My heart cracked clean in half.
“She would have,” I agreed, my voice thick. “She would have spoiled them rotten.”
“Just like you spoiled me.”
I gave him another hug,but I started to feel weak. So he quickly led me to a sofa. Quest, Serenity and Rita all followed. I missed this family so much.
Grandma Rita shared all her wisdom that she learned raising four kids, plus several grandchildren. Serenity just chilled, but she was glued to her phone. And Quest left, said he had something to handle for Prime.
We ate well and Yusef played piano for us. It was such an amazing homecoming. The only thing missing was my Prime.
That evening, after Yusef and Serenity had gone to bed, after the twins had been fed and changed and settled into their bassinets, after Rita had finally stopped fussing over me and gone to lie down herself, I sat on the living room couch and stared at my phone.
Prime had been calling every day. Multiple times a day. But this call felt different. Important.
When his face appeared on the FaceTime screen, I felt some of the tension in my shoulders release.
“Hey, Goddess.”
“Hey, baby.”
“You look good.” His eyes moved over my face like he was memorizing every detail. “How you feeling?”
“Sore. Tired. Happy.” I smiled. “The babies are sleeping. Everyone is here and taking care of everything. I’m… I’m okay, Prime. I’m really okay. I just miss you.”
“I miss you too.” He paused, and I could see him wrestling with something. “I’m coming back in the morning.”
“Quest told me. Said you have something? A smoking gun?”
“Yeah.” His jaw tightened. “Thad confessed about Zahara but said he didn’t pull the trigger. We found the guy who did pull the trigger.”
My whole body went cold. “What?”
“It’s complicated. I’ll explain everything when I get there. But the point is, Camille’s gonna have what she needs to blow this case wide open.”
“Who is he?” I managed.
“I’ll tell you when I get there. Face to face. This ain’t the kind of conversation you have over the phone.”
“Prime—”
“Trust me, Goddess. Okay? Just trust me. I got this handled.”
I did trust him. With my life. With our children’s lives. With everything.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “I trust you.”
“Good. Now go get some rest. Kiss my babies for me. And Zainab?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. All four of you. More than anything in this world.”
“I love you too.”
“I’ll be there by morning. And when I get there…” His eyes went dark, that dangerous edge creeping into his voice. “We’re gonna finish this. Together.”
“Together,” I agreed.
