Page 32 of Recklessly In Love With A Ruthless Savage

CHAPTER 16

Crew

Screaming and the sounds of pounding fists accompanied the bass of Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar’sFamily Tiesthat thumped through my speaker as I sat in my matte black suburban deep in the forest. I hadn't done this in a while but the joy of kidnapping an enemy never left you. It was past midnight and the woods were quiet except for my guests' muffled cries. After Nova called me shaken after Stephanie and Kennedy’s attempted shake us down, the urge to revert back to the old me resurfaced. I tried to tamp it down but ain’t no way I would let them get away with playing with my wife.

What fucked with me most is that they had pictures taken of us at our home. Most at angle that let me know that the person that took them had been on our property. No one was ever supposed to be that close ever again. They wanted to play games now look where it got them. Zip-tied in my muthafuckin trunk.

When the song finished, I stepped out of the truck slowly, my boots crunching on twigs as I stomped to the back. I hit my key fob and the truck hatch popped with a click. Tears and snot ran down Stephanie’s scared face as she begged for me to let her go.

“You really thought you could threaten my wife and come out unscathed?” I asked her.

But she didn’t answer. She just watched me with wild eyes.

SLAP!

The impact of my open palm across her face made her teeth click and her head spin. I wasn’t here to play with this bitch she was either going to talk or she could die out here.

“I won’t repeat myself,” I said calmly. “You showed up at work with pictures of my family at out fucking home. I know you aren’t smart enough to have done this on your own, so I want to know who took the picture for Kyle. I know you’re working for him. Where is he and his sister right now?”

“Please, I don't know. I just have a number to contact Kennedy. It wasn’t my idea, please.”

“So, you gon play dumb? Okay, well, I guarantee you if you play with me the next time I open this trunk, it won’t be for air,” I said, about to close the back.

“I swear to god I don’t know anything. They don’t tell me anything. I’m telling the truth. I didn’t want to hurt Nova,” she cried.

No matter how much I was itching to kill this bitch for playing with my wife I needed a way to get Kyle and Kennedy out in the open. Plus, her crying was starting to give me a fucking headache.

“I’m gon let you live for now. But listen to me and listen good. If I see you anywhere near Nova or my daughter, I’m not asking any questions next time or putting you in my trunk.” Stephanie’s eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the knife I pulled from my pocket. She was so frantic I almost cut her when I leaned in to cut her ties. She froze, watching me stand to my full height. “Next time, I’ll put you in the ground. Now get the fuck out of my trunk,” I said, stepping back to let her crawl out and run off on bare feet. Stupid ass didn’t even know where we were. It would take her ass till morning to walk back to the city.

I sat at the head of the boardroom table at Phoenix HQ with Janelle and Del on either side. We had been inundated with complaints from the state for the past few weeks since Nova told me about Stephanie’s request for her to step down. We’ve been able to show proof that the accusations were unfounded so far, but this shit was getting old fast. Not only was Stephanie and Kennedy fucking with my business, they were stressing my wife. Files spread in front of us on our troublemakers Stephanie Green and Kennedy Harris. Every weakness they had, every mistake they made, every secret they thought they buried laid out like weapons on the table.

Stephanie had been true to her word and stayed away from Nova. She had been working from home since our little talk in the woods. Turns out, Stephanie was Kennedy’s college roommate, and her parents worked for the Harris family.

"Start termination paperwork for Stephanie," I said flatly. No second chances, no questions asked. She wasn’t going to get another chance to come after my wife.

"Cause?" Del asked.

I smiled coldly. "Formally for misappropriation of corporate funds, conflict of interest violations, and creating a hostile work environment with claims from three employees.”

Del nodded, typing furiously on her tablet.

"And Kennedy. We can’t really fire her, but we can keep her out of the building?" Janelle asked, mouth tight.

I leaned back in my chair thinking. I could just kill her but that would be something the old me would do. I was doing my best not to go back to that life, so I needed to do this the right way.

"Call the ombudsman association. Inform them one of their reps has been under investigation for harassment and falsifying reports,” I said, standing to button my jacket. I checked my watch for the time. I needed to be home before Timberly'sbedtime. I promised we could look at treehouse designs when I got home. This is the life I wanted, not one where I had to constantly be on alert because someone was after you.

“Why do you think they're coming after Nova? I mean we know why Kennedy is doing this. Kyle is her brother and she’s obviously doing this for him. But what is Stephanie getting out of all this?” Del asked.

“I don’t give a fuck what either of them are getting out of it. They fucked with my family so they both better get ready for my wrath.” I growled.

“Calm down. What are you? A werewolf? Did you just growl? Nigga!” Janelle laughed.

Janelle couldn’t be serious for nothing in the world. Here I am plotting a war against my wife's ex-fiancé and his family and she was laughing. Good help was so hard to find.

“Del, get your girl before I fire the both of you.”

“Come on, Del; we have a call with Black and Blue to go over the surveillance we put on Kyle Harris. From what we found, he isn’t looking for Nova but we all know that’s not true. Blue already found a few private investigators that he hired to get information on Nova and Timberly.”

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