okay with that. Are you?”

Hesitantly, Sade nibbled her bottom lip and nodded. “I am. I admit that at first, I was nervous and worried about what people would think, but I don’t care about that anymore. I love you, Tay, and I’m happy to be the mother of your child.”

“Mm.” Cupping the back of her neck, Dante planted a kiss on her lips. “You’ll be the only one too.” They kissed again. “I need to get us a home. Is the baby why you wanted to stay here?”

“Yeah, plus I wanted to be close to the little family I have. I got an apartment. I just can’t move in until the first of September.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want? You can have whatever you want.”

“I’m sure. It’s a three-bedroom, so the baby will have a room, and I’ll have an office. Plus, I need a break from everything that comes from having a big home.”

---