He made it halfway back to his car when he heard her muffle her cries. He turned to her and her hands were covering her mouth, as she sobbed while watching him leave. He felt a lurching in his stomach because he knew he would never find another love like hers. Raven had been an introduction to the idea of a woman’s love. YaYa, his second, had been a reminder of how good it could feel. Alani had been affirmation that God had molded a specific help mate for him. Alani was life and he would never be able to pull the roots she had put down in his garden. The hatred in her eyes was non-negotiable and he realized he needed to give her time to deal with the emotions the truth had unveiled. He refused to give up on her, on them. She would have to kill him to stop him from wanting her. There wasn’t a woman in the world that could heal him the way Alani had. He only hated that he had wounded her in the process. He didn’t know how he could fix this, but he had already grown accustomed to her being his oxygen and he knew he couldn’t live if he was deprived of her. With a heavy heart and bleeding soul, he walked back to his car; but before he pulled away, he prayed, God, please fill her with forgiveness. Even if I have to live through the hell of her resentment, just bring her back to me.

Alani was so distraught, she barely made it to her doorstep. She took a deep breath, placing the key in the door, preparing herself to walk into the empty house. She stepped inside and froze when she saw who was waiting for her.

“I’m home.”

Cream sat, arms stretched across the back of the couch, legs wide, face handsome, expression grim. He was back like he had never left. He greeted her like he had woken up to her that morning, and she was returning from a grocery store run…like he was, exactly, where he was supposed to be…like he paid bills there. Cream, with all his bad boy finesse, good dick, and empty promises, was sitting in her home and Alani had no energy, no shock, no reaction to give. Ethic had already taken it all from her. Cream had done her wrong, but there was no comparison to the amount of pain that had been caused by Ethic. She hated Cream, but it didn’t stop her from falling into his arms as he stood. He was the only, other person who could understand how badly she hurt; but even still, her journey was worse because she had fallen in love with the enemy. She just needed to be held, but his arms didn’t have the same effect. Still, her sobs were endless.