Jo and I sat quietly. Seth, even quieter. Serena’s eyes kept bouncing around the table like she was daring somebody to break.
Something was wrong. And for whatever reason, I was catching strays all night.
I finally spoke up. “Anybody wanna share what the hell’s going on?”
Serena didn’t waste a second.
“Oh, you don’t know?” she asked, fork clinking against her plate. “Your husband’s out here terrorizing the city. I don’t even recognize my own son anymore.”
I looked at Seth. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t speak. I knew what he was capable of. Knew the life he lived… still lived. I didn’t need all the details. He handled business, so I held down the home. That’s how it worked. But hearing it from his mother’s mouth hit different.
“Ma, let it go,” Seth spoke up, trying to keep it respectful but his voice was already thin.
She leaned forward, clearly not done. “Stormi, let me ask you something.” She asked it like she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Do you really want your husband walking around playing God, taking innocent women’s lives over what their sons did?Wouldn’t you want God to handle Dre for what he did to you? Not Seth?”
I froze. Not because I didn’t have an answer. But because I had one, she wouldn’t like it.
“I was innocent,” I voiced slowly. “Your grandson was innocent.”
Her face tightened.
“Dre could’ve taken something from us we would never get back. So no,” I answered, rising from the table, “I don’t have sympathy for what’s happening out there.”
The room was silent as I turned to Jo. “Mind cleaning up the kitchen for me?”
She nodded without a word. I looked around the table, calm as always.
“If you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to bed.”
But of course, Serena couldn’t let it go.
“So that’s it?” she asked, her voice slicing through the air like a blade. “You’re not even gonna try to talk him down? You’re the wife, right?”
I turned back slowly, giving her a smile. “You’re right, Serena.”
I leaned into Seth, close enough for only him to hear. “Go crazy, baby,” I whispered against his ear, kissing lips that still tasted like everything that belonged to me. And without looking back, I walked out with an extra sway in my hips, head high.
Chapter
Eleven
SETH
The only thing that still managed to ground me these days was home. Everything outside these walls felt like it was slipping through my fingers. And my mom’s, she’d been on one ever since that day at Dre’s old girl’s house. I got it. I respected her feelings. But I’m not a boy anymore. I’m a man with a family and I protect mine at all costs.
Truth is, I never wanted her to see that side of me. The one Dre been waking up in me day by day. But these past few weeks. They changed me and turned me into someone I barely recognized. And every minute Dre was still breathing, just walking around like he ain't try to take something sacred from me, it did something ugly to my soul.
I walked into the bathroom and heard the shower running, steam slipping from under the door. Stormi’s voice floated out, low and soft, singing off key to Coco Jones like she was at one of her sold out concerts. That sound, it calmed me.
Stepping further into the bedroom, I found our bed already occupied by my two sleeping kings. S3 was curled up next to Shiloh, one sock on, T-shirt bunched at his side like always. Mostnights, I’d slide in right beside them, find some space and make it work. But not tonight. Tonight, I needed my wife.
I scooped S3 up in my arms, careful not to wake him. His head fell against my shoulder like it knew the routine. I walked him to his room and tucked him in, brushing his hair back before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
On the way out, I passed Jo in the hallway, arms full of diapers, wipes, blankets, and a bottle warmer. She was always on point.
“You got the night shift?” I asked her, nodding toward the baby gear.
