Page 16 of Recklessly In Love With A Ruthless Savage

“The new facilities has been keeping me busy, old man. What you been up to since I was here last?”

“Not too much. Just staying out the way. Catching up on some reading. Even had a date last week with Ms. Davis from across the way.”

“Ms. Davis, my fourth grade teacher? That Ms. Davis? I knew something was going on with you two when she stopped me in the grocery store two weeks ago asking about you. You still got it old man,” I joked.

“You need to work on getting you someone up under your old acting ass. When was the last time you had a woman checking for you?”

My thoughts went straight to the curvy beauty from the new facility. Images of her writhing underneath me with her hands tied above her head as I thrust deep inside her.

“Mine your business old man, " I laughed.

“Exactly, you need to get back out there Crew, " he said, his tone turning serious. It’s been long enough. “You deserve to have someone to come home to. You are a successful business man that went from hustling to the board room. You’ve changed and it's about time you let all that old hurt go and let someone in Crew. If you want to take over everything when I go you’ll get it done sooner than later,” he declared.

This is the only part I hated about coming to see my grandfather; he was determined to get me back on the saddle and married. Before passing his company to me, he made sure to add a stipulation to his estate that I had to be married to fully take over after his passing, and if I wasn’t, I could remain CEO, but I would own nothing. I would be just another employee that the board could fire at any time. But the walls I had put up all those years ago to protect myself were hard to take down after so long.

“Sabrina was a good woman, but it's time to move on, Son,” he said.

I pushed all those old feelings down before I said, “I'm good, old man. Don’t worry about me. It's not like I’m lonely, I've had a few friends here and there. I just haven’t met the right person. But you’ll be the first to know when I do okay. I have something in the works.”

“Good, because I need some great grands to pass all this knowledge to before I leave here, " he said. We continued to catch up and enjoy each other's company until it was time for me to get back home. Maybe the old man was right. Going home to an empty house, no matter the size, was getting old. But after my past experiences with love and relationships, I wasn’t so sure.

CHAPTER 7

Nova

Unknown: You can’t hide from me. I will find you sooner or later and when I do you will regret taking my daughter from me you slut.

Iread the message three times, letting the words sink in. This wasn’t the first time I had gotten a disturbing message from an unknown number, and it most likely wouldn’t be the last. Not with Kyle still out there looking for us. Kyle was my ex-fiancé and Timberly’s father. He was the type of man every parent hoped their daughter finds. Successful, handsome, charming and rich. But underneath all that window dressing resided a monster that enjoyed inflicting pain on those he perceived as weaker than him.

I met Kyle at college during my sophomore year of nursing school. He was absolutely perfect, he wined and dined me, buying me anything my heart desired. Kyle was the kind of man you marry. He was very sweet, loving, and attentive, so when he asked me to marry him, I said yes. But then things changed. A month after his proposal I found out that I was pregnant and at first, I was hesitant to keep the baby because I didn’t know how I’d be able to finish school and raise a child.

But Kyle and his family were so happy they persuaded me to keep the pregnancy. They suggested that I take a break from the program during the pregnancy and they would take care of me. Kyle came from a wealthy family of lawyers and was about to take the bar exam before joining them at their firm. Against my better judgement, I agreed and everything was fine until it wasn’t. It started with small comments from his parents about how I better be taking care of their son while he was out here providing for me. At first I thought they were joking because this wasn’t the 1960’s and I wasn't his maid.

But things only got worse. His father would say things about how I was lucky to be with their son like I was the shit on the bottom of his shoes in comparison. Because their son had so many choices in a wife being who he was. Kyle always told me that I was being too sensitive and they didn’t mean any harm but I knew when I was being insulted. It wasn’t until I got too far along in my pregnancy to perform my duties as his fiancé, as Kyle put it, that he showed his true colors.

Around my seventh month I went into preterm labor after sex one night. The doctors were able to stop it but I was put on bedrest and told that sex was out for the remainder of the pregnancy to minimize any further complication. This bit of information caused Kyle to hit the roof. As soon as we got into the car after that appointment, the mask that hid Kyle’s monster slipped; the look that he gave me was one of pure disgust and loathing. I instantly recoiled from his gaze, scared of what he might do to me.

“What am I supposed to do while you are on fucking bedrest? Huh, how are you supposed to take care of me sexually if I can’t touch you, Nova?”

“Kyle, it’s not my fault. You heard the doctor, sex could cause me to go into preterm labor. What do you want me to do?” I asked him as he stared at me with so much hate.

“I see now that my parents were right. I have been too easy on you. I should have shown you what was expected from you from the start, but I wanted to ease you into this life. But now you leave me no choice but to show you who I really am,” he said coldly, his voice sending chills down my spine.

“Mommy, where is my Bluey sweater?” Timberly yelled from the back, bringing me out of my memory. I deleted the message before turning it off and shoving it in my drawer. Luckily I had a work phone that I used for business. I could use that until I was able to get a new number. It would have to work for now. Timberly, the nanny, and the school had this number just in case of emergency so I wouldn’t have to worry about them not being able to reach me. Heading out of my room I walked toward my daughter's room to help her finish getting dressed. Timberly was the only good thing that came from my time with Kyle and I would do anything to protect her. Every time I thought we were free of her father he found a way to find us. It had been two years since the last time we had to run and I was tired of having to uproot my baby. As understanding as Timberly was, she was still a child and I wanted her to be able to just be a child without the fear of her father’s wrath.

“Did you check your top drawer ma’am?” I asked her as she pulled her undershirt over her head.

“No ma’am, " she said, when her head popped out of her shirt. Timberly was the perfect mixture of me and her father. She was cinnamon brown like Kyle with freckles and dimples like mine. Her hair was a mess of dark brown curls that we usually kept in a ponytail or in two thick braids. Today she had opted for a ponytail at the top of her head with her favorite pink bow attached. I reached into her drawer and pulled out the sweater she needed.

“Here you go baby. Hurry up and get dressed and meet me downstairs. Breakfast will be ready soon. I grabbed my workphone and checked my text message and emails for anything that needed to be addressed before I got to the facility as I made oatmeal for Timberly and I. My texts were just a few FYIs from a couple of nurses, but I did notice a calendar notification. When I clicked on it, I was greeted with a meeting invitation for a meeting with Mr. Sanderson. What could he possibly want to meet with me about? To my knowledge, it wasn't the norm for the director of nursing to report directly to the owner. And after what happened this weekend it wasn’t a good idea to be alone with the chemistry we shared. But since I was new to my position I would take all the help I could get no matter who it came from.

“Mommy, when am I going to get a dad like the other kids at school?” She asked me with bright eyes and a frown.

We’d had this discussion before, and each time it caused my chest to tighten. I hated that I wasn’t able to give Timberly the family she deserved. I tried to be the best mother I could be to her but sometimes that just wasn’t enough.

“One day the perfect man is going to come into our lives, and he will not only love mommy but he will love you as well. He will want to be your father as much as he wants to be my husband. But we just can’t pick anyone for such an important job so be patient and give mommy some time to find the right person for us. Okay?” I asked her, hoping that answer would appease her for a while. She smiled big with her four missing teeth before giving me a big hug.

“Okay, mommy.”

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