Page 195 of Kentrell

“Out the city.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You need more time away,” he said, voice low… calm… like we were talking about grocery lists and not him hijacking my emotional crisis with a full-blown escape plan.

“Space to think. Away from the noise… and the bullshit.”

I pulled in a breath, eyes narrowing as I glanced around at the unfamiliar stretch of road.

“But… Hinsdale?” My gaze bounced between street signs and the dark silhouettes of oversized homes set back behind wrought iron gates. “That’s—Kentrell… that’s far.”

He shrugged, easy and unbothered. “Not far enough if you ask me.”

I exhaled, my tone sharpening. “So you just made the decision for me?”

“You said take you home,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah, but I meant Lakeview…” I muttered, already picturing his downtown penthouse. The one with floor-to-ceiling windows and a view that made the city feel like it belonged to you.

“Yeah… I know whatchu meant, ma…”

His voice dropped lower… firmer.

“But right now… you need to be outta reach.”

Something in the way he said it… the quiet certainty… the lack of negotiation…

Made me believe him more than I wanted to admit.

“Ain’t nowhere in the city safe for your head right now.”

I sank back against the seat…

Not arguing.

Not questioning.

Just… absorbing.

The tension in my shoulders eased—just a little—as the dark trees blurred past.

“My spot out here is out the way,” he added after a beat. “Quiet. Ain’t nobody gon’ bother you.”

Then came the part that hit different.

“Not unless I let ‘em.”

That…

That landed somewhere deep.

Like he wasn’t just talking about people.

Like he meant my thoughts. My fears.

My unraveling.

I chewed the inside of my cheek… pulled my knees up slightly… tucked my heels against the seat.

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