His Heart Desires

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

Chloe had been watching the time for the past thirty minutes, pacing between the kitchen and the small living room. Dinner was ready, his favorite, and the table was already set. She’d even lit the candles, not for drama, but because she needed tonight to be special.

She was going to tell him.

Her heart hadn’t stopped racing all day. Two pink lines had changed everything, and now, she just needed him to walk through that door so she could finally let it out.

But he was late.

Darrell was never late without calling. She picked up her phone again. Nothing.

She considered texting him but changed her mind. He’d said that morning he’d be home early. He’d even kissed her twice before rushing out, joking that he couldn’t wait to eat a meal that wasn’t in a takeout box.

So where was he?

Darrell had barely blinked since the near collision.

He was still seated in the back of his SUV, trying to calm his pulse as the driver muttered apologies and cursed under his breath. It wasn’t the driver’s fault. The truck had come out of nowhere, run a red light, and almost ended everything.

For a full five seconds, Darrell had thought he was going to die.

Not in a dramatic way. Not with time to make peace. Just... gone. Just like that.

He could already hear the headlines in his head. The silence that would’ve fallen in the apartment if he had never made it, the look on Chloe’s face.

His throat tightened.

He didn’t want her to know. He didn’t want her worrying. She’d just started smiling again.

So he told the driver to take the normal route the rest of the way, and by the time they pulled up to his building, he had his face back on.

When he walked through the door, Chloe didn’t say anything at first. She just looked relieved.

“You okay?” she asked casually, walking over and pulling him into a hug.

“Yeah,” he said. “Sorry, I’m late. Traffic got crazy.”

She held onto him a second longer than usual. He felt it too. Something unspoken passed between them.

Dinner was good, but quieter than she’d imagined. He ate, complimented the food, and teased her a little like he always did, but there was something off in the way he sat. He looked... tired.

She noticed the tension in his shoulders. The way he winced just slightly when he leaned forward.

He was hiding something. But then again, so was she.

She wanted to tell him. The words danced on the edge of her tongue the entire night.

But by the time they were curled up in bed, her hand resting gently on her stomach, she decided it could wait.

He wasn’t okay. And she didn’t want to add to whatever weight he was carrying.

The next morning, Darrell left early. Chloe was still asleep, curled into the blankets with one hand tucked under her pillow and the other resting protectively over her belly like she already knew.

He paused at the door for a moment before he left.

He’d seldom made it home to her last night. That thought hadn’t left his mind.

He didn’t know who or what that truck incident was, maybe just bad luck, maybe not. However, the point was that life was fragile. And Chloe was exposed. His enemies didn’t fight fair. If they found out about her...

He couldn’t bear the thought.

He rode to the office in silence, already drafting plans in his head. Tighter security. Fewer public outings. Clean records. No ties. No weakness.

He’d built an empire. And now he had something more valuable to protect.

But if protecting her meant walking away one day...

He wasn’t sure he could live with that either.

Later that evening, Darrell told Chloe he’d be working late and headed back to his office.

But he didn’t open his laptop. He didn’t call Ethan about the week’s projections.

Instead, he called Jordan.

Jordan Banks had been his closest friend since their freshman year at Columbia, part tech genius, part legal strategist. If Darrell was the face of the empire, Jordan was the brain in the background who kept things airtight and untraceable. He knew when to speak when to dig, and when to shut the world out.

Darrell didn’t trust many people, but Jordan? He was family.

“You said you had someone who could tighten up personal security?” Darrell asked the moment Jordan answered.

“Yeah,” Jordan replied. “Why? Something happened?”

“I had a close call. Could’ve been bad. I don’t want Chloe caught in anything. I need background sweeps. Quiet. No digital trail. If anyone starts looking, there should be nothing that connects her to me.”

There was a long pause on the other end. Then Jordan’s voice, low and steady: “You’re thinking of pulling away, aren’t you?”

Darrell didn’t answer.

Jordan exhaled. “You do know that’s not how you love someone, right?”

“It’s how you protect them.”

“No. Protection is telling the truth and giving them a choice. What you’re doing... that’s fear talking.”

Darrell leaned back in his chair, eyes locked on the skyline. “Maybe. But I’d rather her be safe and angry with me... than in danger and unaware.”

Jordan didn’t push any further. He knew that look in Darrell’s eyes. The one that meant his mind was already made up, even if his heart was still breaking.