[Chresanto]
After Dahlia and I make it safely to my car and get in, I turn to face her.
"Are you sure you want to face him?" I question.
She begins to gnaw on her bottom lip, her signature trait that lets everyone around know she's contemplating an answer; I know she's in deep contemplation because she runs a hand through her curls and sighs before looking at me. "I'm sure."
"At least take me-"
"No," she interrupts. "If Zay knows I have backup, he won't release Chandler, and I can't have another dead body weighing down my conscious."
"No one blames you for that, Lia," I remind her for the umpteenth time, knowing all too well what she's talking about.
"Then explain to me why my three month old son was pronounced dead exactly one fucking month after Zay was released from prison, Chres!" she yells. "He killed him to keep me from being happy. He killed his own fucking son to make me go crawling back to him. Do you not understand that he doesn't have a problem blasting a hole through Chandler's skull, too!?"
"Lia, that's not going to happen," I assure her. "One, we will get Chan back; and, two, the only person getting a bullet blasted through their skull is going to be Isaiah."
"I can do this, Chres! I'm not fucking weak, so stop treating me like I am!" she snaps.
I don't say anything else after that. Instead, I start the car and begin the drive to my house. I take little glances at Dahlia every now and again just to make sure she's okay, but each time I do, she's blankly staring out the window. As I pull up to a stop sign, I think I see a tear fall from her eye, but I could be mistaken, so I say nothing about it.
Once I pull up to my gate, I put in the four digit password to open my gates and drive through, opening the garage and pulling in.
"Santo?" Dahlia questions, and I turn my body in her direction. "Can you keep this between us and not tell Alyssa?" I wasn't going to tell her that Alyssa already knew more than necessary.
"What am I supposed to tell her when you and Shiloh take her back to Ace?" I question, raising an eyebrow.
"Come up with something creative? Please," she practically begs, her voice cracking.
I sigh before nodding and getting out of the car, Dahlia following behind me with her bags. Once we enter the house, I notice that the pantry door is open, and I can see what looks like the hem of one of my shirts.
I walk over to the pantry and stand behind Alyssa, watching as she struggles to grab the box of granola bars I keep.
"Do you need help?" I question; she jumps then turns around and nods. I grab the box and hold it out to her.
She smiles then takes a granola bar out and closes the box; I take it from her and put it back where it belongs. "Thanks. Who got kidnapped?"
"The neighbor's dog," I lie. "Lia was dog sitting, but I honestly think the dog just ran off."
Alyssa shrugs her shoulders and begins to eat on her granola bar. "Not to be rude, but why is she staying here then?" Yeah, she knows something is up, so I might as well tell her the truth.
Before I can say anything, Dahlia walks into the kitchen. "I'm staying here because I don't want to be around Chandler at the moment."
"What'd he do?" Alyssa inquires.
