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Interrupted by the phone while making his favorite “breakfast for dinner” dish that night, Winston dropped the pancake in the pan in mid flip. “Ah, shoot.” The golden brown side mixed in with the undone batter. “Hell.” He reached for his phone off the kitchen counter disappointed to see it wasn’t Dee’s number but an unknown caller.
Winston accepted the call as he flipped another pancake. “Detective Winston Lewis.”
“Hello, Detective,” Jonathan said.
“Uh-uh.” Winston groaned. “Fuck off—”
“Hold on. Don’t hang up on me yet. Just wanted to tell you to enjoy Deidra while you can. She’ll return to me soon.”
“You stay the fuck away from her.” Winston slammed the spatula into the pan. “This isn’t over, Jonathan. We’ll finish this. You and I.”
“How’s things going? You must be dancing on the moon with the joyous news.”
Winston clamped his teeth together. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Jonathan snickered. “The little bundle of joy that’s on its way.”
Winston’s heart dropped in his stomach. “How the fuck did you know Dee was pregnant?”
“Don’t celebrate too hard though. You’re not the daddy.”
Winston’s hands trembled. “What?”
“Something wrong with your hearing, Detective? Deidra’s baby is mine.”
“You’re lying.” Winston gritted his teeth. “That would mean you had to have sex with Dee and that sure as hell didn’t happen. Dee would never cheat on me.”
“Deidra and I shared everything when she was here. She fell in love with me. She got cold feet, so she ran back to you and what was familiar and comfortable.” Jonathan smacked his lips. “But, only I can satisfy the thirst deep inside her. She was destined for much more than being on the arm of some broke, two-bit cop.”
“Nice try.” Winston faked a laugh. “Won’t work.”
“I didn’t sleep with Deidra?” Jonathan whispered. “How would I know about that mole? The one underneath the left cheek of her ass?”
A thick vein throbbed in Winston’s neck.
“I’ve had to have seen it, wouldn’t I?” Jonathan teased. “How would I if we didn’t make love?”
“You...” Winston panted. “Could’ve seen her naked.”
“What man could see Deidra naked and walk away? I had her, Winston. And, she loved every minute of it.”
“Fuck you!” Winston threw the phone across the kitchen as the pancakes burned but he didn’t give a damn. “You’re dead, Jonathan.” He yanked up his phone and stormed out the kitchen. “You’re fuckin’ dead!”
****
“Just talk to me.” Winston stood in Dee’s living room, rocking with his hands on his waist. “Is what Jonathan said the truth?”
She sat on the couch and tucked her leg underneath her, tears clinging to her eyelashes. “He drugged me and had sex with me.”
He dropped down beside her, his head hanging.
She sniffled, rocking. “I’m so ashamed.”
“That...” The words rolled around in Winston’s head but he still didn’t believe it. “Fuck justice!” He jumped up, waving his arm. “I’m taking care of him tonight.”
“No!” She stood. “Winston—”
“Enough, Dee.” He sucked spit from his lip. “We’ve done it your way and it hasn’t worked so we’re doing it mine now.”
She grabbed him into a hug. “Don’t do this.”
He breathed through his nostrils. “Let me go.”
“No—”
“I’m sick of this!” He pushed her arms from his waist. “The man does whatever he wants and never pays. How do you expect me to sit back and let him get away with what he did to you?”
“Because this isn’t about you.” She turned away, walking back to the couch. “When will you realize that?”
“You said you needed me to be there.” He walked around her and stopped in front of her. “Let me.”
“Don’t you think I want to pump a million bullets into Jonathan Wild’s skull but what would that do?”
He held his breath. “It would give us peace.”
Her eyes fell to the floor. “If you let anger make you take another person’s life he’s already won.”