Page 61 of The Devoted Husband

“And you’re sure you’re up for that right now?”

“Absolutely. If you want, I’ll book a flight for us when I get home. Might as well make it a weeklong trip and see the penthouse in New York too. I think if you see the beach house in San Diego, you won’t want to come back home.”

Sade’s heart fluttered, and she smiled as she locked the door behind herself. “I think you’re right. You know I love being near water. But I might need to wait until I have the baby to go there.” She paused. “I love that we can do whatever we want when we want. I wish we could just spend the rest of our days traveling and giving our baby a taste of different cultures.”

“Who says we can’t? We can remain planted until the baby is old enough to travel and experience what we’ll be doing and then get to it. Let’s get a nanny too. That way, we can have some alone time.”

“You thinking homeschool?”

“Absolutely. Maybe not for high school, but definitely elementary. I know those are fundamental years, so we can revisit this conversation when the time comes, but you know my cousin Briscoe was an army brat and was homeschooled because they traveled so much.”

“Yeah, and it worked in his favor too. That man was never in Memphis.”

Dante chuckled. “At all. He’s paid and living his best life, experiencing one amazing country after another. That’s what I want for our kids.”

“Plural?” she replied with a grin.

“Yeah. You didn’t think we were stopping at one, did you?”

She giggled. “I feel like we had this conversation and agreed on a number, but I’m not sure.”

Dante was silent for a while. “You’re sure there’s no way the baby is his? If you tell me there’s not, I will believe you.”

Sade sighed. This seemed like the time to be honest with him. “I’m 100 percent sure the baby is yours because I was pregnant when we were in Vanzette.” She clicked her tongue. “I was pregnant when I left you.”

“What?” he almost whispered.

“I felt like you were with me because of what I’d done for you. You’d never chosen me before, and...I didn’t really believe how you felt for me.”

“So what? You were going to keep my baby away from me and create a readymade family with Atlas?”

“I said that was what I would do, but I regretted it as soon as I was away from you. There was no way I could have kept this child from you, especially after telling you about the twins.”

“Damn, Day. I’m going to need some time to process this.”

Sade nodded. “I understand.”

“It’s not going to be an issue, though. I know, so I won’t hold this against you.”

“Thank you, Dante. I’ll let you go. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Dante disconnected the call quickly, and Sade hoped it wouldn’t take him long to get over the truth. If it did, she would be patient with him because he had the right to feel however he felt.

Several Hours Later

When Dante made it home, he didn’t seek her out like usual. That was a sign to her that he still felt some type of way over what she’d shared with him. Still, she went looking for him and found him leaning against the door frame of the baby’s nursery.

“Are you still mad?” she asked quietly. “If so, I’ll leave you alone. But I’m glad you came home.”

“I’ll always come home to you, and I’m not mad.” Dante turned to face her. “I was hurt. Thinking you could keep my baby from me...” He chuckled. “But I feel like I don’t have the right. I mean...I got your sister pregnant and married her. Well, wethoughtI got her pregnant. So, do I really have room to be upset about anything you do?”

“Dante, you’ll always have the right to feel how you feel. This will never be a tit-for-tat kind of thing. Yes, you got Imani pregnant, but we didn’t start being honest with each other about how we felt until after that. These things don’t compare, and you being with my sister first doesn’t give me a lifetime pass to do things that might upset or hurt you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “That was me being bitter and proud. I wasn’t trying to hurt you intentionally, but I’m sorry I did.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you told me, and I can experience this with you.”

“Thank you for forgiving me and for being understanding. I would have accepted if you harbored hurt or anger over this, but—”

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