Page 97 of Betrothed To Love

“Hello,” I answer.

“Turn to WCF-TV right now. Richardson’s camp is releasing a statement at seven,” he blurts.

I glance at the clock. It’s two minutes till seven. “I need to turn this off for a second. I’ll turn it back on as soon as I see this, okay?” I tell Niya.

“Okay!” she says.

“What’s going on?” Quintus asks as I turn to the local station.

“Richardson,” I say, then turn the volume up a little. Duke is still on the line so I press the speaker button and place my cell on the arm of my chair. “It’s on,” I say and the announcement is the first thing on the news. Anja is reporting. After she introduces Richardson, it cuts to him remote but live. He’s dressed in a dark blue suit and sitting at a desk.

“Mr. Richardson,” Anja says and he begins.

“I care about Crescent Falls so much. I care about the courts so much. That’s why I wanted to run a campaign worthy of both,” he says and I roll my damn eyes. “That was what I wanted, but unfortunately, not what I did. The statements I made in a moment of vulnerability during the debate, regarding my opponent, the honorable Judge Mireya Coleman, were baseless and false. I retract them and apologize for ever making them. They were unethical and not indicative of my character.”

“Yeah right,” I utter.

“Because of my actions, I’m withdrawing from the race. To my team, the citizens of our great town, and my family, thank you for all of your support,” he says, then nods.

The smile on my face is big as hell. He’s out. My bench is still mine. A relief like I’ve never felt floods my entire body.

“Congratulations, judge!” Duke exclaims.

“You did it, kyau,” Quintus says with a beautiful smile plastered on his handsome face. Then he leans in and kisses my lips passionately.

“You won?” Niya questions.

“I will, sweetheart,” I gush and she hugs my neck.

“Good job,” she says.

“Thank you! And thank you so much, Duke.”

“We did it. I’ll draft your response tonight and send it in the morning. You did it.”

“No, we did it. Good night.”

We end the call and my breath hitches. My emotions are really all over the place. My dream is reaffirmed. In January, my term renews and I will be blessed to deliver unbiased, law-based decisions, prevent innocent people from going to jail, and render equitable sentences when there’s a guilty verdict. Richardson’s tactics didn’t work. I have nothing to worry about on Election Day. Overwhelmed in a good ass way, I inhale and exhale before closing my eyes as tears fall.

“You sad?” Niya asks sadly, sounding concerned. I quickly ease her little empathetic heart.

“No. I’m so happy. These are happy tears,” I assure her while beaming.

While thumbing my tears on my cheeks, Quintus leans down and says, “You deserve this, kyau. Congratulations again.” He kisses me again, slower and more passionately. Niya’s high-pitched giggles break the moment and remind us both that she’s in the room. He looks at her then says, “And you, you don’t kiss boys until you are twenty-five.” Her giggles only get louder, causing me to laugh too.

“I don’t like boys,” she says.

“That’s only for⁠—”

“Ay!” he quickly cuts my words off. “Let her keep that sentiment.” I just shake my head.

Ready to get back to her movie, Niya grabs the remote. As monumental as Richardson dropping out is, for her, it happened, it’s over, and she wants her movie and nachos. I switch back to KidTV and unpause the movie. “Imma let y’all finish this in peace. I got something to work on,” he says, then kisses Niya’s forehead. “Good night, baby girl.”

“I’m not sleep,” she scoffs.

“But you will be sleep before this movie is over,” he says and he’s absolutely correct.

Not even thirty minutes later, Niya is knocked all the way out. After turning off the movie, I gingerly slide from under her and leave her in the chair while I gather our bowl and trash. Before taking the stuff downstairs, I walk into the bedroom. My sexy husband is shirtless, propped up on the headboard, focused on his laptop. Without taking his eyes off the iPad, he reveals that he notices me.