Page 60 of The Devoted Husband

Jones pushed himself off the wall. “I guess that’s something me and Sade have in common...getting away with things.”

“This is the only warning I will give you: stop with the antics. No more text messages, shit gifts, spam emails...Stop all of it.”

“And if I don’t, what are you going to do? Kill me?”

Dante scratched his nostril. “Try me and find out.”

Jones passed him, looking over his shoulder, and said, “Sade’s getting bigger and bigger. You know I was watching her while you were away. Are you sure that baby is yours?”

Before Dante could stop himself, he was turning Jones around and punching him—repeatedly. Had it not been for several sets of hands peeling him off Jones’s unconscious body, Dante would have beat him to death.

Ian shoved Dante out of the building, using his body to keep Dante from going back inside.

“Are you out of your mind!” Ian yelled, gripping Dante by his neck and shoving him backward. “We had clients in the lobby that saw that shit! What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking he’s been taunting my wife and needs to be stopped.That’swhat I was thinking!”

“And you had to do that here?”

“Where else? He’s been a ghost!”

Ian released a shaky breath and squeezed the bridge of his nose as Dante paced. “Look...I’ve loved having you back, man, but this is too much. This isn’t a good look for my firm and—”

“Save it,” Dante interrupted. “You don’t have to fire me. I quit.”

Ian’s body crumbled. “Let me terminate you. At least that way, I can give you a severance package and bring you back when you take care of this.”

Dante scoffed. “I didn’t come here because I need the money; I came here to do what I love. But I never intended this man to be a menace and not let me and my wife move on. So, I quit. I know this isn’t a good look. I apologize for doing this in front of clients, but I will never apologize for knocking him out.”

“Get this taken care of so you can come back,” Ian pleaded, extending his hand for Dante to shake.

Dante shook it, nodding his agreement. However, even when Jones was out of the picture, he wouldn’t return. The last thing he wanted was to be a stain on anyone’s reputation. Money would never be an issue for him and Sade, and he didn’t have to work if he didn’t want to. Maybe he’d take some time off until after the baby was born. Hopefully, by then, Jones would be out of the picture, and he and Sade could finally settle into a life of normalcy.

Sade

Sade’s phone dinged. She opened the text, her heart dropping at seeing a picture of her and Atlas when they first returned to Memphis with a caption that said,You would have been better off with him. The other one is violent. A second picture came through, and it was of Jones—beaten badly. Sade gasped, then laughed. She called Dante immediately, refusing to believe he’d finally caught up with Jones.

“Yeah?” he answered, the wind whipping against the receiver.

“Uh-oh. You sound mad.”

“I’m letting off the rest of my steam with a run.”

“So the picture Jones sent me of himself was real?”

“It was.”

“What happened?”

“He was at the office talking shit about the baby not being mine, and I snapped. Ian wanted to fire me, but I quit. He told me I could return once this is resolved, but I won’t. If anything, I’ll start my own firm like I should have done to begin with.”

Sade sighed and stood, needing to walk around herself. “I’m sorry, babe. He deserved that ass whupping but not at the expense of your job.”

“It was worth it. I’m glad he felt confident enough to think I wouldn’t touch him because we were in public. Money’s good, so I’m in no rush to start working again. I want to get things ready for the baby and enjoy having you to myself as much as I can before he or she gets here.”

That made Sade smile as she slipped into her shoes and headed outside. “I love the sound of that. I wish I could have seen the house in Decatur, but I don’t want to fly when I get bigger. I don’t want to feel uncomfortable.”

“We still have time. It’s just a short flight away. Whenever you want to go, we can leave.”

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