Page 172 of Vega

I got out of bed and slid my feet into my Nike slides before leaving the room.

Sonnet was humming in the kitchen. I heard pans moving and grease popping before I reached the doorway.

She didn’t notice me. So, I leaned against the frame and watched her. She wore panties, a bra, satin bonnet, and her glasses. Her hips moved slightly on beat to whatever song she had in her head while she stirred the grits. Morning light came through the window and kissed her skin.

She turned toward the counter and caught me in her peripheral.

Her body jerked. “Shit! You scared me.”

Staring at her, I was nearly in a daze. “I love you.”

She froze for a second, then her face softened into a smile that reached her eyes. “I love you too.”

I pushed away from the doorway and walked toward her.

“You’re right on time,” she said. “I just finished.”

She turned off the stove burners and reached for a plate.

“Come here,” I called for her.

“Give me a second. Let me make your plate.”

“The plate can wait.”

She looked over her shoulder, finally hearing something in my voice that made her stop. I sat on one of the stools and reached for her. She padded across the kitchen, and I grabbed her waist, pulling her onto my lap.

“What happened?” she asked.

I kissed her neck, telling her, “You’re free.”

Her brows drew together.

“Roman’s dead,” I explained.

Her lips parted as relief flowed through her expression. Her eyes closed, and she released a long breath while her shoulders dropped. When she opened them again, she smiled, but I peeped the sadness beneath it.

“You don’t look happy for real.”

She stared down at her hands. “I was tired of hiding. I hated being scared all the time. But I liked being here with you. I enjoy sleeping next to you and waking up knowing you were close. I’m going to miss that.”

“Me too.” The thought of her living anywhere but here made me feel like I was being stabbed in the chest, like someone who was literally holding my breath hostage. I’d gotten used to having her within reach. I wanted her near me all the time. Still, I’d already taken her away from her life once. Now that she was free, I had to give her the chance to take it back.

I rubbed my hand over her thigh, saying, “But you get to go home, get back to your life, and if you decide you don’t want to be with me anymore, I’ll understand.”

Offense hardened her expression. “Why would you say that?”

“I think you need the chance to choose me when you don’t need me to survive. You were trapped. You couldn’t leave, and you depended on me to keep you alive. I was the only person you had, so you could’ve clung to me and confused that bond for love. You won’t know for sure until you return to your own life.”

Her eyes filled with anger and hurt. “I’m not stupid. I didn’t fall in love with you because I’m suffering from some mental defect of being kidnapped. I love you because you’re sexy as hell, and although you sell drugs and shoot people, you’re as nerdy as me sometimes.” I started to laugh but she was serious as hell as she continued with frustrated lines in her forehead. “You have the nerve to be bilingual, and you have great dick—”

“How would you know how good this dick is?” I asked, raising a brow high. “You have nothing to compare it to.”

“My orgasms tell me so,” she quipped through gritted teeth. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The fear that she’d only chosen me because she needed me finally loosened its grip.

Then she added, “I’m not leaving you, Vega…Especially now.”