Page 43 of The Devoted Husband

“Hello. I have a package for...” He looked down at his clipboard. “Sade Griffin?”

“Oh. Apologies.”

“Day!” he called, setting the box on the ground. After grabbing a pair of scissors from the kitchen, he met her in the hallway. “Someone just dropped a package off for you. ‘Atlas’ is written on the top. Have you heard from anyone in his family lately?”

She shook her head as she stood at the door and looked down at the box. “No, I haven’t. I’m not sure why anyone would be sending me something in his name.”

“Do you mind if I open it just to be safe?”

“Not at all.”

Dante opened the box, revealing a card on top of a smaller box.

He lifted the card and read it aloud. “Such a pity. The lives lost because of you. Atlas was the last...How long will that be true? You’ve kept your hands clean, and now, it seems Dante is doing your dirty work. Who will be the next person he hurts?”

“Baby, don’t open it.” Sade placed her hand on his shoulder, but that didn’t stop Dante from opening the top of the box.

The moment he did, flies flew out. Sade covered her mouth but to no avail. She vomited in the bushes at the sight of the mound of poo and crawling maggots.

“This has to be Jones,” Dante said. “Who else would be bringing up alleged murders? Plus, me killing Atlas was self-defense.” He finished closing the box and walked it over to the garbage, not bothering to wait for Sade’s response.

He found her in their bathroom, brushing her teeth. Dante washed his hands three times before starting to feel a little cleaner.

“Why won’t he just leave us alone ?” Sade seethed. “You’d think losing his job would have brought him to his senses. Why can’t he just...let it go?”

“I think losing his job is ammunition for him to keep coming until we stop him.”

Sade shook her head as she closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around him. “I know what you’re thinking, but we can’t.”

Dante scoffed. “Why not? Do you think I will just let him stalk and taunt you like this? To what end? You’re pregnant. You don’t need to deal with continued stress.”

“You’re right, but I don’t want us to respond and bait him to do more. Maybe if we ignore it, he’ll stop.”

“It’s clear he’s still watching us. That needs to be handled. We’ll try it your way, but we’re doing it my way if it doesn’t work.”

Sade nodded in agreement, and Dante kissed her forehead. He never thought there would come a day when he’d be able to consider taking a life so casually. But for Sade? He wouldn’t give it a second thought.