Page 67 of Craving My Secret Billionaire Alpha

Ava was hanging on my legs. “Daddy, I’m hungry,” she said.

Paula knocked on the door lightly before coming in. “Good morning all. I hope everyone is feeling better.”

She walked over to us and hugged Valentina tightly. “Everyone is great,” Valentina responded, pointing at Ava, who was trying to climb my legs like a tree.

“Paula, can you please take Ava down for breakfast? She said she’s hungry.” I said and Paula lifted Ava off my legs and into her arms.

“Who is your favorite princess?” she asked Ava and she responded,

“Sofia the first!!”

“Sofia has a surprise for you, Let’s go see!” Paula responded excitedly and they both left.

Valentina and I were alone. She squeezed her palms into mine and I held her for some time before she broke down in tears. I held her while she cried.

“I was so afraid. I thought he’d hurt Ava. He was so rough with her, grabbing her by her arm.”

I wiped her tears with my hands. “I’m sorry baby.”

“His name is Gerald.” She started and I stopped her.

“Are you sure you want to talk about it?” I asked and she nodded before she continued.

“He works with Vivian. I met him at her company’s Christmas party last year. He expressed interest in me through Vivian but I kept turning him down. Little did I know he started stalking me, coming to my office and house. He knew things about me, my life. It was so scary.”

She paused and took a sip from a bottle of water at the foot of the bed while my blood boiled at the information she gave me. I wanted to tear that Gerald guy into shreds.

“He wanted me to be his wife. The plan was to take me to Texas, start a whole new life where I did nothing but be a housewife and bear him sons.”

“What?” I asked, surprised that there were still men who reasoned like that.

“Yes.” She chuckled sadly. “He said we were…” she paused and swallowed hard. “We were going to leave Ava behind and start all over. I was so scared, Leon.”

“I should have done better to protect you. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this.”

“It’s fine. I’m fine, or I’ll be. I just need some time.”

“I think you need more than time,” I said and she looked at me.

“What do you mean?”

“I think you need therapy. To help you recover from the trauma.”

She was quiet. I expected her to kick against the idea but she was quiet and then said “I think so too. I could barely get a wink of sleep last night. It felt like he would break into the door at any moment and harm us all over again.”

“I promise you he’d never see the light of day anymore. The rest of his miserable life will be spent behind bars.”

“Thank you, babe.” She responded and my heart jumped at her calling me babe but I maintained my composure. We both went downstairs to join Paula and Ava for breakfast.

Chapter35

Valentina

My third appointment with my therapist had just ended when my new driver and personal security man, Steve, drove me home to Ava and Leon. It was a Saturday and we planned to use it to catch up on all our shows but I had to finish up with my appointment first.

Immediately, I knew something was off when I arrived home, and Leon and Ava fell quiet when they saw me. I knew they were plotting something.

“Why did the both of you become quiet?” I asked, squinting my eyes suspiciously at them. Ava started giggling and ran into the kitchen. Her father stood up and followed her into the kitchen. They both returned and Leon was holding a small pan of chocolate cake. I broke into a smile.

---