Gideon’s frown deepened. “How you figure?”
“She just called her mom,” Deja butted in. “That Trick nigga must have gotten on the phone and told her that shit, because next thing we know, she’s out of bed and tryna leave.”
“Y’all don’t understand. Trick has pull. My dad isn’t safe.” Glimmer cried, and Gideon couldn’t stand by and just watch her anymore. He made his way over to her as Haze spoke.
“Nah, he won’t. We just left the prison and took care of all that. Now get ya ass back in bed,” Haze said.
Glimmer shook her head defiantly, but Gideon was already by her side and gently coaxing her back into bed. Her tears came faster as she sat down, and he rubbed her back soothingly.
“Can you give us a moment?” Gideon finally asked when it was clear Glimmer was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
“Man, . . . talk some sense into ya wife.” Haze ran a hand down his face.
Gideon shook his head. Now was not the time for Haze’s jokes.
Deja gave Glimmer a sympathetic look before following behind Haze and exiting the room. Kyomi lingered. She squeezed Glimmer’s arm and looked at her with sad eyes. “Letus help you, Glimmy,” she softly begged before she followed her brother and cousin out of the room.
It was silent for a few moments while Glimmer wept, and Gideon tried to find the words to comfort this woman he didn’t even know. This woman he was about to marry.
“Scoot back,” he finally said. Glimmer peered at him with watery eyes and confusion written all over her face. He nodded. “Go ’head and get comfortable.”
Reluctantly and with a heavy sigh, Glimmer got fully onto the bed and scooted back so she was up against the headboard. When she tried to tuck her legs under her, Gideon caught her good foot and held it in his large hand.
He noted that she had small cuts all over the bottom of her feet, and then he remembered that she had shown up without shoes on. Gently, he rubbed her foot. He felt her stiffen, and he looked into her eyes. “This okay?”
Slowly, she nodded and relaxed. They stayed silent for a moment. Gideon wanted to say the right thing, but Glimmer spoke first.
“I can’t stay here,” she murmured.
“You can,” he said. He stared into her pretty eyes and wished he could take all her pain away. He wanted to understand everything about her so he could always anticipate her needs. He wanted a moment to himself to reflect onwhythose were his current desires. “We got a wedding to go to, you know?”
His lips turned up into a charming smile, and even though she was on the brink of a panic attack, she smiled too. And then she laughed. She laughed so hard, another stream of tears fell from her eyes. “A wedding? That wedding can’t happen, Gideon.”
He continued to rub her feet as he chose his words carefully. When he switched feet and gingerly took her swollen ankle intohis hand, he looked back into her eyes. “If you don’t mind, I want to say my vows to you right now.”
Glimmer’s brows rose almost to her hairline. “Your . . . vows? What? I . . . I don’t,” she sputtered.
Gideon chuckled. He thought she was cute as hell when she didn’t know how to react to something.
“Chill. Haze and I went to visit ya pops today. I got his blessing to take your hand in marriage, and I want to do this right, even though nothing about this is normal. Is that okay with you?”
Her jaw dropped, and she shook her head slowly. It looked like there was so much she wanted to say, but she finally settled on, “You saw my dad?”
Gideon nodded. “He ain’t know none of this shit was goin’ on out here. We filled him in, and I vowed to keep you safe.”
“How is he?” she asked. Her eyes glittered with tears. Gideon could tell by the way she softened that her father meant the world to her.
“He’s good, love. He gon’ be aight. Me and Haze made sure of that. We talked to the warden. He has the best COs watching his back twenty-four hours a day. We put money on his books and hooked him up with a single cell.”
“Thank you.” She looked down at the comforter for a second before she met his eyes again. “Can I see him?”
Gideon looked at her with sad eyes. “He doesn’t want you to go up there and see him like that. If it were up to me, I would bring you, but I don’t want to get on my father-in-law’s bad side already.”
Glimmer giggled sadly. “What about getting on your wife’s bad side?”
They held each other’s gaze. It was the first time she referred to herself as his wife, and they hadn’t even signed the paperworkyet. Still, something inside Gideon came alive at the sound of his wife referring to herself as such.
“I plan to stay on your good side too. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
