Vegarro “Vega” Moretti
The next morning, I lay against the pillows scrolling through reels and other bullshit on social media before I got up and hit the streets.
Sonnet was in the kitchen of the suite making what had become my favorite breakfast. Shrimp and grits covered in a cheese sauce, along with lamb chops she seasoned perfectly every time.
My phone buzzed with a text from a client who’d hired me before.
Need your services. We need to meet.
I told him to send a time and location. Between Roman, Sonnet, and everything that came with protecting her, it had been a while since I’d gotten blood on my hands.
Another message came through before I finished responding.
It was from Celeste, which got my attention.
I opened it and read the two simple words:
She’s free. He’s gone.
I could feel the pressure lift from my shoulders and the tension ease in my body.
Roman was finally gone. For the first time since I’d taken that assignment, I didn’t have to wonder what move he was making next, and my baby was safe.
I lay there for a moment letting myself accept it. Sonnet could finally live her life. I could love her without preparing to lose her.
I got out of bed and slid my feet into my Nike slides before leaving the room.
Sonnet was humming in the kitchen. I heard pans moving and grease popping before I reached the doorway.
She didn’t notice me. So, I leaned against the frame and watched her. She wore panties, a bra, satin bonnet, and her glasses. Her hips moved slightly on beat to whatever song she had in her head while she stirred the grits. Morning light came through the window and kissed her skin.
She turned toward the counter and caught me in her peripheral.
Her body jerked. “Shit! You scared me.”
Staring at her, I was nearly in a daze. “I love you.”
She froze for a second, then her face softened into a smile that reached her eyes. “I love you too.”
I pushed away from the doorway and walked toward her.
“You’re right on time,” she said. “I just finished.”
She turned off the stove burners and reached for a plate.
“Come here,” I called for her.
“Give me a second. Let me make your plate.”
“The plate can wait.”
She looked over her shoulder, finally hearing something in my voice that made her stop. I sat on one of the stools and reached for her. She padded across the kitchen, and I grabbed her waist, pulling her onto my lap.
“What happened?” she asked.
I kissed her neck, telling her, “You’re free.”
Her brows drew together.
“Roman’s dead,” I explained.
Her lips parted as relief flowed through her expression. Her eyes closed, and she released a long breath while her shoulders dropped. When she opened them again, she smiled, but I peeped the sadness beneath it.
“You don’t look happy for real.”
She stared down at her hands. “I was tired of hiding. I hated being scared all the time. But I liked being here with you. I enjoy sleeping next to you and waking up knowing you were close. I’m going to miss that.”
“Me too.” The thought of her living anywhere but here made me feel like I was being stabbed in the chest, like someone who was literally holding my breath hostage.
I’d gotten used to having her within reach.
I wanted her near me all the time. Still, I’d already taken her away from her life once.
Now that she was free, I had to give her the chance to take it back.
I rubbed my hand over her thigh, saying, “But you get to go home, get back to your life, and if you decide you don’t want to be with me anymore, I’ll understand.”
Offense hardened her expression. “Why would you say that?”
“I think you need the chance to choose me when you don’t need me to survive.
You were trapped. You couldn’t leave, and you depended on me to keep you alive.
I was the only person you had, so you could’ve clung to me and confused that bond for love.
You won’t know for sure until you return to your own life. ”
Her eyes filled with anger and hurt. “I’m not stupid.
I didn’t fall in love with you because I’m suffering from some mental defect of being kidnapped.
I love you because you’re sexy as hell, and although you sell drugs and shoot people, you’re as nerdy as me sometimes.
” I started to laugh but she was serious as hell as she continued with frustrated lines in her forehead.
“You have the nerve to be bilingual, and you have great dick—”
“How would you know how good this dick is?” I asked, raising a brow high. “You have nothing to compare it to.”
“My orgasms tell me so,” she quipped through gritted teeth. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The fear that she’d only chosen me because she needed me finally loosened its grip.
Then she added, “I’m not leaving you, Vega…Especially now.”
“Especially now? What’s that mean?”
She glanced away, nervously biting her bottom lip.
I caught her chin and brought her eyes back to mine. “Glasses, talk to me.”
She blew a heavy breath. “I’m pregnant.”
My eyes bucked. I looked down at her stomach, then back at that pretty face. “Word?”
She giggled nervously. “Why do you look shocked? You never pull out, and you’re inside me every five minutes.”
I was still shocked, blinking slowly.
“I found out last night. I realized that my cycle was late and took like three tests. I got them delivered through Instacart while you were asleep.” She started to shutter fearfully.
“We’ve only known each other two months.
We barely know each other. I don’t even know if you want kids. If you don’t, I’ll understand.”
I stood with her in my arms, placed her on the stool, then dropped to my knees in front of her.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
“How do you feel about having my baby?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I want it. I want our baby. I’m just scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“I don’t know how to be a mother. I didn’t have one long enough to learn from, and I don’t know how to become the kind of mother I needed when I was little. I don’t want our child growing up feeling anything I felt.”
I placed both hands on her thighs. “Baby, you already understand more than you think you do. You know what it feels like to live without safety. You know what it feels like when nobody stays consistent. You know what it feels like to need love. That means you know exactly what a child needs because you lived through what happens when a child doesn’t get it. ”
She looked down at my hands, breathing through the hurt.
“That won’t happen to our baby,” I promised her. “I’m telling you right now, our child will never have to question whether we wanted it. It’ll never have to earn love, chase attention, or wonder if we’re coming back. That baby will know both of its parents chose it before we ever saw its face.”
Her bottom lip trembled as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“I don’t care how fast this happened,” I continued. “I don’t care that we didn’t plan it. That baby is mine and yours. It’ll have a home, a family, and two parents who show up every day.”
She wiped at her face. “You really want to be a father?”
“I’m honored to be the father of your child.”
More tears fell, but relief softened the fear in her eyes.
“You won’t carry any of this by yourself.”
Her hand covered her mouth as she began to shed happy tears.
“I want this baby,” I assured her. “I want you, and I want the life we’re building. None of that scares me.”
She slid off the stool and lowered herself into my arms. I held her while she cried against my shoulder, rubbing her back as her body shook.