Page 166 of The Wright Man

"Perfect. That's perfect. I'm heading your way."

I wasn't even sure I checked my blind spots before merging onto the beltway. Didn't give a single fuck. All that mattered was getting to her. Fast.

She went quiet again, except for her breathing—still shaky, still uneven, but not as bad as before. I don't know how long we stayed like that. The minutes felt like hours.

Then her voice, even smaller than before, barely audible over the sound of the road.

"Maleek... Gavin... he…"

The sound she made trying to finish the sentence cracked straight down my spine. Like glass being stepped on.

And then she started hyperventilating again.

"Angel, no. Stop," I said, firm but gentle, my voice low and steady like I used to use with new recruits on the verge of blacking out. "Don't say it. Not yet."

I took a breath for both of us.

"You tell me when I get there, okay? You don't have to do this alone."

I meant that. With everything in me.

I didn't know what he did. Didn't need to yet… But I could guess.

Because whatever he did to her—whatever he said—it was worse than I imagined. Worse than her silence. Worse than the look she gave me when she ran out of my arms.

It broke her. And I was going to break him for it.

But not yet.

First, I had to find her. To hold her. To make sure she survived tonight.

And then?

Then I'd make damn sure he didn't forget it for the rest of his sorry fucking life.

"Besides," I said gently, needing to steer her away from the name that had already broken her once tonight, "you're not with him. You're with me, right? I'm right here with you."

There was a tiny sound on the line—barely a whimper—but it was enough. I took it as permission to keep going. She needed my voice. Something solid to hold onto while the world was shaking beneath her.

So I reached for anything. For us. For the stories that made us.

"You remember our first Halloween together?" I said, smiling even though she couldn't see me. "I came dressed as Superman. You were Wonder Woman."

I let out a soft chuckle, warm and distant like I was there again.

"We never planned it. Didn't even talk about costumes. But there we were—matched like fate." I exhaled, the memory wrapping around my chest like armor. "You smiled so big when I saw you. I didn't know what the hell it meant at the time, but that was the moment I knew. You weren't just my best friend."

My voice caught before I could say more. My heart wanted to fill the silence with all the words I'd never said—You were mine. I loved you even then. You were it for me. But I swallowed them down.

This wasn't about me. Not right now.

So I pivoted. Shifted us to something lighter. Something that still carried her magic.

"I remember you used to carry that busted-ass composition book around like it was a Birkin bag," I said, letting the grin stretch across my face as I took the exit toward Route 50. "Wouldn't go anywhere without it."

She let out a weak exhale. Not quite a laugh. But close.

"You told me you were gonna have a salon in every hood in the DMV. Had sketches and color schemes and whole-ass floor plans on every page like you were already building 'em."