“Honey, what are you talking about?”
“Deuce wasn’t the officer who responded to the accident. He was simply there that night.”
“I know. He told us that, Sevyn.”
“Did he tell you that it was because he caused the accident, Amani?”
“What?”
“Right here,” I stated softly as I pushed the paper to her. I climbed off the bed and with stooped shoulders, I walked to the living room.
“What does all this mean, Sevyn?” Amani asked, walking out of my bedroom and down the hallway.
“He’s only been in my life because of guilt. He was worried how I was going to respond when I recalled the accident. I have been blaming myself for my husband dying all this time, and he knew that he was responsible. He held the key to the answers that I sought, and he held them back. Just like he wasn’t truthful about Lena and the baby. So many lies, Amani. I don’t know what to believe anymore. Does he even love me?” I sobbed.
“Believe me when I say that I know this looks crazy, Sevyn, but I know my brother. He would never intentionally use anyone or hurt you. He loves you. Give him a chance to answer the questions that you have before you jump to conclusions.”
I shook my head and pushed back past her in the hall on the way to my bedroom.
“No. I have to get out of here.”
“Sevyn, don’t just leave like this. He deserves to have you tell him upfront.”
I spun around angrily on her in the doorway of my bedroom. “I deserved the truth, but he’s been holding it back from me. Sodon’t come telling me what he deserves. I’ve been an open book to that man letting him pour through the details of my life. He hasn’t given me the same respect. He deserves to come home and find that I’m gone, and I’m never coming back.”
I walked in my closet and grabbed a carryall bag. I tossed some grooming items inside. When I finished with that, I grabbed a suitcase and tossed as many clothes inside as I could. One final bag, I filled with my shoes.
“Please, Sevyn. If I could call him and tell him to come home right now, I would. But I can’t because he’s still on the stand. Please don’t leave like this.”
I shook my head as the tears continued falling. “I cannot stay, Amani. Please don’t ask me to. My heart hurts so badly right now. I don’t know who he is anymore, and I can’t trust him. I don’t know if anything is true—his feelings, his declaration of love, or his protection. He probably only did all he’s done to keep me close and find out what I remember.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry that he felt I deserved this.”
“I hate to ask you this, but if you leave here, where are you going?”
Waverleigh had left for Pennsylvania, and unfortunately, I had nowhere to go.
“Whatever you’re thinking about, slow down before you make a drastic decision. I know that my brother hurt you, and I’m sorry that he did. But you’ve got more than just your heart to consider now and more than Deuce’s. It’s not about just you two anymore. Before you saw the trial, there was a glow about you, you’ve been nauseous over the smell of the food, and you’re gaining weight.” She stared at me knowingly before her eyes dropped to my belly.
She turned around and walked out of my room. My stomach heaved, and I barely made it to the bathroom in time to vomit.My heart hurt so badly. Why had all this happened to me now? My life had always had such bad timing. I felt so screwed. There was no way that he would let me leave if he knew.
The only facesin the courtroom that didn’t wear a look of shock were Mrs. Joanna Jones and Paul Ward. Apparently, he had learned about our affair by breaking into Lena’s phone and reading our text messages.
They were mostly written in code, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. He learned about the baby the day that he killed her. When he came over to meet with her, he thought she was trying to reconcile. He hadn’t been prepared to be handed divorce papers. But as he walked around her apartment, making his presence intimidating, he had spotted some paperwork from her doctor’s office about prenatal care.
It was a no-brainer that he wasn’t the father, because he hadn’t had sex with her in more than a year. That detail alongwith the divorce papers had been what set him off, not her attitude or anything she might have said.
Court was dismissed for the day after I gave my testimony about what I had witnessed between the couple. The defense attorney had requested that I be treated like a hostile witness, but the judge didn’t grant him that request. He deemed my testimony as unfavorable, not hostile.
Now that my testimony was over, I was attempting to make it out of the courthouse as quickly and quietly as possible. It wasn’t easy with reporters on every side shoving microphones in my face. My brothers in blue surrounded me, and my attorney, along with my lieutenant, led the way for me to make an escape.
“You didn’t say anything. Why didn’t you tell us, Fullwood?” Officer Gavin Tinsley demanded when we were crowded in the elevator making our way to the first floor.
I sighed, and my former lieutenant looked me in the eye. I knew that he had a million questions, and he was the only one who I owed an explanation to.
“Fullwood?” Officer Carson Jennings asked.
