Page 32 of The Devoted Husband

How could that have changed?

When his phone vibrated, he looked down at the dashboard, hoping it was Sade. It was an unfamiliar number but not the one she’d called from last night. Still, he answered quickly with, “Hello?”

“I told you I’d bring her to justice without your help.”

Jones?

“What the fuck did you do, Jones?”

Jones laughed. “What needed to be done. Now, this is your last chance, Dante. Either you help me by giving your testimony to help keep Sade behind bars, or I will assume you knew about her plans to kill and find a way to have you charged with murder too. So, what’s it gonna be?”

“I have a third option: You can undo whatever illegal stunt you did to have my wife arrested, and I won’t have to punish you for it.”

“Why do you keep calling her that? You’re married to her sister, right? What was her name...Imani. She’s such a beautiful woman. I see why you wanted to have both.”

Jones’s laughter grated Dante’s ears. Gritting his teeth, Dante gripped the steering wheel as his speed accelerated.

He was about to ask Jones how he knew what Imani looked like, then remembered he’d visited her a month or so before they left Vanzette.

Was this her doing? Did she renege on their deal and work with Jones to reduce her sentence?

Dante didn’t want to believe Imani could do something like that, but she’d done worse.

The sisters had been going at each other for years. A little while before the accident, Sade put distance between them, which cut down on the drama. Had the beef been placed back on the stove by his relationship with Sade in Vanzette? And if so, what would it take for Imani to leave them alone?

An incoming call came through, and the number was similar to the one Sade had called from last night. All that was different was the last digit. Not bothering to respond to Jones’s comment, Dante ended that call and switched to the other.

“Baby?”

“Hi.”

At the sound of Sade’s voice, relief immediately washed over him. Relaxing in his seat, Dante smiled. “How are you?”

“I’m okay. How are you?”

“Better now that I hear your voice. I’m headed to Everett Richmond’s office now to see about hiring him to represent you. Do you remember him?”

“Hmm . . . vaguely. Was he the scrawny, brown-skinned guy with braces?”

Dante chuckled. “Yeah, that was him. His assistant is now grabbing the affidavit, which will give us more information. It won’t have a list of evidence on it, though. He said he won’t be able to get that until I hire him for you, and he starts up with discovery.”

“Thank you. It keeps me sane knowing I have you working on my behalf.”

“I love you, Sade. After everything you’ve done for me, I’d go to the end of the earth for you.”

She released a few sniffles before saying, “Ugh, I’m twice as emotional lately, and you keep putting me in my feelings.”

Dante smiled. “I’m sorry about that. How are you feeling physically? Is my baby being a good guest?”

That got a hearty laugh out of Sade. “For the most part. I was already struggling with bloating and gas, plus the morning sickness, and I think it’s going to be worse while I’m here. The food is horrible. I’m still having headaches and tired as hell, but they tend to go away after I nap.”

“I promise I will get you out of there as soon as possible, Smiley.”

“I know. I don’t think we’ll have much longer, so I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, call me this afternoon, okay?”

“I will.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

After disconnecting the call, Dante noticed that he had a text. It was from Jones.

901-880-2880: You should have become my ally. Now, you’re a target. You’re next.

After leaving Richmond’s office, Dante was happy he’d agreed to take Sade on as a client.

He planned to visit her within the next day or so, hopeful she’d have a bond by then.

To keep himself from sitting at home worrying about Sade, Dante went to see Ian Sanders, his friend with a financial firm.

He helped put together a few missing pieces while Dante still struggled with his amnesia.

By the time the visit was over, Ian had offered Dante the original partner position he’d planned to interview for, and he accepted.

..though that wasn’t the point of him stopping by.

He would have been okay simply working as a financial advisor, as they’d previously discussed.

Since Sade made it clear she wanted to stay in Memphis, Dante didn’t mind working at a firm there so they could remain close to their families.

He couldn’t wait to tell his parents the good news, but until then, getting Sade out on bail was his primary concern.

Barron had called him for an update, and Dante promised to stop by after talking to her again that evening.

He knew they would have several questions, and Dante wanted to know how Sade wanted him to answer.

A few hours after Dante returned to his parents’ home, he decided to go for a run to clear his mind.

It was then that he received a call from Sade.

That time, an operator announced the call and confirmed he wanted to pay to accept it.

Dante sat on the nearest bench and went through the steps of adding his debit card information to add a hundred dollars before he heard Sade’s voice in the receiver.

“Hey, I finally got my inmate number.”

The sadness in her tone made his heart ache. “You won’t have it for long, Day.”

A beat of silence passed before she said, “They aren’t going to give me a bond, Dante.”

Sitting up, he gripped the phone tighter. “What? What makes you say that?”

“My court date was set with the judge. It’s in two days, and where it should have the pending bond amount, it’s blank.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Dante massaged his temples as he shook his head. “That doesn’t mean you won’t get one. That just means the judge will set it when they see you.”

Sade released a bark of laughter. “Wake up, Dante. I’m in here on two counts of murder. He’s not going to give me a fucking bond.” Her voice broke as she said, “I’m going to die in here. I-I’m going to give my baby life in here.”

“Okay, all right, take some deep breaths for me, Sade.” Dante stood and began to walk. “Breathe for me, baby. You don’t need to run your blood pressure up and get lightheaded again.”

“You’re right,” she agreed quietly before taking several deep breaths.

“You’ll get a bond, and I’ll pay it. Then Richmond is going to get rid of whatever bullshit Jones has against you. Because that’s all it is—bullshit. Then you’ll be free of this, and we can focus on us and bringing our baby into the world.”

“God . . . I hope you’re right.”