Page 28 of Trading In A Broken Heart

“Neither do y’all,” I shot back.

“He kidnapped you,” Maniac made known.

“And yet I’m standing here safe.”

“We’re not asking,” Grim spoke. He was a man of lil words, so I knew he was serious.

“Then you’re gonna have to kidnap me too.”

I knew at this point, everyone thought I’d lost my fucking mind. Everyone grew quiet.

“She’s more than welcome to leave whenever she wants,” Savion finally spoke, and everyone looked at me.

“I just came to let y’all know that I’m fine. You can call off the search parties, but I’m staying with Savion, and I really hope that you’ll respect my decision.” I took him by the hand and walked us out of that house to allow my family time to process what had just happened.

Two weeks later

The time on my clock read three o’clock in the morning. I’d been tossing and turning, not able to sleep. Ghost and I were working on this new job. It was taking a lot of investigative work that was draining the hell out of me. My stomach rumbled, which prompted me to climb out of bed and head into the kitchen. Ma normally did all the cooking around here. Every so often, I’d find myself moving around the kitchen to fix something. She taught me well. Said she always wanted me to be able to survive without her or a woman.

When I opened the refrigerator, I saw the salmon sitting in there, so I pulled it out and prepped it to be cooked. Tuscan salmon was on my mind, so I was about to make it. I’d been in the kitchen for a couple hours when I heard house shoes dragging across the floor. A few seconds later, Solei appeared in the doorway wearing a pink robe. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“What are you doing up?” she asked me when she entered the kitchen. Solei stopped at the island and took a seat on the barstool.

“Was hungry,” I said and placed a plate down in front of her.

“This looks good as hell. Did you make this?”

I slid onto the stool across from her and picked up my fork. “Who else would’ve?”

Solei squinted at me before glancing around the kitchen.

“Honestly? Yo’ mama.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Disappointed?”

“No. I’m just surprised that you know how to cook.” She shoved a forkful into her mouth before her eyes widened. “Damn.”

I leaned back in my chair. “Damn good?”

She pointed the fork at me. “Don’t get cocky.”

I watched her take another bite. For a woman who spent most of her time threatening to kill me, she looked entirely too comfortable eating food I made. The realization settled somewhere deep in my chest. Dangerous territory. The kind my mother warned me about.

Solei paused midway through chewing.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“You staring.”

“You eating.”

“That’s weird.”

“So is talking to security cameras.” Her face twisted.

“Are we still on that?”