Page 63 of Harboring Shantae

He didn't hide the bit of hope her words gave him.

Shantae's forehead scrunched up as she tilted her head to the side. "Why would I leave you?"

"Because my job is risky. Because you could've gotten hurt today as well as the kids. Because every time my team goes out, there is a chance I could get hurt."

"I was in danger today because of me. Not you. Zion wanted me. I'm what brought him here and put those kids in danger. As for your job, I knew what you did before we got married. I've always known. Did it freak me out a bit today? Of course, it did. Did I wonder for a hot minute if that's how my life was now? You bet. But at no point did I ever consider leaving you because of it. I love you. I told you I was all in and I meant it."

That breath he hadn't known he was holding while he listened to her rushed out. She wasn't going to leave him. Today's event didn't scare her away. She wasn't Samantha, who promised one thing and then did another.

She was Shantae.

She was his wife.

His future.

"I love you so damn much."

Epilogue 1

Four Days Later

Aloudknockechoedthrough the house and Shantae bounced down the stairs. "I got it!"

Camron was working out in one of the spare bedrooms. Since the incident, he had taken to hitting the punching bag at least once a day. Apollo said it would help him work through any of his lingering anger. Shantae fully supported the therapy because Camron always needed a way to wind down and she was the one who benefited from that.

"Check the peephole first!"

She rolled her eyes at the reminder. Like she would do anything to put herself in danger again. She was just starting to sleep through the night without any nightmares. It helped that Camron wore her out and then held her all night. But she was no longer seeing a bleeding and barely alive Zion each time she shut her lids.

Shantae paused in front of the door and looked through the hole. Standing on the other side was a man in a nice suit holding a large envelope. She didn't recognize the person, so instead of whipping the door open, she allowed the security chain to catch as she opened the door just a fraction.

"Can I help you?"

"Mrs. Shantae Jones?"

"Yes."

"You've been served."

The gentleman stuck the envelope through the small opening and barely waited for her to grab it before he was walking away. The whole exchange was weird.

"Who was at the door?"

Camron came up behind her and wrapped his sweaty arms around her middle. She laughed when his also sweaty head nuzzled the side of her face.

"I'm not sure. The man just said I've been served before he shoved this envelope at me."

"What the fuck?"

Camron moved around so he was standing in front of her. She let go of the envelope when he gently tugged on it. She had no desire anyway to see what contents it contained.

"It's from your parents."

Oh no. Why would they possibly be serving her? She should've known things were going too well when they never contacted her after she stood them up at the ball.

"What do they want?"

She hated that her voice shook. She didn't want to give them power over her, and yet it still happened.