Alani dropped her fork, causing it to clang against the table, as she covered her mouth. She had been so busy fishing for compliments, trying to gauge how he felt about her, that she had neglected to see the mourning in his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” he assured. “She’s my past. You’re the present.”

She smiled at that.

“Tell me about your daughter’s father,” he said. Ethic knew that Cream wanted smoke; and sure, he wanted to know more about the potential threat that loomed over his head, but it wasn’t a great concern of his. Ethic wanted to know the history of her heart… Who had broken it and what had yet to be prepared. “Where is he?”

Alani grew uncomfortable, shifting in her seat. “He’s not in the picture. He’s locked up; but even before that happened, we had our problems. I loved him, and he just walked all over me. When you love someone, you give them your heart to hold, hoping they won’t fumble it. You trust them to keep it safe. He didn’t keep me safe. He fumbled me every opportunity he got. He cheated and lied, and like an idiot, I forgave him over and over again. The crazy part is, I’m not even that type of girl. The one to stay after I feel disrespected, but he turned me into someone I didn’t recognize. I was a crazy person with him; checking phones, emails, switching cars to follow him around the city just to catch him in a lie. All to reinforce what I already knew. I began to question myself. What was I doing wrong? What were other women doing that I wasn’t? It just became too much. He wasn’t for me.”

“And if he gets out?” Ethic pressed.

“He’s getting out soon, actually,” she said, confirming the information Messiah had already told him. “But he and I will never be together again. It’s not happening. I’m not weak enough to go back.”