Page 72 of The Devoted Husband

“Good.” She paused. “Um . . . Trina’s family. Have you seen—”

“Sade, I thought we agreed—”

“I know. I just...I can’t imagine how that family feels. I can deny Trina, but I can’t deny that I killed her sister.”

“They shouldn’t have come into our fucking home. No charges are being pressed against you because you have everyright to defend yourself. If they feel some type of way about that, they can take it up with Jones for sending them out like that.”

“Woof,” Sade chuckled, placing kisses all over his face. “Someone’s upset. Calm down, baby.”

Dante sucked his teeth, but his expression softened the more she kissed him. “I don’t want you to feel bad over that. You did the right thing. If you hadn’t shot her, you’d be dead. And I care far more about your life than any of theirs.”

Deciding to change the subject, Sade asked, “Are you bored with not working yet?”

“I’m getting there,” he admitted with a smile. “I love traveling with you, but it’s that part of me that thrives when I’m working and doing my purpose that feels lacking, you know?”

“I understand. I felt the same way when I couldn’t paint. Being inspired by the job Veronica commissioned me for was my saving grace. Why don’t you go back to work, babe?”

“I’ve been thinking about starting up online. Everything I do is online anyway. I don’t need a building or staff. That would just cut into my profit. I was thinking about renting some office space by the hour when I needed to meet with clients in person, but other than that, I can do everything else virtually.”

“That’s good, Tay. I think you should definitely go for that.”

“Yeah...Eric and Jessica took all the clients when that mess with Imani went down, but they want to give me ours when I reopen. So, I won’t have that awkward stage of finding new clients.”

“Yay! When do you plan to start?”

“Maybe once we get back home and get settled. I want to make sure you’re good first, though. I had one of my old homeboys fix the window and pull up that carpet to replace it. How are you feeling about going back? I think we should move.”

Sade sighed as she looked out toward the ocean. “Unfortunately, I think we will have to move too. I don’t thinkI’ll ever feel safe there knowing our address has been blasted all over social media.”

“Yeah, I’d be too paranoid. I know you’re tired of staying in hotels, so how about we stay here until I find us something there? You said you wanted to stay in Memphis until after you had the baby, right? Is that still the case?”

“Yes, I guess. I don’t want to have to change doctors. I am tired of hotels, but if we have to stay in one, I’m okay with that.”

“As much as I hate to say this, maybe we do need to stay in an apartment for now. One with a doorman and security. One that will require guests to check in. I don’t like the idea of people being able to get to you when I’m not around. If we get a house, I’d always want a guard there with you.”

Sade shook her head as she moved it from his shoulder. “I don’t want a guard. I know they’ll be for my protection, but I like my freedom and space. I think an apartment with security and a doorman is good, especially if we plan to travel more after the baby is born.”

“Cool. I’ll go ahead and do an application for those new luxury apartments in Germantown. They will probably be best. We can view them when we get back to Memphis.”

“Okay,” Sade agreed before standing and heading to the water to dip her toes in. Moving again so quickly would have been too much to handle on her own, but she was grateful Dante was taking the lead.

With all the craziness happening with Jones’s doxing, Sade and Dante almost forgot about their hearing. They rushed back to Memphis, just to be held up by TSA. What should have been a quick run through security turned into them being held separately for hours. As frustrated as Sade was, she tried toremain calm. Clearly, they would miss their hearing, and Sade hated waiting until the day of to fly back out. Granted, she never had issues with TSA before, but...

When she’d had enough, Sade stood from the white bench and walked over to the locked door. Beating on it, she yelled, “Hey! I have a court date! Let me the hell up out of here!”

A minute or so passed before the TSA officer who had initially asked her to follow him came and unlocked the door.

“All right, Ms. Griffin. You’re free to go.”

With a roll of her eyes, Sade exited the room. “I told you I didn’t have any drugs in my bag. This was a total waste of time.”

“Hey,” he called, causing Sade to look back at him. “If you make it to court in time, make sure you tell my uncle Terry I said hello.”

Like Sade thought they would, they missed the hearing. Thanks to Jones’s nephew holding them up at the airport, the judge did not extend the temporary restraining order, and they would have to start the process all over again.

“I can’t,” Sade said, feeling defeated as they walked to the car. “I can’t go through the waiting period again. Yes, it was great not getting texts or emails from Jones while we waited for the hearing, but I can’t go through this again.”

“You won’t have to,” Dante assured her. “I still have my man sitting on his house. As soon as Jones shows up, he will hold him there for me.”

---