Tomorrow, the saga continues with Dijon, Naeem, and Destiny. Here’s one last sneak peek before their book goes live. In the meantime, you can preorder it here.
Checking the time on his phone, Naeem drew in a long breath. The more he tried to remain calm, the more his nerves unraveled.
Even with a decade passing between them, there was no doubt in Naeem’s mind that he would recognize her. He was waiting at her gate, hoping he wouldn’t lose his shit at the sight of her.
How was one supposed to prepare to see the wife they’d spent years thinking was dead?
When passengers began to enter the airport, Naeem stood. A weight seemed to press on his chest, making it impossible for him to breathe.
The second his eyes landed on her, Naeem’s heart stopped. Literally stopped. His mouth opened, trying to pull in air for his lungs. They seemed to have caved, too. His knees weakened. Naeem dropped, unable to hold himself up any longer.
Destiny covered her mouth and clutched her stomach… staring at him for a few seconds before jogging over to him. He grabbed her hips and looked up at her as tears fell from his eyes.
Yeah.
There was no way in hell he would have ever been able to prepare for this.
Destiny’s fingers trembled as they tilted his chin.
“Naeem,” she choked out before her sob grew. Her hands gripped his arms and tugged him up, and Naeem wasted no time lifting her into the air and spinning her around.
Before he could register what was happening, her lips were covering his. For a moment, he succumbed. Allowed himself to experience his first love. But as soon as her tongue slipped between his lips, Naeem pulled away and placed her back on her feet.
He should have wiped the kiss off… but he couldn’t.
Not yet.
Not until it dried and he fully savored it.
“I’m with someone,” he reminded, covering his rapidly beating heart. “I told you that.”
Not bothering to process his words, Destiny pressed herself into his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. His eyes closed and body weakened against her. Arms encircled around her waist, Naeem picked her up again… needing her as close as possible.
“I missed you so much,” she confessed, placing a kiss to his neck before burying her face there. “I’m so happy right now.” Her body shook against his as she tried to stop crying. “This is the closest I’ve felt to our sons since that night. God, I needed this.”
At the mention of their sons, Naeem placed her back on her feet. Turning to the side, he wiped his face. His breath was hard and shaky as he composed himself. Once he was sure he wouldn’t cry another tear, Naeem turned to face her.
“Sorry doesn’t feel good enough to express how I feel about not being there that day. If I would have just… let someone else handle that situation…”
Destiny’s head shook as she gripped his hands. “Don’t tell me you’ve spent all this time feeling guilty over what happened to us?” When he remained silent, she smiled softly and kissed him quickly. “He would have tried me any chance he could get, Naeem. He was obsessed with me. I-I should have told you that he flirted with me often, but I didn’t say anything, because it felt good to be admired still. That was a weird phase for me. Between trying to be supermom and wife so young and find myself, I lost myself. So when he would stare at me and make little comments when you weren’t around, it made me feel good.”
“Whether you liked his flirting or not, that was no reason for him to think he could have sex with you. You didn’t do anything to deserve being raped, Destiny. And you for damn sure didn’t do anything that would justify him shooting you and killing our sons.”
When her tears poured, Naeem wiped them but eventually pulled her into his chest so she could release them freely. Not caring about who was around, he allowed her to shed all the pain she’d been harboring alone for years. He’d been telling himself that he needed this moment to get to her father, but the truth of the matter was, they needed time to grieve their sons too. Naeem just prayed she didn’t mistake his brief moment of weakness for a chance to get together again.
One or two small kisses or not, Naeem’s heart belonged to Dijon. No matter how broken and dark it was… it was hers… and he wasn’t going to let anyone, not even Destiny, have access to it.
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