Dangerous Beauty: Part Four: Beautifully Broken

by Michelle Hardin

  Michele looked back at her with an exceptionally handsome smile. “And more,” he replied. “Your husband—”

  “Fiancé.”

  “He does not have any complaints about your womanly beauty does he?”

  She seriously tried to fight against the stupid girly giggle, but, of course, it still slipped out anyway. “No, he does not,” she answered shyly.

  Kyle actually loved her body … way more than she did. Though Reanna adored the voluptuous sexiness that God had bestowed upon her, she did have her moments—which mostly occurred when she watched the Victoria’s Secret fashion show every year—where she felt a little self-conscious. Like all women do … probably even those Victoria’s Secret models! But Kyle loved her body all of the time. Ever since the day she met him he’d told her that she was beautiful. And she believed him even more now that he’d spent an entire weekend showing her just how sexy he thought she was.

  “Well, it’s settled then,” Michele said, bringing her out of her thoughts and back to the present. “You will stay as beautiful as you already are, Mrs. Valente, yes?”

  Her smile grew wider, even as she nodded her head up and down. “Yes,” she answered simply. “I think I’d like to keep you, Michele. You’re not as scary as your height and tattoos suggest you are.”

  Michele laughed softly. “Why thank you.”

  Laughing in response, Reanna relaxed back once again, and whispered, “You’re welcome.”

  A comfortable silence fell around them, as they both quietly continued to enjoy their food, and listen to the radio.

  It was … nice.

  Everything was nice. Her conversation with Michele, the time she’d spent away from work, away from her drama with Braden, her sister. Every now and then, she’d get a flash of sadness at the thought of her day thus far, but for the most part, spending a little time in a car, and having a nice afternoon snack with a new friend had been just the medicine she needed to get her through the rest of her time without Kyle and Sofi … Both of whom she missed so much it was beginning to cause her heart physical pain.

  “Well, well, well …”

  Soft chuckling coming from the front seat where Michele sat cut through Reanna’s somber thoughts, bringing her back to the present.

  “I knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away.”

  He shook his head after saying the words, then lowered his voice and muttered something in Italian as he glanced out of his window.

  Curious to what the man was talking about, Reanna sat up, leaning in between the front seats to stare out of the windows with him.

  “What is …” Her words trailed off the moment she laid eyes on what Michele had been looking at. “What. The. Hell?”

  A line of Black SUVs—Reanna counted five to be exact, and that was not counting the police escort leading them through the traffic—was in front of them.

  “What on earth is going on?” she whispered. “Is it the president?”

  “No, sweetheart,” he laughed softly. “That,” he pointed in the direction of the cars, “is your fella …”

  Reanna frowned. “My fella?” Her eyes widened even more. “Bullshit. That is not Kyle.”

  Impossible! Just completely impossible. Not possible. No man would literally hold up traffic by shooting through just to see her. She watched as all of the cars came to a stop and a few police officers came running out in the middle of the bustling New York traffic, one of them running over to the window of the first car.

  Her stomach twisted with nerves.

  Oh shit! He was getting in trouble, wasn’t he? Capturing her bottom lip between her teeth, Reanna shook her head back and forth. What the hell Kyle, she thought warily. Why the hell would he hold up traffic in the middle of the city. The place was swarming with cops; he had to know that he’d be asked to … no, wait.

  They weren’t telling them to move?

  “What the …”

  Reanna continued to watch on, stunned by what she was witnessing. After what looked like a brief interaction with the driver if the front SUV, the police took a step back from the cars, then turned away from them as if blocking them off from the oncoming traffic, and began directing traffic to move around the SUVs.

  What!

  Frowning once more, Reanna, for the first time, began to actually wonder just how much pull the Salerno Organization had in New York City. Maybe it was more than she could fathom.

  Okay, this was giving her a huge headache. She seriously understood nothing about the world Kyle lived in.

  “That cannot be Kyle,” Reanna attempted to rationalize with herself. “He wouldn’t … or, why would he …”

  Dear lord, she was stumbling over her own words!

  “I don’t know, sweetheart,” Michele replied in response to her unspoken question. “Perhaps he missed you.”

  “Missed me?”

  Still staring wide-eyed at the line of cars, Reanna gasped softly when they all came to a stop in front of the car in which she sat.

  “Oh my God.”

  Was it him? Oh God please let it be him … And it was.

  The moment the cars came to a complete stop, the backseat door from the car second in the line flew open, and out stepped Kyle in all his, once again, disheveled glory. He appeared anxious—as if he were troubled—as he fiddled with the buttons of what looked like a different shirt than she’d last seen him in this morning.

  It was perfect. He was perfect. And best of all, he was here.

  Reanna could not still her rapidly beating heart! A huge smile spread across her face and she leaned forward, longing to be closer to him.

  “He’s here,” she almost cried as she whispered the words. “What is he doing here?”

  “I think this may be a good time for me to have a smoke …”

  Reanna agreed wholeheartedly. Kyle looked like a man on a very serious mission. He made his way through the crowded streets effortlessly, his men clearing the path for him with each step he took.

  She couldn’t breathe; the closer he got to her the more excited she became. And when he finally neared her, when he finally made it to her car, to her door, and she heard the clicking sound of the latch being pulled, she quickly sat back down in the seat. Right as she sat, the door swung open … and there he was.

  Not many words were exchanged at all.

  The only thing Reanna recalled was saying his name, hearing him say ‘Baby’ in response, and then he’d reached forward, gripped her thighs, and pulled her toward him, immediately slamming his mouth against hers in a kiss that stole her breath, her thoughts, and her ability to do anything but cling to him, kiss him back, and thank God in heaven he was here. In her arms. Exactly where she wanted him to be.

  Chapter 21 Incognito

  “So … he held up traffic just to kiss you?”

  “And to tell me that he loves me,” Reanna added, finding it extremely hard to keep the goofy smile off of her face.

  For her. He’d held up traffic and ran through the streets for her … all so he could kiss her. Kiss her sadness away. The memory of it alone was enough to make her breathless all over again. No words, just a kiss. A kiss that left her feeling inebriated, a smile that caused her to lose her breath, and then a whispered ‘I love you’, before he was gone again. Once again he was leaving her to long for the moment when she could be in his presence once again. It had been like a movie, and not just any movie either, but like the old time romances that Reanna had always loved so much—the ones filled with over-dramatic love declarations and grand romantic gestures that always left the heroine in the movie swooning at the memory of the blissful encounter with her beloved.

  Reanna felt unworthy of such love … but she was going to take it since God so obviously wanted her to have it. She wasn’t an idiot after all.

  From the front seat, she heard Michele chuckle.

  “Quiet you,” she whispered softly, giving him the best scowl she could muster up as she adjusted the phone on her ear.

 
“Who you talkin’ to?” Ronaldo asked, recapturing her attention.

  After pointing a warning finger at Michele, Reanna tuned back in to their conversation. “It was just my driver slash scary security man.”

  “Oh yes, Mrs. Valente,” Ronaldo said in his best uppity tone. “Cause you’re hot shit now …”

  Reanna chuckled. “No, I’m not.”

  She was still convinced that all of the security they kept with her was a serious waste of resources; it was serious over kill. Nobody wanted to get her, and she was sure these men, being in the life style that they were in, craved a day full of a lot more excitement than following her around all day.

  “Please girl, you are hot shit. You got a driver now, security, people fussing over you, and men stopping traffic to kiss you and what not.”

  Reanna laughed. “Shut up, Ron.” He was such an idiot.

  “I will not, Bubbles. You are living my dream life. Engaged to a fine, powerful, billionaire, bad boy who also happens to have a killer smile and a big dick …”

  “Ronaldo!” Reanna exclaimed as her cheeks warmed. “Don’t …” she lowered her head, trying her best to not be heard by Michele. “Don’t yell things like that in public.”

  “But you said he does—”

  “I know that,” Reanna said sharply. “But you’re in a coffee shop, Ron. I told you that in the privacy of my office.”

  “Girl, please. Stop actin’ shy. So what if I’m in a damn coffee shop? Nosey ass people need to stop looking at me and mind their own damn business anyway …” She heard him muffle the receiver of his phone slightly, but it hadn’t served well in muffling all of his words. From what Reanna could make out, he was yelling at a couple … or rather just the male. Reanna believed his words were something similar to, ‘Maybe if your ass wasn’t boring your girl wouldn’t be listen to what I’m doing!’; something along those line. Then he’d threatened to scratch the guy’s eyes out.

  Reanna laughed. Ron was a mess.

  “You are too much, Ronaldo,” she said, trying to regain his attention.

  Luckily, he’d heard her and responded immediately. “Whatever,” he chuckled right as his voice suddenly became un-muffled. “People get on my nerves girl …” After laughing about it for a moment more, Ronaldo spoke again. “Anyway, you’ve done good for yourself, mama.”

  Reanna smiled. Aww. “Thank you, Ron,” she sang, a slight giggle in her voice. “It’s so nice to finally have your approval.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he replied. “My approval is what’s most important.”

  Reanna rolled her eyes at the man’s arrogance. “Of course it is,” she said sarcastically.

  Ronaldo laughed softly. “Now all we gotta do is wait on your damn sister to stop being a little pain in the ass, and then we can start planning this bachelorette party.”

  Right at the mention of her sister, Reanna’s smile fell immediately. That wave of sadness that had been with her just moments before Kyle had shown up and made her day brighter came slamming right back into her.

  Great.

  “Yeah,” Reanna replied softly, a somber expression falling over her face.

  Reanna still didn’t know how she felt about the disagreement with her sister. On one side she was sad, and on another she was hurt. She had no anger, just … a deep sadness that she was afraid to allow herself to explore for fear that she’d begin to believe her sister’s words. Doubt in her own ability to make a good decision, to know what she wanted and to go for it. She much preferred it like this, being sure of herself. She liked knowing what she wanted; not only that, but she loved where her life was headed, what her future looked like, and to give that up would be … well, devastating. Why the hell would she give up being with Kyle and Sofia when they were her heart?

  “Alright now,” Ronaldo said softly, bringing her attention back to him. “Don’t be sounding all sad, Rea. I know what she said was-”

  “Cold,” Reanna interjected. “Hurtful, petty and mean.”

  Okay, maybe she was just a tad bit angry at her sister.

  “She’s just scared Rea, that’s all.”

  Rolling her eyes, Reanna sighed, turning to look out of the window toward Sofia’s school. “I know, I know,” she replied bitterly, hating the truth in Ronaldo’s words. “This is what she does when she’s scared.” She acts out. She’d been like that ever since she was a child. “I just can’t handle the thought of her thinking I’m … fragile, or an idiot.” Or a mentally unstable, depressed pill popper that needed to run every decision she made by her shrink. “I’m not incapable of making decisions on my own just because I made a few bad ones in my past. But I was desperate at the time. I did the best that I could …”

  “You did amazing, Bubbles …”

  “Then why …” She paused for a moment, feeling herself becoming too emotional. Once she calmed and regained her balance, she continued. “Then why is she so angry with me?” She almost cried, thinking about all of the things Tamara had said. “I mean yes, there is a … a little part of me …” Just a tiny … more emotional part of her. “… that may feel like I’m …” Reanna released a long breath, fighting once again against the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

  “Like what, Rea,” Ronaldo attempted to edge her forward.

  Swallowing and shaking her head, Reanna lowered her eyes to her crossed legs and began to pick at the soft fabric of her jeans. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “Like I’m abandoning her. Like I’m leaving her again, but I can’t deny what my heart wants, you know?” She asked Ronaldo, desperately seeking his opinion about her decision. “I want to be Kyle’s wife. I want to be Sofia’s mother, and I’ve wanted this for so long that I can’t turn my back on two people that I love so much that it literally overwhelms me sometimes when I think about it. And I’m not saying that I love them more than I love her; it’s just different.” Closing her eyes tightly then reopening them, she sighed. “I don’t know; it’s stupid.” She was still sad about the argument. It had been the worst they’d ever had. “I’m just being over emotional, I guess.”

  “No you’re not, Rea,” Ronaldo spoke up. “You’re not stupid, you’re not over emotional, and you are definitely not abandoning that girl. I don’t know if you or her have noticed, but Tamara is a grown ass woman.”

  Wiping away a stray tear and looking up to the ceiling of the car, Reanna chuckled softly. “I know that, Ron.”

  “Then act like you do, bitch,” he snapped teasingly.

  “But it’s been … well, you know. Us against the world for so long.” She shook her head. “I just don’t want her to think she’s losing me.”

  “She knows she isn’t, Rea. Now stop…” She faintly heard him slap his hands on his leg. “Stop feeling guilty, dammit. You are getting married. Married. To a man that you have loved for-damn-ever. Not only that, but that baby girl, Sofia, needs a mother. A good mother. That’s you, Bubbles.” He sighed. “Focus on becoming Kyle’s wife and being a momma to that perfect, real, actual baby, Sofia. And I promise you girl, that big ass crybaby, Tamara, will come to her senses, then come crawling back to you, crying and begging for your forgiveness, alright?”

  Reanna nodded her head, even as she laughed at the man’s silliness. “Alright, Ronaldo,” she murmured, loving that her smile had returned.

  Ronaldo was good at that—making her smile even when she didn’t want to.

  “Alright, Ron. I gotta go now.” Leaning forward a bit, Reanna peeked around the passenger seat to look at the time. “It’s almost time for Sofi and the twins to get out of school.”

  “They got you getting the kids already, girl?”

  Reanna’s eyes rolled. “I offered.” Plus, this, getting the kids and spending time with them, was going to be the best part of her day. “I’m spending time with Carter and the kids today.” She smiled. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day.”

  “Not fair,” Ronaldo pouted, making Reanna chuckle again. “I wanna have fun with Carter, t
oo. I have too many damn clients today, though. Everybody coming out of the weekend with their hair looking a hot damn mess.”

  Reanna laughed.

  She heard him huff. “I miss you, though, boo. So call me later, alright?”

  “Okay, Ron,” she promised, giving him a loud kiss through the phone. “I love you, babe.”

  “I love you too, mama”

  Still smiling warmly, she ended the call and brought the phone from her ear, resting her hands in her lap. She felt better. Kyle’s kiss had been a quick fix. She smiled at the delicious memory. An incredibly amazing quick fix, but a quick fix nonetheless. But past experiences had taught her that when dealing with matters of the heart and mind, communication was the best way to get through the tough times. Talking to her family, her friends, her therapist. That had been the only way Reanna had ever been able to really pull herself through some of the hardest moments in her life.

  Her door being opened by Michele immediately brought her out of her thoughts and back into the present.

  The kids. It was time to get them.

  ~*~

  Keeping his head down as he walked through the doors of the Salerno Organization, Kyle clenched his teeth together tightly as he motioned for his men to clear his path. He was attempting to get to his office undetected by anyone. Was it a long shot? Yeah, maybe, but that sad fact hadn’t stopped him from trying. Just a mere few miles through this massive ass building, then he’d be in his office. Safe. Where he could lock the door and think like a mad man until he figured out how the fuck he was going to fix his latest failure.

  “Kyle!”

  What? No!

  Kyle looked up, his eyes darting around the lobby at the sound of the familiar voice. Shit … It had only taken him a second to spot her running in his direction.

  Aniyah … And he was pretty sure she looked as if she’d been crying. Not only that, but she looked angry.

  “Oh God no…” This was not the time. This was most definitely not the time for this shit. Shaking his head vehemently, Kyle kept his head low. “Almost there,” he muttered through clenched teeth, even though he’d been lying to himself. He was still quite a bit of distance from his office, but there was always the elevator. He wasn’t far from the elevator. Perhaps if he had his men push the woman off to the side once she neared him, he’d be able to make a run for it the rest of the way, thus avoiding the dramatics surely to come from stopping and actually engaging in a conversation with her.