Page 49 of Certified Pressure 2

Trill-Land, Jungle Estate

I hadn’t seen Pressure in two days, and my nerves were rattled.

The mansion was too big when it was just me inside of it, at least that’s how it felt.

Renza and Blaqson were around, posted up like always, and the guards kept their quiet watch outside, but none of them counted.

They moved like shadows and didn’t bother me unless I spoke first. The quiet didn’t usually bother me, but now it pressed down on me, making every step echo louder, making me feel like I didn’t belong here.

I spent the last forty-eight hours trying not to think about where Pressure was, even though I knew.

He had left with Kashmere, and I didn’t need directions or confirmation to understand what that meant.

My first instinct was to run again. Pack up my things, call for a ride and disappear like I never came back.

But I didn’t return to the Jungle Estate to run again.

I had done that once, and it had almost broken me, and deep down I knew leaving again would destroy any chance I had left of proving myself to Pressure.

Instead, I stayed. I ordered food and a few things from different stores.

It gave me excuses to fill the silence, and to act like I wasn’t counting the hours since I had last seen him.

Every time I pressed confirm on an order I wondered if I was doing it just to avoid pacing these halls and drowning in my thoughts. Because my thoughts were loud.

Kashmere’s words replayed in my head over and over.

The way she had told Pressure that I basically used him for money.

That lie burned me because even though I had walked in here with mixed motives, it had been stopped being just about money with him.

I was no longer worried about that when I saw how much he cared, when he stood by me, and wheh he saved Zurie’s life without a second thought. That wasn’t money. That was love.

And Kashmere—God, Kashmere. She had her own motives, her own secrets, her own snakeskin way of moving, but she wanted to twist the knife in me and make herself look pure. We would never be friends again after this. Whatever bond we had before was gone, dead and buried.

That thought kept me company while I sat in the living room, curled up on the couch. My eyes stayed on the dark stretch of floor leading to the front door.

And then I heard the sound of the lock turning, the hinges pulling, and the low sound of voices carrying inside.

It was Pressure and Kashmere.

The sound of them walking together made my chest tighten.

I didn’t even look up when they passed through.

I couldn’t bring myself to see them side by side.

I heard their footsteps move across the marble, the door shutting again, and then her sandals slapping against the floor as she headed further inside.

I waited ten whole minutes. It was ten minutes of trying to breathe, trying to calm myself and trying to gather enough courage to do what I knew I had to do. If I didn’t face him now, if I didn’t stand in front of him and say what was heavy on my heart, then I’d lose him for good.

I finally stood up and walked to the elevator. My hand shook as I pressed the button, my reflection in the gold trim of the door showing a face I barely recognized. I saw tired eyes, and a nervous mouth that couldn’t decide whether to frown or try to hold strong.

The ride up felt longer than usual, every second stretching. When the doors opened on his floor, I stepped out and made my way to his door. My feet felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each.

I knocked soft at first, then harder because I knew he could ignore me if he wanted to. I stood there, my heart thumping against my ribs, my hands twisted together in front of me as I waited.

And then the door opened.

Pressure stood there, filling the frame, his expression blank. He didn’t look angry or happy. It wasn’t anything I could read, and that was worse than anything else.

“Can I come in?” I asked, my voice low but enough to carry.

He didn’t answer with words, but he backed away from the door, turning his back to me and walking further into the room. That was enough. I stepped inside, closing the door behind me, and my eyes stayed on him the whole time.

He didn’t look at me when I walked closer, but I reached out and gently grabbed his hand. My thumb brushed across the ink on his skin, the familiar warmth that I missed so much.

“Pressure,” I whispered, and my voice broke even though I had promised myself it wouldn’t. “I’m sorry… For everything that went down two days ago, for everything that made you feel like I wasn’t here for you. But I am. I’m absolutely here for you, one hundred percent, and I need you to know that.”

He didn’t move, but he didn’t pull his hand away either. That gave me the courage to keep going.

“Everything I told you before was real. Every word, every feeling, all of it. I didn’t come back to play with you.

I didn’t come back to lie. I came back because I love you and I still want to be your wife.

You saved my sister’s life, and I’ll never forget that.

I’ll be forever in debt to you for that.

But it’s not just debt. It’s love. You love me too. I know you do.”

I lifted his hand and pressed my lips to the back of it, closing my eyes for a second just to feel the connection. My tears were close, but I held them back because I wanted him to hear my words more than see my weakness.

“I came in this house thinking I had to prove myself, and maybe I did. But what I feel for you isn’t fake. It’s not about money, it’s not about what you can give me. It’s about us, about what we could be. I don’t care what Kashmere say, she can’t touch what’s between us.”

I searched his face, looking for a crack, looking for something that showed he still saw me. He finally sighed, his chest rising and falling, and then his eyes lifted to mine.

For a long moment he just stared at me, and I braced myself for whatever he might say. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might stop altogether.

And then his voice came, low and even.

“I believe you.”

The words sank into me like water on dry earth, giving me just enough hope to breathe again.