Page 25 of Recklessly In Love With A Ruthless Savage 2
“It’s the baby. You got a small belly-baby.” She cackled.
I laughed too, playfully poking her side. “Keep talking, you gon’ lose your cereal privileges.”
She paused, then whispered.
“Is the baby gonna be safe too?”
That broke me because as much as I wanted to say yes. I didn’t know for sure. Kyle had already gotten to us once. I cupped her face, tears threatening.
“We’re gonna keep them safe. Me, you, Crew… everybody.”
“Even Auntie Tyra?”
“Even her.” I snorted.
Kyle
The safe-house was an old hunting lodge deep in the pines. I paced the creaking wooden floor, boots scuffing the rug. The place stank of sweat, cigarettes, and stale whiskey. I’d barely slept in two days. I was dirty, beard scruffy, hair matted with dried blood from a cut over my eyebrow, a gift from the last fight he escaped courtesy of my father’s men. I was on the phone; voice ragged with fury.
“I don’t give a fuck how many men we lost. Get me a headcount now!”
I threw the burner across the room, shattering it against the nearby wall. He was shaking. I could still see Kennedy’s face when he’d left her to handle the arrangements for Mr. Valdez. The look on her face was smug, confident and a little maniacal. She thought she could break Nova and get her to cooperate. I should have known she would fail. She was too emotionally unstable. Now she was dead. Crew’s people had wiped out my men like roaches and Nova was back with him. Leaving Timberly almost untouchable. I turned and slammed his fist into the wall, cracking the crumbling plaster.
“Fuck!” I turned, breathing heavily.
I could be on a private island getting my dick sucked right now, but instead, I was here chasing Nova’s stubborn ass. If only she could have been submissive like my mother. Then we wouldn’t be in this shit. I would be living my life, wealthy and worshipped by my wife like the king I was raised to be, and my sister would be alive.
In the corner, one of my surviving lieutenants flinched but didn’t dare speak as I stood daydreaming about the life, I was due. Just then the door banged open, and my father walked in. Judge Nathanil Harris was tall, lean, his hair iron-gray, his suit tailored even for a backwoods hideout. His eyes were pale, dead. He walked in, took one look at me and sighed.
“You look like shit.” He barked.
“Hello to you too, father. They killed Kennedy.” I growled, wiping my nose on my sleeve.
His mouth didn’t even twitch. “Collateral.”
“That was your daughter.” I yelled, eyes flaring.
He shrugged off his coat, handing it to a guard. “She was an asset. She failed.”
I wanted to punch that smug ass look off his face, but instead, I stalked to the table covered in maps and printouts. “Crew’s teams dug in. They won’t give Nova up. They won’t let Timberly out of their sight without a small army. He’s got two mercs with him, trained killers, fucking psychos. We tried grabbing them separately. Both times went to shit.” I reported.
My father leaned over the table, eyes cold.
“And Timberly?”
My jaw ticked as I tried calming myself before speaking. Calming my voice, I said.
“Untouchable. She’s always with Crew or locked down in that house.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” My father’s voice dropped.
“I’m trying to fix it.” I said, mouth twisting.
His hand lashed out, open-palmed.
Crack.
I staggered back, cheek flaming in embarrassment.
