Page 21

Nova

I didn’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 been holding 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.

"Nova’s the only reason this building’s still running." Cortney nodded, arms crossed.

"She earned her position. Long before Mr. Sanderson showed up."

Stephanie shrugged, fake sympathy dripping from her tone.

"It’s not personal. It’s optics. If the state finds out?—"

"If the state finds out what?" I cut in.

Everyone froze.

"If the state finds out I’m married to the owner, what happens? They audit us? They ask if residents are being harmed?" I said, leaning forward.

"Well guess what, Stephanie. I’m the reason our care scores went up.

I’m the reason we passed the last two surprise inspections.

I’m the reason your turnover rate is down.

" My voice dropped into something colder, sharper.

"So unless you can show proof that my marriage is hurting residents, not your feelings, you have no case. "

Stephanie stiffened but didn’t back down.

"You can’t be objective anymore."

"I don't have to be," I said simply. "I have to be effective. And my numbers speak louder than rumors."

Kennedy tsked before interjecting. "All it takes is one complaint, Nova. One family member thinking you're playing favorites. One nurse saying you’re looking the other way."

I smiled sweetly. "Funny you’re so concerned, Ms. Harris. Considering you have no business addressing anything other than the residents you're assigned to. So if there’s nothing else, you can respectfully kick rocks, hoe. I don’t answer to either of you.”

Her mouth snapped shut. Kim smirked. Tyra leaned back like she was watching the best TV drama of the year as Stephanie straightened her blouse and gathered her papers.

"This isn’t over," she said stiffly.

"No, I think it is," I said quietly, watching her and Kennedy scuttle out of the conference room.

A chorus of laughter and loud voices erupted as soon as the door closed but I couldn’t even chalk this up as a victory.

I knew that Kennedy was behind this, and Stephanie was not going to let up since she thought I had more power than she did being married to Crew.

I was going to call my husband no sooner than I left this room.

“Babe, I wanted to call you so bad. That bitch and her minion were on one all morning. You need to let hubby know about this,” Tyra said quietly as she slid her chair next to mine.

I didn’t want to tell him. Not tonight. Not after the way he played dolls with Timberly after dinner.

Not after the way he held me from behind, kissing my neck as we listened to Jill Scott while I washed the dinner dishes.

But secrets didn’t survive in Crew’s world.

And if I learned anything by being by his side these few weeks.

It’s better to bring the storm than to wait for it.

After I shooed him out of the kitchen so I could finish up the dishes, I weighed my options about what I should do until I came to the conclusion that I needed to be honest with my husband.

He was sitting on the couch, scrolling through work emails on his phone when I sat down next to him, tucking my feet under me.

"Crew?" I said quietly.

His head snapped up immediately, phone forgotten, all attention locked on me.

"What’s wrong, Princess?"

I swallowed hard.

"I think Stephanie and Kennedy are trying to force me out."

His eyes sharpened like a blade being pulled from a sheath.

"What happened?"

I explained everything about the anonymous email, the photos, accusations of conflict of interest, and the veil threats about the state.

I kept my voice even as I told what I thought they were trying to do.

Crew listened without interrupting. He didn’t ask stupid questions or try to soothe me. When I finished, he just nodded once.

His expression was so unnerving. He was so calm and cold.

"Thank you for telling me," he said, voice low and even.

And then he picked up his phone and texted two words to a number I didn’t recognize. He set the phone down and turned to me.

"You won’t have to worry about them much longer," he said, running his knuckles across my cheek and I leaned into his touch. It was so good to be with someone that fought for me. I wasn’t in this all alone anymore.