“I don’t have to imagine what it would be like to love you one day, Ethic. I love you now. I am in love with you, Ezra.”

His head fell between his knees, his strong arms flexed, as he swiped his hands over the top of his head, in despair. Her words gutted him. He was bleeding out.

“I love you so fucking much, Lenika. I waited so long to love you…so long for God to reveal why I experienced so much loss. It was because when I met you, I needed to appreciate the gift of you. I’m so sorry, Lenika.”

“Why are you calling me Lenika?” she asked, her eyes misting, as a weight settled onto her chest. This was not how she had expected his confession of love to be. This didn’t feel good. It felt like goodbye.

“Because you won’t recognize me after I tell you this. We’ll go back to being strangers, because you don’t know the man that did what I did,” he whispered.

“What did you do?” Her voice was barely audible, as she sucked in a breath, holding it as she anticipated his reply. She placed a hand on his knee, as a tear slipped down her face.

“It was me,” he whispered. “I’m responsible for killing your daughter and your brother.”

She pulled her hand back so quickly, it was like she had touched fire. Suddenly, his touch felt harmful, as if she was suddenly staring into the eyes of evil. Nannie always told her that the devil didn’t come in the form of the boogie man. He comes in the form of everything you ever wanted. Alani was looking at the devil in human form. This man that she had fallen in love with, this beautiful soul that had come into her life and planted love when sadness had ruined her soil, was the one behind her pain to begin with. He was the hand behind the trigger that killed her family. The hair raised on the back of her neck and she took a step backward, as her shoulders tensed.

“Get the fuck away from me,” she whispered, as her eyes widened in shock, and she stumbled as she stood, trying to backpedal away from him.

Ethic stepped toward her.

“I SAID GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” she screamed, at the top of her lungs.