Two weeks at my new job, and I was finally getting adjusted to chasing children all day. I loved working with them from the bottom of my heart, but I was exhausted. Friday always hit different when you were off on the weekend.

    Kelsea wanted to get me out of the house for a change, but all I wanted to do was lie in bed and finish reading my book. I walked the two blocks back to my ce, relieved to finally be home for the next two days. When I unlocked the door and stepped inside, my first instinct was to cut and run.

    “Don’t!” Steel demanded as he stood from his position on my couch.

    “W-what are you doing here?”

    My heart drummed in my ears so loud that I couldn’t hear my own voice. I was pretty sure I was going to pass out before he had the chance to respond to my question. That’s if he didn’t decide to just kill me first.

    “I came to get you. Come home, Den.”

    “You need to leave,” I said, backing up until my back was against the door.

    “I don’t know why you left, but I want to make it right. Let me make it right,” he requested.

    “Just let me go, please. You know I didn’t do anything,” I begged.

    “We’re past that, Den. My team found Brendan.”

    I expected him to get closer once he made that revtion, but he didn’t. I weighed my options wondering if it were possible for me to make it out of this alive. I was too afraid to ask about Brendan’s fate because knowing would only seal my own. I regretted the day I met that conniving asshole.

    Standing in the middle of my living room floor, Steel shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it on the couch.

    “What are you doing? I swear I didn’t have anything to do with him stealing from you.”

    “I don’t want you to have any reason to fear me. I don’t have anything on me. I left my gun in the car. All I brought is me. That’s all I got, Dev,” he said as he unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall to the floor as he unfastened his pants and pushed both his pants and briefs down and stepped out of them once they pooled around his ankles.

    “None of this extra shit matters. I’ll give it all away. I’ll give it all to you,” he exined as he removed his watch and put it on the coffee table. He bent down and removed his socks before standing back up to face me. He kicked the pile of clothes and shoes to the side and took a step toward me. “This is just me. None of that extra shit matters. All I want is you, Den. I didn’t bring anything with me, but I came to get my wife. Come back home, Den.”

    I shook my head. “Steel, I can’t.”

    “I need you. I can’t go back to the dark, baby. I might not make it out this time. Keep me in the light, love. Bring your light back to me. I need to be able to see you. I need to hear youugh. I need to hear you sing when you don’t think anyone is listening. I need to hear you hum that one tune that I can almost recognize, but I never ask what it is because I’m in love with the mystery of it all. Just be there. You can move back upstairs, just don’t leave me.”

    “I can’t. I’m sure you can find someone else to take care of the kids. Someone who you can trust.”

    “I can’t keep living without you, Den. Come home, baby. The kids . . . they’re gone,” his voice cracked, making my stomach seize up into a ball.

    “Gone?” I asked, hesitantly.

    “The day you left I went to meet with awyer about getting my sister out. She’s been home for about a week. I asked her to move into the house I own down the street, but she didn’t want to uproot their lives. I need you, Dev. All I had worth keeping was you and those kids. Now I don’t have anything. I don’t know what made you run, but I promise I’ll die trying to make it right if I have to.”

    “Steel, I heard you. You said you were going to kill me. You said you didn’t know if you could trust me, but even after you fucking kidnapped me, I trusted you.”

    “It was stupid of me to say that when I knew in my heart that you didn’t have anything to do with what happened. I just didn’t feel like exining that to my boy when he was already giving me a hard time about our situation. I didn’t want him in our shit. It’s our shit. It’s not for the world to understand. I never said I was going to kill you, baby. I told him it wasn’t up for discussion, and I meant that shit. If I wanted to kill you, I would have never taken you to my house. I would have done it right in Brendan’s kitchen. I apologize for what you heard. I apologize for everything I’ve ever said or done to hurt you. Just please let me make it right.”

    “Steel, how am I supposed to trust that? How am I supposed to know you won’t decide that I was just something to do? You lost me in a bet, right? Is that why you want me so bad?”

    “I didn’t lose you in a bet, Den. The bet was never about whether I could have you or not. That was up to you. The bet was whether he would let you go so I didn’t have to blow up his club before I pursued you. I didn’t want you walking around in those skimpy outfits with niggas giving you money to feel on your ass. I’m the only nigga feeling on that ass. That’s my ass.”

    “That didn’t answer my question. Is the fact that you lost me in a bet the main reason that you are going so hard to get me?”

    “I didn’t lose. I told you he double crossed me. Come home, baby.”

    “I am home.”

    “No, you’re not, and you know it. In all seriousness, I miss you, Dev. It’s so dark and dreary in that house without your light. I can’t go back to living the way I was before. I know I was a jerk. I never should have treated you like coteral or bait when you’re the only thing I didn’t want to lose. I know I don’t deserve you, but I would be honored to have you as my wife andpanion until the day I cease to exist,” he said, getting down on one knee and picking his pants up from the floor.

    “Steel,” I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands as he opened the box and revealed a gorgeous pear cut diamond ring.

    “Just tell me what I gotta do, baby. I’m not sleeping. The house is so cold, and I think Miguel is going to quit soon. He’s furious that you’re gone. He and Sicily both think I did something to chase you away. I fired Simon and Gerry after I pistol whipped and held them at gunpoint for letting you leave. All of a sudden, it’s so cold and dank in that big fucking castle I’ve been hiding out in for the past ten years. I need you back, Den. I know I was wrong. me it on me. Punish me if you have to. I just need my sunshine back.”

    “Can you ept that I’m not your property and I’m free toe and go as I please? Can you love and trust me even though I don’t belong to you?”

    “I understand that you don’t belong to me, Den, but I belong to you.”

    “Can I have some time to think? This is too much.”

    Standing to his full height, he took a deep breath. “I love you, Den. As hard as it is, I’ll ept whatever you decide.” Walking over, he pressed the ring into my hand before dropping his forehead to mine. “I’m trying to remember your eyes just in case this is thest time I see them,” he said, taking a shuddered breath before blinking back the moisture in his eyes.

    I knew the lump in my throat meant that tears were inevitable, so I pushed past him and made a dash for my bedroom. Once I was inside, I mmed the door behind me and dove on the bed. As I cried into my pillow, I heard a soft knock on my door.

    “Goodbye, princess. You don’t have to worry about me imposing on your life again,” he said through the door.

    I screamed into my pillow as I felt his presence fading. I knew that he would keep his word and note back. That shattered me.