Page 86 of Mister Jeweler

“You want me to forget you too?”

Though he considered her question, he didn’t have to think about it… just how he wanted to respond. “Yeah. We’re over, Jacintha. I think forgetting me is for the best.”

“I could never forget you, Elite,” she confessed, and Elite could hear the smile in her voice. “You were an amazing husband to me and father figure to my girls. You’ve taken care of all of us in ways that I will forever be grateful for. So, no. I can’t forget you, because you’re my life lesson and reminder to be true to myself and appreciative of those that are truly for me no matter what.”

“I can dig that.” Elite smiled himself before exhaling a hard breath and looking toward Denali’s window again. “You were a teacher of love for me too. I wasn’t perfect and I wasn’t blameless. We can romanticize each other now that we’re over, but the truth of the matter is, we just didn’t belong together forever. I’m grateful for everything I learned about love, pain, and myself while I was with you. For that, you’ll forever have a piece of my heart and my protection.”

“Just make me cry then, Elite.” They shared a low chuckle, but he heard her sniffles too.

“I’ll let you go, though. Just wanted to call and let you know.”

“Thanks, Elite. For everything.”

“Always,” he replied before disconnecting the call and starting his pickup truck. He’d talk to Denali tomorrow. Right now, he needed to get his head straight.

??????

The next morning, Elite kept his word to himself and headed to Denali’s place. Thankfully, the kids were with her parents having breakfast before helping them get set up for a yard sale that weekend. He could only imagine how many boxes of old things the kids would spend the day going through. Elite wasn’t sure if Denali would even want him around the kids anymore… hell… if she wanted to be around him herself. Instead of obsessing over it and wondering what if, Elite got out and headed to the door. Instead of using his key, Elite rang the doorbell and waited for Denali to let him in.

When she came to the door, it was clear that she hadn’t been too long woke up. She was dressed in an oversized shirt that readmy anxiety has anxiety. Her hair was pulled up into a bun, and her eyes were a little puffy. Denali yawned before surprising Elite and pulling him into her arms for a hug.

“Where have you been?”

“At home. I wanted to give you some space.”

“So you’re ready to talk about what the hell that was about?”

Releasing her, Elite closed the door and followed her to her room. The light was still out, but she had the TV on. Denali sat on the edge of the bed and removed his clothing as he looked down at her. Confusion had him wanting to ask her what the hell she was doing, but in that moment, he understood what Jacintha meant when she’d fucked up and said he gave her grace.

Crawling into bed, Elite made his way behind her and pulled her close. Her body relaxed against him as she covered his arm with hers.

“I missed this last night,” she confessed. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Me either.”

Her fingers grazed his like they normally did, and he grimaced. They were cut up, though the swelling had gone down slightly. When she felt the difference, Denali looked down and hissed.

“Babe…”

“It’s cool.”

“Talk to me. Did Blaze really get your ex-wife pregnant?”

“Yeah. That’s who she cheated with. She didn’t tell me she’d cheated, just that she was pregnant.”

“And that’s how you knew because of the vasectomy?”

“Exactly. Only thing was, Henry… Blaze… didn’t want a relationship or baby, so he beat her and made her lose the baby.”

Denali’s body tightened in his arms. “Are you serious, Elite? I can’t believe he could do something so cruel and heartless, then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. He gave up his kids to keep a check so…”

“Yeah, so I’ve been waiting to walk ’im down for months now. I just hate that I couldn’t wait until I got him outside. I apologize for losing my temper in front of you and the kids, sweetheart. Are they okay?”

“They are fine. Amir sees violence in those games, but I try to keep it from them at all times. Thankfully, when you first hit him, I was able to run over to them and turn them away. They were so invested in the game they weren’t looking our way. They didn’t see him get knocked out or you dragging him out.”

“Good. I never want any of you to feel like you aren’t safe with me, so I’m going to apologize to them too just for the confusion and shifting the vibe in the atmosphere.”

“I appreciate that.”

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