Page 58 of Tide

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, baby. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to just leave you like that but I didn’t want to wake you up either,” he says.

“I was worried, but the girls came by. They reassured me you’d be alright.”

“They’re right. I’m good.”

“Where were you?” He takes a deep breath before blowing it out and pulling away from me a little.

“You don’t want details, Mylah, but it’s over. It’s all over.”

“What does that mean?” I ask unsurely.

“It means it’s over. The person that did that to you was held accountable, and the next motherfucker I go after is Padgett.”

“What’s that mean, held accountable?”

“Like I said, you don’t have to worry about that. It’s handled. I need to take a shower.” With that, he turns and walks away as a tear slips down my cheek. I don’t know what I asked because I already know. He killed her. Or he had her killed. Either way, a chill runs down my spine as I swipe the tears from my cheeks. I take a deep breath and turn, heading down the hallway. When I walk into the bathroom, Tide is already in the shower.

I strip out of my clothes and climb in behind him, resting my hand on his back.

“I’m sorry.”

“No. I am. It’s my fault that she did this,” he tells me.

“No, it’s not. You couldn’t have known she would do something like that, Tide.”

“But I should have, yeah? I was with her crazy ass for years. I should have seen it.”

“Don’t do this to yourself. I’m here. You’re here. We’re having a baby, Tide. Isn’t that all that matters?” He turns to face me, cupping my face in his hands as he looks into my eyes.

“I won’t ruin this baby, Mylah. I won’t.”

“I know you won’t.”

“Christian hates me more than ever,” he tells me, and I can hear the slight sadness in his tone.

“Maybe he’ll come around.”

“Maybe not. He needs to find his own way now. I fucked up with him. I know I did, but I can’t fix that either. Never could.”

“Christian is a grown man, Tide. He can work this out for himself.”

“I did somethin’ tonight. Somethin’ that was unforgivable. Somethin’ there is no comin’ back from.”

“I know you did. And I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“Sorry? I’m not sorry, Mylah. She hurt you. She sold you. I’m not fuckin’ sorry for what I did tonight.” My chest clenches as he says the words. I should be afraid, but I’m not. Instead, I reach up and grab his face in my hands and pull his lips to mine.

“You saved me.”

“What?”

“You saved me, Tide. You saved me from Christian, a life of unhappiness. You saved me from those monsters that had me.You fucking saved me, Tide, and there’s no shame in that. There’s no coming back from that either. I love you.”