Page 28 of Recklessly In Love With A Ruthless Savage

Her presence in every corner. For the first time in years, my house felt alive.

We spent days together bonding. Had late night ice cream runs with Timberly tucked on my shoulders. We played board games that Nova cheated at, and I let her win. To runningaround in the backyard until Timberly declared me the best "Crew-dad" in the world. Pops loved on Timber like she had always been a part of our family and took Nova under his wing just like I knew he would. They spent nights at the house making elaborate meals for the four of us and on Sundays for the whole crew including Janelle, Del, Tyra, and DJ. I knew we were working on being a real family when Janelle cried after dinner one night when Timberly called her "Auntie Nellie" without thinking. They just fit without even trying. It wasn’t forced, it just happened.

The dreams I had of a life with a family was becoming a reality. And I would do anything to protect what we were building. Even if I had to be the man I once was to do it.

CHAPTER 13

Nova

Ididn’t realize how much I missed this. Simple easy mornings with the safety of being held without fear. Crew was different than I expected. Still hard and dangerous but with me and Timberly, he was patient, caring, funny, and so very gentle when I let him be. We had developed a daily routine of Crew and I making breakfast with Timberly. Eating together and then picking something fun to do as a family. At night we either had dinner together or Crew and I went out for date night. I was learning so much about Crew it made me see him in a different light. Pops told me one night over preparing dinner,

"You’ve given him something none of us could.”

“What’s that, Pops?” I asked.

“A reason to stop surviving and start living," he said.

And somewhere along the line, I stopped counting the days. Stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop. Stopped looking over my shoulder. But like all good things the bubble we had been living in would come to an end eventually, even if I prayed for it not to. After the week that turned into two glorious weeks at home with Crew and Timberly, I went back to work. I expected to come back to bullshit but Tyra and the girls had actually beenholding it down. They had also had training but theirs had been headed up by Janelle and I can tell it was effective.

Since Kennedy Harris made that thinly veiled threat before the wedding, she hadn’t shown her face once. Nor had I received another threatening text from her brother. It seemed too good to be true, but I would take it for now. I let myself believe maybe, just maybe, we won. Maybe Crew scared them off. Maybe we finally had peace. But then I got another text from an unknown number. This time it was just one word.

Unknown: Soon.

I knew I should have told Crew about the text immediately, but I had to start dealing with some things on my own, and a threatening text was the least of my worries. Maybe that was all they ever would be. I think Kyle just liked knowing that a text from him could make me run. But no longer. I wasn’t giving him or his sick family that much power over me. If it ever became more than a scary text, I would tell Crew. Right now, I had more pressing matters on my plate. Like informing my co-workers that I was now married to the boss.

We hadn’t announced our marriage to anyone other than family or friends that were in attendance and the board of Crews’ corporation. I should have known the minute I stepped out of my car that something was off. From the way the aides standing out front stopped talking the second they saw me. That should have been a red flag. Them hoes couldn’t wait to tell me the latest gossip. Then the maintenance guy who was usually loud and joking nodded stiffly and kept it moving. But the biggest of the red flags was the way Stephanie avoided looking at me when I passed her office. Come to think of it, she was never here before me with her late ass.

Maybe I was being paranoid. Maybe I was still stuck in survival mode and being paranoid. I headed toward the conference room, laptop tucked under my arm, ready for our daily morning meeting. The second I opened the door, I knew.The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. Stephanie walked in a few moments later and sat next to me, her smile tight, her laptop open like a shield.

And Kennedy Harris? That bitch sat at the far end, legs crossed, smirking like the cat that ate the canary. My stomach twisted.

"What’s going on?" I asked slowly, setting my laptop down without opening it.

Stephanie cleared her throat.

"Nova...we received some news this morning regarding your relationship with Mr. Sanderson," she said, her voice was dripping with fake professionalism.

I didn’t blink. "Did you?"

Stephanie nodded, flipping her laptop around.

On the screen was an email. But the sender's information had been encrypted. The attachment contained a photo of me, Crew and Timberly at the estate. In the photo you could see my huge wedding ring and Crew’s gold band clearly. We were happy, smiling, and exposed. The room felt like it spun for a second before snapping back into focus.

"Do you deny it?" Stephanie asked, eyes sharp behind her glasses.

I straightened my spine.

"What am I supposed to be denying, Stephanie? What I do in my personal life is none of anyone's business. Especially not anyone here. Was it our business when you were screwing Byron?" I asked calmly.

Because what was the point of lying now? Stephanie pressed her lips into a thin line not answering my question.

"Given your marriage to the owner of this facility," she said, voice cold, "there is a clear conflict of interest. I believe it would be best for you to step down as Director of Nursing.”

Silence swept into the room. Tyra slammed her palm down on the table.

"Like hell!" she snapped.

"Stephanie, be for real," Kim said, voice tight with anger.

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