Page 120 of Intercept My Heart

“Great, actually. Your child has decided to let me enjoy this trip without her kicking me in the ribs or boxing with my bladder.

“Don’t do my baby. She’s running out of space in there.”

“Whatever you say. Where are the boys?”

“They’re washing their faces right now. I told them we were going to breakfast in a little while.”

“I guess I need to get dressed.”

I’d been wearing nothing but bathing suits since we touched down two days ago. It was such a freeing experience to restwithout a care in the world. Things were finally falling into place for us, and I wanted to keep it this way.

We got dressed for breakfast and ended up at this cute little restaurant. All the people we’d encountered were so nice and welcoming. The boys asked so many questions, and everyone smiled and answered them. I ordered an omelet, and it tasted like heaven. I was so focused on the food that I missed my phone ringing on the table.

“Mom, your phone.” Cash pointed toward it. Wiping my face with a napkin, I picked it up to see I had messages from Laiti and Tamia in our group chat. What sent my antennas up were the missed messages from Ciera. We talked often, but something about the timing of all of their messages made me feel like something was wrong. I braced myself before opening the messages from Ciera.

Cee:

Hey, I know you’re on vacation, but have you seen this?

Attached to her message was a link to a news article. My fingers hovered over it, wondering what it would say. The moment the link fully loaded, my eyes widened.

NFL star found dead in his home following the murder of his father. As I read through the article, I found myself speechless. It stated that Mr. Dennis had been killed by a fellow inmate, and they believed Drake committed suicide as a result of it. Something stirred in my belly, and it left an unsettling feeling in my guts.

“Is everything okay?” The sound of Dinero’s voice broke me from the article.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. The girls wanted to check in on me.” Since the boys were here, I knew I would have to wait until later tobring it up. I wasn’t even sure what to say because I had no idea what was going on.

A second later, another article appeared. This one had Harper and her father on the cover. Apparently, they were both arrested and faced charges for attempted murder, tampering with evidence, forgery, extortion, and a host of other charges. Seeing her picture fueled me with anger. I wanted to beat her ass at the wedding, but Dinero wouldn’t let me get close to her. Thankfully, Laiti and Tamia were there to handle business for me. They beat her so badly that she needed plastic surgery.

We finished our breakfast, and the boys decided they wanted to go exploring. I was in my third trimester, so walking wasn’t easy for me. I decided to hang out on the beach while they enjoyed the island.

“Are you going to tell me what had your attention during breakfast?” Dinero inquired, lifting me onto his lap. Instead of saying it, I showed him the article on my phone.

“Two for one special. Too bad we can’t toast to good news.” Dinero shrugged. His hands rubbed my belly while he placed kisses along my back.

“Did you do it?”

“By law, you can’t testify against me. Did you know that?” he stated, holding up my hand with the beautiful diamond resting on it. We hadn’t told our family we eloped because we were planning to have a wedding after I gave birth.

“I never thought about it, but I guess it could come in handy one day.”

“I love you, Sunny. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I allowed anyone to hurt you and didn’t make them pay for it.”

I read between the lines, knowing he wasn’t going to volunteer any more information than that. The woman behind the shooting mysteriously passed away due to a heart attack the day after the wedding fiasco. Dinero came in late the nightbefore with no explanation of where he’d been. I wasn’t sure if I should be honored or afraid. Either way, my love for him would never fade.

Five years later.

“And there you have it, folks. The Denwood Dragons have won the championship.” The crowd went wild in the stands as my team gathered in the middle of the field. We worked so hard this season and were the undefeated champions. I’d won many games and titles, but this particular game held much more significance than any other. As I jogged onto the field, the chants from my team flowed through the air.

“We did it, Coach!”

“We won!”

“Undefeated, baby!”

Everyone was amped up as I broke the circle. Glancing at every player, I reflected on their journey to get here. Every oneof my players grew over the season and worked to get to where they were.

“I don’t even have the right words to express how I feel right now. This moment has a significant meaning to each and every one of you. You all put in the work to make this happen, and we wouldn’t have gotten it done without each and every one of you. As with every game, we are going to choose an MVP. I’ll let you all decide who it will be.” The team glanced back and forth before the star player stepped forward.

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