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After frying the bacon, I made her plate and set it in front of her at the island. She looked at the plate and then at me.

“No juice?”

I cocked my head at her and she laughed, hopping off the stool to get it herself.

“There are clean glasses in the dishwasher.” I told her.

Something settled in my chest as I watched her move through the kitchen. It wasn’t want—I’d been wanting Belle since the day party. This felt like pieces clicking into place.

She came back with two glasses of orange juice and slid one to me.

“Thank you for breakfast,” she said.

“You’re welcome.”

We ate in a comfortable silence. She scrolled through her phone with one hand and ate with the other.

My phone vibrated on the table. It was Priest.

“What’s good?” I answered.

“We got Deonte.”

“Hold on,” I said. I put my fork down and went to my office.

“Where you find him at?” I asked once the door was closed.

“At the corner store by his baby mama’s crib,” Priest said. “We snatched him up and brought him to the warehouse.”

“Bet. I’ma be there in about an hour or so.”

I hung up and went back to the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” Belle asked as I sat back down across from her.

“Yeah. Just some business shit I need to handle.”

“Always business with you. Even on a Sunday?”

“Shit don’t stop moving just because it’s the weekend.”

She rolled her eyes. “I guess so. I’ll call a car.”

“I got you. I’ll drop you off on the way.”

“I can catch an Uber, Dez.”

“And I said I’ll take you home.”

She made a face but didn’t argue. She was learning which battles to pick with me and this

one wasn’t worth fighting.

I took our dishes to the sink.

“I’m wearing this home,” she called over her shoulder.

“We stealing clothes now?”