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“Ruen,” she grumbled back. It was the only answer she gave.
“That’s not what I heard!”
“I don’t give a fuck what you heard!” He yanked away from Golden, but Roc swiftly moved between them when Joren pulled his gun. “Where’s my fucking daughter, Jada? I swear to God, you better tell me, or you won’t live to see another day.”
Atlas’s nails were suddenly digging into my chest, stealing my focus from the spectacle Jada and Joren made. “Please,” she pleaded, her eyes brimming with agony and guilt. No doubt she blamed herself for Jada and Joren’s marriage unraveling when she was far from blame. “Get me out of here, Owen. I want to leave.Please.”
But it was too late.
Before I could herd Atlas out of the door, Jada flung her arm out and screamed, “She’s right there!”
I watched as Jada’s revelation landed—as Joren’s emotions shifted from anger to confusion to incredulity and then horror. Before either of them could do any more damage, I swept Atlas up in my arms and got her the fuck out of there.
We were halfway to the car when the front door burst open and Joren stormed out. Golden and Roc were hot on his heels. “Atlas,” he called out. “Atlas, wait!”
A whimper escaped Atlas as she burrowed deeper against my chest. I was forced to set her on her feet when I looked over my shoulder and saw Joren gaining on us.
“Aye, back the fuck up,” I barked at my boy. I pushed Atlas behind me where she clung to my back.
Joren stopped and held his hands up. “I just want to talk to her.”
“That’s not happening.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” Joren snapped. “You owe me this!”
“And when you’re ready to shoot it out, just let me know, but Atlas stays out of it. Don’t come near her. Don’t even speak to her. Just ignore her like you’ve been doing.”
“I didn’t know!” he roared.
“Well, now you do. If you want a second chance, it will be onherterms, whenshe’sready. Now go handle your marriage. I’m taking my girl home.”
Not another word was said as I helped Atlas into the car.
The drive home was silent and heavy. Atlas had gone numb, staring blankly out into nothing. In our bathroom, I peeled off her clothes and then mine before carrying her into the shower.
“Talk to me, Dream. Let me know you’re still in there.”
She didn’t so much as blink as I washed her body. I quickly cleaned us both before wrapping a towel around my waist and drying her off with another. Then I grabbed her vanilla-scented body lotion, squirted a dollop in my palm, and massaged it into her skin.
Once that was done, I moved behind her, grabbed one of her hair clips from the counter, and began pinning up her twist-out like I’d seen her do.
“Do you know why I kept those letters?” I asked as I worked. Atlas didn’t respond verbally, but she blinked, and I knew she was listening. “I didn’t really know why myself until you found them. I knew you took the key by the way, so when I finally figured out why I kept them, I left them there for you to read. It was proof, Atlas. Proof that I could be loved beyond reason. I know it’s fucked up, but I’m not an easy man. There’s no trauma or demons that made me this way. I am who I am, and the moment I accepted that, I knew what it would take. Anytime I lost hope that I would find something real, I remembered those letters. Anytime I thought about saving you from me, I remembered those letters. It was never about her. It was about you. I saved them to remind me to wait for you. I kept them as proof that there was a woman out there brave or crazy enough to love a man like me.”
It took me longer than she usually took to pin her hair, but once her curls were secure, I grabbed her silk scarf she always wore to bed and tied it around her head.
“You didn’t give up on me even when reason told you,” I whispered while staring at our reflections in the mirror, “so I’m not giving up on you. Come back to me.”
Atlas released a shuddered exhale as if whatever demon held her had been vanquished for now. “Owen.”
“Let that shit go, baby. There’s no one else here but me. I got you. Where am I standing?”
The reminder that I had her back broke the dam free. The tears she’d held back at Joren and Jada’s now rushed down her supple cheeks. “I never should have come here.” She sobbed.
My chest felt like it had caved in. “Yes, you should have. Do you know why?” She shook her head. “Because you weren’t meant to find them, Dream. You were meant to find me.”
Atlas’s tortured gaze met mine in the mirror. “What if we were fated, Owen, but not meant to be?”
I pressed a kiss to her shoulder while never looking away. “Then I’ll keep you anyway.”
