Page 56 of The Devoted Husband

“Babe, that’s enough!”

“Nah. I’ll never have enough pictures of you.”

“Is it still trending?” she asked.

“The video? Nah. It was finally taken down.”

“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 every right 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 think I’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 to remain 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.”

“I just can’t believe the judge didn’t even hear us out about his nephew holding us for hours. How is that fair?”

Dante chuckled. “Fairness doesn’t matter when it comes to the law. We tried to do it the right now, and now, we’ll handle it our way.”

“And Jones wasn’t even here,” she continued, half-listening to Dante as he opened the car door for her.

“He gets to not be present with no punishment, yet because we were late, the order is no longer valid? That’s dumb!

” With a growl, she plopped down into the seat and crossed her arms over her chest with a pout.

“I’m ready to go back to San Diego already. ”

Amusement filled Dante as he closed the door and walked to the driver’s side, but Sade didn’t care if he laughed at her. She’d grown weary of trying to do things the right, peaceful way. If Jones wanted a war, they’d give him one.

Sade stared at her grandparents’ home. She had no urgency to go inside.

She decided to stay with them because she didn’t want to stay at a hotel.

But as she sat outside their home, her gut told her she’d be better off at a hotel.

She called Dante. Hours ago, it seemed like a bearable plan for them to part ways until they moved into the apartment.

While she stayed with her grandparents, he’d be with his parents.

Now, she was missing the peace from being with her man already.

“Hello, Smiley,” he answered, and like always, it made her smile.

“Hi. Are you still at the house?”

“Yeah, we have everything packed up now. I think the moving company will have one more trip to the storage unit, and then, that will be it.”

“Good. I’m just glad they were able to help with the move since it was such short notice.”

“Money talks with all things.”

“Have you heard back from the apartment?”

“Yeah, the lease agent called. The application was approved, and we can look at a unit whenever you want. She said we can move in in two weeks.”

Sade sighed as she nodded. “Okay. I guess I can make it two weeks here.”

“Has something happened?”

“Not yet. I haven’t even gone inside yet. I just feel like they will give me hell about Trina’s sister. Even though it was self-defense, you know they are kind of hard on me.”

“Yeah. Well, you don’t have to stay there, Day. My parents are more than okay with you being there, and we can always get a hotel suite. It’s up to what you want to deal with less—being in a hotel again or hearing your grandparents’ mouths.”

She laughed. “You’re right about that. I’m gonna try with them first. Hopefully, not seeing me for two weeks will soften them toward me. If it doesn’t, we can go to a hotel.”

“I’m cool with that. I’m going to miss sleeping with you, though.”

“Same. I’ve gotten the best sleep of my life in your arms.”

“How about I call you when we’re done here? If they are going to give you a hard time, it will happen as soon as you walk through the door. Then you can let me know you’ve changed your mind about staying there, and I’ll get us a suite downtown.”

That made Sade chuckle. “You act like you know me so well.”

“I do. So, I’ll call you in about an hour so you can tell me to get the suite.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going to prove you wrong, but call me anyway.”

They shared declarations of love before Sade headed to the front door.

She knocked then let herself in with her key.

After going to the twins’ room to speak to them, she temporarily got caught up with helping them find an outfit to go to the movies later that evening.

When she was done, she headed to the kitchen, where she found her grandparents reading and sipping coffee at the table.

“Hey,” she spoke, looking from one to the other.

Her grandfather’s eyes lifted from his book. As he peered at her over his glasses, Barron smiled. “You look refreshed.”

“I am. The time away was exactly what I needed.”

“How did the hearing go?”

“We were late, so it was dismissed. Jones’s nephew works for TSA and kept us at the airport for hours,” Sade shared as she sat at the table.

“So, you’ll have to start the process all over again?”

“Yes, but I don’t think we’re going to.”

Sade stared at her grandmother, who had yet to say a word.

“Hey, Grandma.”

Ava set down her book, crossing her hands on top of it. Sade sighed as her head tilted because she knew what was about to come.

“You killed that girl.”

“She and ten other people were in my home. She had a bat and was about to hit me. How else do you think I could have handled that?”

“You could’ve shot her in the leg and let the police handle her.”

With a chuckle, Sade shook her head. Her fingers tapped the table as she looked from Ava to Barron.

“That’s easy to say, but when you’re in that moment and your life is in danger, you’re not thinking about shooting them somewhere to spare their life. I can promise you, she wasn’t going to spare mine.”

Ava’s tongue clicked against her mouth. “I keep trying to tell you it will only get worse. You lied to your sister and Dante while he was there with you. You slept with him knowing he was married to someone else.”

“Will you stop!” she yelled, slamming her palm against the table.

“Yes, I lied, but I wouldn’t have had to if Imani hadn’t tried to blame him for her crimes.

I lied to save his life and to keep him free, and you’re not going to make me feel bad about that.

What I’m going through isn’t Karma; it’s the effect of a deranged man who is after me because of something that I had nothing to do with.

And maybe, just maybe, this could have been avoided if either of you had told me and Imani the damn truth!

“Had I known about my parents and the Joneses, I could have recognized him while I was in Vanzette and been prepared for this. I could have gone to his captain and let him know he would be biased because of my parents and gotten him off the case before he had time to focus on me. But because the two of you decided I didn’t need to know that my parents were murdered, you left me with a huge blind spot!

So, I don’t want to hear you say anything about this being what I ‘deserve’ because of Karma because it’s not Karma, Grandma.

“It’s me paying for my dad’s cheating. It’s me paying for you not telling me the truth.

If anyone should feel bad about what the hell is happening in my life, it should be you!

Now, I’ve tried to keep the peace between us, but I’m not doing this anymore.

Since you can’t seem to accept the fact that this is not a conversation I’m going to have every time Jones does something crazy, I’m staying away like you wanted me to weeks ago. ”

“Sade, wait,” Barron said as he stood from his seat, but she ignored him.

She was more upset by her grandmother’s words than what happened in court.

Sade was tired of her grandmother’s pessimistic attitude.

She missed the days when, even when Ava didn’t like what she was doing, she tried to guide her positively and with love.

The advice she gave was often a life lesson Sade appreciated because it was something she believed she could benefit from.

As Ava aged, she was starting to become looser at the lip, and most of what she said when she didn’t agree with Sade led to a disagreement.

Tears blurred her vision as she walked through the living room. As much as she hated admitting it, Dante was right. She should have known Ava would make this difficult for her.

Sade was so focused on wiping her eyes and opening the car door that she didn’t notice the figure standing behind her until a scarf was put over her mouth as she was picked up and carried to a waiting car.