47. Forever
FOREVER
I woke to an empty bed, but the sheets were still warm. Telling me I hadn’t been out for long.
A smile curved my lips as I stretched; My body ached in all the right places.
“Echo?” I called out, voice still husky from sleep and screaming his name earlier.
The silence of our home answered back, confirming what I already knew.
He’d gone to deal with his aunt. After what we’d learned about her involvement with Solomon and how it connected to me, there was no way he’d let the night end without confronting her.
I sat up, wincing slightly at the tenderness between my thighs. My husband hadn’t held back, hadn’t treated me like I might break. He’d given me exactly what I needed, what we both needed.
The t-shirt I pulled on was his, but smelled of both of us. I moved through our darkened home, checking each room despite knowing I wouldn’t find him. The kitchen was empty. So was the living room. The bathroom light was off, the towel he’d used earlier still damp on the rack.
“So impatient,” I mumbled.
I hadn’t expected him to wait. Demetrius Cannon wasn’t a man who put off what needed to be done, especially when it came to protecting what was his.
But some childish part of me had hoped he’d at least wake me before going to kill his aunt. I wanted to watch, wanted to hear what she had to say for herself.
Not wanting to disturb Oliver or Solei for the bunker’s location, I went to the security house after cleaning up and redressing. As I neared the entrance, two guards straightened their postures.
“Mrs. Cannon,” the taller one acknowledged, his expression carefully blank.
“I need to get inside,” I said, not bothering with pleasantries.
The man shook his head slightly.
“Mr. Cannon said no one is allowed in.”
I felt irritation flaring in my chest, but I checked my temper and reminded myself I was new here. And that they were only following orders.
Right as I was about to lightly demand they get the fuck out of my way, they touched their ears and exchanged glances.
Then, the shorter one reached back to open the door for me.
His lips were quirked in a small smile as I slid past them.
A few guards sat at stations on the inside, but none looked up as I entered.
At the far end of the room, a larger screen displayed a live feed with Demetrius on the other end, his back to the camera as he knelt in front of his aunt.
Her head was covered with what looked like a cloth bag, and her body slumped forward slightly.
I moved closer to the screen, transfixed by the scene. Even through the digital barrier, I could feel the intensity emanating from my husband’s stillness. He wasn’t speaking, wasn’t moving, just watching her and waiting.
For what, I wasn’t sure. Perhaps he was simply giving her time to understand what was happening, to feel the weight of her betrayal pressing down on her with each passing second.
“Why’d you have to make me break G’s heart?” he finally asked, his voice so soft the microphone barely picked it up.
He snatched the bag from her head, and Velma blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the light before widening as they focused on Demetrius. She began struggling and trying to speak, but the gag in her mouth muffled what I assumed were pleas or explanations.
Demetrius watched her for what felt like an eternity, his expression unreadable from the camera angle. Then, he reached out and removed the gag from her mouth.
Velma gasped, drawing in a deep breath before speaking rapidly. “What is this about? Demetrius, please, whatever you think I’ve done—”
He stood, turning away from her and toward the camera.
His eyes seemed to look directly into mine, as if he could sense my presence on the other side of the feed.
The sadness there, the silent apology, broke my heart.
He was blaming himself for this situation, for what her betrayal meant for the family and for us, when I didn’t blame him at all.
“You know me, Auntie,” he said, turning to face her again. “You know I would never bring you down here without reason. Tell me why you hurt my wife? Why did you go and do the one thing I could never forgive you for?”
Velma shook her head frantically, tears already forming in her eyes. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know, Demetrius.”
His posture stiffened slightly as he processed what she’d said.
“You didn’t know what?” he asked, his voice dangerously quiet.
“I didn’t know Forever was your wife,” she replied, her eyes pleading with him to understand. “I just did what I was told, like I’ve always done.”
Demetrius began pacing in front of her, mumbling something to himself that the microphone didn’t catch before stopping abruptly.
“Like you’ve always done,” he repeated. “How long since you’ve been betraying this family?”
Velma’s face gave way to her deceit. She strained against the ropes, trying to create distance between herself and Demetrius. The legs of the chair scraped louder against the concrete floor the more she moved.
“Demetrius, you cannot do this. I’m your family,” she pleaded, her voice breaking on the last word.
He moved toward her with predatory grace, kneeling again and pressing the barrel of his gun under her chin, forcing her head back.
I leaned closer to the screen, not wanting to miss a word.
“My family would never hurt my wife and make her lose a baby we never got to talk about. A baby she doesn’t remember, auntie.
” His voice cracked slightly, his control slipping for just a moment.
“Do you know how devastating that is? How devastated I know she is, even when she doesn’t show it.
I can’t, for the life of me, understand why you would do this. And for Solomon?”
At the mention of Solomon’s name, something in Velma changed. Her eyes widened, then narrowed, her mouth twisting into an expression of raw fury that seemed to surprise even Demetrius.
“Don’t mention him to me!” she snapped, the force of her anger momentarily overriding her fear.
I pressed my palms against the screen, wishing I could be in that room, wishing I could feel the energy shifting in the air. There was history there, something deep and painful that neither Demetrius nor I had known about. I could almost taste the reason before she spoke it.
“He made me believe he loved me!” Velma continued, her gaze unfocused now, looking at something beyond Demetrius, beyond the room. “I sold out my own brother for him. Lost my very best friend for him. I did things I’m not proud of, but I never meant to hurt Forever.”
She shook her head vigorously, tears streaming freely down her face now.
“That night…” she began, her voice dropping to almost a whisper.
“That night, I was only supposed to pretend to be his assistant, but she recognized me, and there was nothing I could do after that. Had I known how she knew who I was, maybe I could’ve done more.
But Solomon had sent me with guards. One of them knocked her over the head before she realized it.
They left her where she could be found, took me home, and I never heard about it again.
Solomon cut me off. He sent his little minion to meet with me every time I requested to see him. ”
She continued rambling, her words coming faster now, desperation evident in every syllable.
But I could barely process what she was saying.
He had used her. Used her to hide his own involvement, to maintain distance between themselves and the violence they orchestrated.
And he’d probably been doing it for as long as she’d fallen into his clutches.
My stomach churned with disgust and a strange, twisted pity. Velma had betrayed us, yes, but she’d also been betrayed herself. Manipulated through her emotions into becoming someone she likely never imagined she could be.
Demetrius’s voice pulled me back to the screen.
“Have you been helping him traffic women?”
Velma immediately shook her head, denial quick on her lips. But even through the video feed, I could see the lie in her eyes. Demetrius saw it too.
“Lie again and I’ll cut your fucking tongue out,” he said, his voice eerily calm. “Did you help traffic women?”
A deep sob tore from Velma’s chest, her entire body shaking with it.
“Yes,” she admitted finally. “But only rejectors. Only those who wouldn’t be missed.” She looked up at Demetrius, her expression begging for understanding. “I stopped after Gerald was murdered, because it was him at the forefront of it. I swear.”
Not just rejectors. People who wouldn’t be missed .
As if that made it better. As if there was any justification for selling human beings.
And the revelation about Gerald added another layer to the family’s tragedy.
Had he really been involved in trafficking, too?
A dead man couldn’t tell his side of the story, but it was too bad that it wouldn’t work in her favor.
Demetrius stood slowly, his shoulders rising and falling with a deep sigh as he raised his gun and fired one shot to the head.
“Go home, my forever,” he said, addressing me directly while still staring down at his aunt’s lifeless body. “I promise to come home to you soon.”
The feed cut abruptly, the screen going black.
I stood there for a moment, my reflection staring back at me from the darkened monitor.
My face was composed, showing none of the turmoil inside me.
Because, despite everything Velma had done, despite her role in my suffering, I couldn’t deny the complexity of emotions swirling within me.
Relief that justice had been served. Grief for what her betrayal meant for the family, especially G.
And beneath it all, a deepening resolve to see this through to the end, to bring down Solomon first. Then work to dismantle the trafficking operation.
I turned away from the screen, nodding briefly to the guards as I exited the security house and walked home.
Along the way, I noticed what I hadn’t on my way out.
There were armed guards positioned outside every residence, their presence more than likely ensuring everyone remained inside. Leaving no chance for interruption.
This is bad , I thought as I closed our front door behind me, leaning against it for a moment.
The repercussions of tonight would affect the family for a while, probably just as Gerald’s murder had. Both times, connected to me, but there was no going back now.