Page 53 of Trading In A Broken Heart

“Everybody out!” Ghost yelled, and they scampered out of there without a thought, taking the truck driver with them. I paced the floor as I continued to look through the papers. Someone had started digging into Solei that didn’t work for Blackveil. Witnesses from her old case had started disappearing. Everything was leading back to one name—Governor Travis.

Stopping, I shut the folder and said, “Find the fucking governor.”

* * *

I had called up to the hospital, and they told me that Solei had been released hours ago. When I made it home, she wasn’t there. I sat at the island in the kitchen with a bottle of Remy. Something had to ease the pain, but I felt like the liquor was only awakening the predator in me.

My jaw tensed. I heard the front door to the lake house and looked in that direction. Not long after, Solei entered. She stood there in the doorway, glaring at me.

“Just when I was starting to fall for you, you do some bullshit like this. How could you?”

“I did what I thought was best for us.”

“No!” She took a step further into the kitchen and continued. “You did what you thought was best for you. This is my body. I have say-so in it, not you.”

“Solei, you’re acting like it’s a bad thing.”

“How do you know I even wanted children? Huh?”

“Do you?”

“I don’t know.” Her eyes lowered, and she tugged at the hem of her shirt. “I don’t know if I want to bring something so innocent into this world and not be able to protect it every second of the day.”

I knew exactly what she was hinting at. I just wished that she trusted me enough to let me in.

“I can protect both of y’all. You know that.” I lifted to my feet and closed in on her.

“You went behind my back and did something fucked up. I don’t trust you anymore, Savion.” She took a couple steps back from me as if I’d hurt her or something. That shit crushed me. “I feel like a fucking prisoner. All you do is tell me what I can and can’t do. You watch me every second of the day. You forced a baby on me without talking to me first. I need some time alone to think. I need to process things. I’m going back to my apartment.”

“You’re not leaving. You’re safer here with me.”

With tear-filled eyes, she asked, “Am I?”

My hands balled into fists. “Solei, you’re not going anywhere.”

“I’d like to see you stop me.”

I stepped toward her and stopped. There was nothing that I could do to make her stay. I could’ve kidnapped her ass and forced her to stay here, but I wanted to gain her trust again. If walking out that door was gon’ help our relationship, then I was gon’ have to let her leave.

“That’s what I thought.” She snatched my glasses from my face and lunged them across the room. “Bitch ass,” she said and turned and walked out the kitchen.

I stuffed as much stuff into my duffel that I could fit and zipped it up. The zipper didn’t close all the way, but I didn’t care. I winced when I lifted the duffel onto my shoulder and left out of the room.

Savion was still sitting at the island in the kitchen when I passed the door to leave the house. I took one final look at the house before tossing my duffel onto the passenger seat and hopping into my car.

I got out of there without looking back. Savion and I needed time apart. I needed to see if this was really what I wanted. Telling my family what happened was out of the question. The last thing I wanted to hear was I told you so. They tried to warn me about this man, but I wouldn’t listen. I just had to find out the hard way. Even he tried to warn me.

Pulling into the parking garage of my apartment building, I parked in my parking space and got out of the car. I grabbed my duffel and entered the building. It was weird being back here after being gone so long.

“Hey, Solei. I haven’t seen you in a while,” Jennifer said as I passed her. She was heading for the elevator to take her dog for a walk.

“Hey,” I tossed over my shoulder and kept going.

When I made it to my apartment door, I saw that it was cracked open. Pushing it further with my foot, it creaked. “Hello?” I asked and dropped my duffel on the floor at the door. I removed my gun from my purse and eased into the apartment.

There was a body lying on the floor between the coffee table and the TV stand. Nearing it, I saw they were dressed in all black. I nudged the body with my foot. His big ass wouldn’t roll over, and I kneeled and turned him to see Savion’s emblem on his suit jacket.

Straightening my posture, I headed toward the back of the apartment, checking every room in the house to make sure that no one else was in here.