FEVERISH UnbRoken Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedications & Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  EPILOGUE

  Other Books by LaShawn Vasser

  FEVERISH UnbRoken

  By

  LaShawn Vasser

  FEVERISH UnbRoken © 2016 LaShawn Vasser

  All Rights Reserved

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  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead are entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  *EXPLICIT ADULT CONTENT*

  WARNING

  This novel is considered romantic fiction with erotic elements or erotica. This is for mature audiences only. This book contains adult profane language, mild violence, and strong sexual content.

  Dedications & Acknowledgments

  There are so many individuals who have helped me along the way, and I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience, encouragement, and advice. My beta readers and editor, how awesome are you? JB Logic you are a genius. Words cannot express. You guys continue to inspire me on this journey – Thank you. Lastly, I’d like to send a special thanks to my Mr. for loving me so deeply and giving me such great inspiration. You’ve always told me I could fly, and I believed you. You hold me down always, and I can never thank you enough.

  Chapter 1

  Present Day

  Imani Hadley was furious. She stood in front of her soon-to-be ex-husband with her hands balled up and resting on her hips, steam coming from her ears, and venom about to spew from her lips. She was fit to be tied.

  “Why do you keep doing this? You are prolonging the inevitable! Sign the damn papers.”

  Garrett had no intention of signing anything. He was determined to drag this process out for as long as it took for Imani to change her mind. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together as if in deep thought, then tapped them against the bottom of his chin.

  “Did you have an appointment? I didn’t see you on my schedule.” He managed to keep a straight face knowing his words would only serve to piss Imani off even more.

  “You sonofabitch!”

  He dropped his hands and sat up a bit straighter. His tone was hushed but firm. “Lower your voice. My employees don’t need to know about our personal problems.”

  She spit fire. “Really? Do you honestly think I care who hears me? As if they don’t already know.”

  Garrett ignored Imani’s little temper tantrum. “Your anger is misdirected. If your lawyer was worth anything, we’d already be divorced.”

  Rage radiated from every pore of her body. “No! We’d already be divorced if you weren’t purposely dragging this out.” Imani ticked off every point on each finger as she hit them. “I don’t want the homes, the cars, your money, not even the gifts you bought to pacify me. I’m happy to leave with exactly what I came into this marriage.” Imani was getting more heated with each word spoken. “I. DON’T. WANT. ANYTHING. Not one red cent!”

  “That’s kind of impossible now, isn’t it?” Sarcasm dripped from his lips.

  She ignored him. “Every time—” she slammed her fist down on his desk. “Every time, I speak with my attorney, he tells me you have some new demand, which is laughable considering you’re the reason we’re getting a divorce!”

  “Me?” Garrett pointed toward himself. “You’re delusional.”

  A lock of dark hair fell over into her tired eyes. Frustrated, Imani swiped it away. “Yes . . . you—whatever.” She waved her hands as if swatting away the words she was about to say. “It doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that this process should be easy since I don’t want anything, not even your last name. I’ll proudly claim Imani Jones again.”

  Garrett had to reach deep within himself to exercise a level of control he’d never known he had. “You have a lot of nerve barging into my office ranting and raving like a lunatic. Your righteous indignation never ceases to amaze me, Imani. You should thank God I’m a patient and forgiving man!” He took a moment to gather himself from his own rising temper. “I’ve asked you to lower your voice. Now, lower it and calm the hell down.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down, Garrett! You're being unreasonable. Just sign the papers?” Imani threw a fresh copy at him, and they flew across his desk.

  He caught them in mid-air right before being smacked in the face. Garrett’s self-control was now razor thin as he battled down his own frustrations.

  Over the last several months, he’d gone through a variety of emotions. Shock and anger had been at the top of the list when Imani had him served with divorce papers. To say he was surprised was an understatement.

  They had problems—significant problems—in their marriage. For a brief period, Garrett, blinded by his rage, found it hard to look at her. Initially, he’d thought her offenses were unforgivable and contemplated getting a divorce but ultimately decided against it.

  Marriage was supposed to be for better or for worse. Things couldn’t be much worse than they had been between them, but still, Garrett never imagined it would have dissolved into the mess they found themselves in either. He meant his vows and thought, with time, they would be able to forgive each other and move on.

  Garrett needed to switch gears. Imani was too upset for anything he might say to break through. “All this energy is not good for you—or the baby.”

  “Now? Now, you care about my baby and me?” Imani was doing everything not to snap completely. She took a couple of calming breaths. “You're ridiculous.” Aggravated, she pressed her fingers to her forehead and almost rubbed the skin off. At the end of the day, Imani just wanted out. The marriage was over, and she needed the pain of the last year to go away. All she wanted was a fresh start.

  Exhausted from her anger, she whispered, “What do you want Garrett? What do I have to do to end this?”

  He hated to hear the sound of desperation in her words and that she actually wanted out. He wasn’t a man to give up easily, and he for sure wasn’t ready to give up on his marriage. It was time to put his plan in motion. “Do you honestly want to know?”

  She could no longer hide her hopelessness. A weak voice escaped. “Yes.”

  Hazel green eyes bore holes through her soul as he placed both hands on his desk one over the other. “Wait until after the baby is born. I’ll move back to our house—not Devonshire, and give me one m
onth.”

  The absurdity of that almost knocked her off her feet. It was so ridiculous that it took a minute for her brain to register what he’d said in order to respond in any coherent way. She shook her head from side to side. “Oh no. No, no, no . . . NO, Garrett! Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious.”

  They stood staring at each other waiting for the other to blink.

  He didn’t.

  She didn’t.

  They could both be stubborn. That was the problem. Imani sucked in her bottom lip to keep some form of control.

  Holding his gaze and as calmly as possible, she responded. “I can't go on like this with you. You’ve got to let me go. Marriage is supposed to be about love not . . . this . . . this thing we’re doing.”

  As if by magic, she was suddenly gazing up into eyes that had always been able to turn her knees to jelly. Garrett rounded his desk so quickly that Imani was amazed at how fast he’d done it. One minute the safety of furniture was between them, and now, there was no buffer. He was standing directly in front of her.

  He was close—too close. There was a moment when he raised his hand that Imani thought he might touch her. She stopped breathing. Garrett had always been hard to resist, even when she wanted to strangle him to death. Today was no exception. He wore her favorite cologne, a blend of sandalwood, musk, amber, and him. It was uniquely Garrett. It floated through the air tickling her senses, and Imani had to remind herself that Garret wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with. After everything, that he could still have this kind of effect on her should have been reason enough to have her committed.

  She cleared her throat and took a step backward then focused her attention on the paperweight behind him on his desk. His voice brought her out of her mystifying haze of stupidity.

  “If after one month of living with the baby and me, you still want a divorce, I’ll give it to you without any hassles. I’ll only demand one thing, joint custody.”

  “Why? Why would you want custody?”

  “I don’t want to be a part-time father.”

  Imani didn’t know what to say. “Garrett, this makes no sense.”

  He folded his arms. “Are you afraid that you might still have feelings for me? Is that why you won’t agree?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! I just want to get on with my life. You and I have wasted enough time.”

  Hurt, he responded harsher than he had intended. “Those are my terms. Take them or leave them. Otherwise, I’ll have you in court for the next couple of years.” Garrett turned his back on her and went to sit back down in his chair. “I have the resources. You know I can do it.”

  “Why? Why are you doing this?”

  He wasn’t going to tell her the full truth, but he would share part of it. “I know what it’s like to grow up without a real father. I don’t want that for this child. I would think you wouldn’t want it either.”

  Imani was about to respond when her thoughts were interrupted by what felt like trembling underneath her feet, but then it stopped. She chalked it up to hormones, especially since she and Garrett were in a high-rise building—that would be impossible.

  He frowned. “Did you feel that?”

  She looked around and whispered. “I guess I didn’t imagine it.” They stared at the bobble head on his desk as it began to move up and down.

  The floor vibrated again, and a weird whine-like noise sounded as if metal was bending just before everything started to shake uncontrollably.

  Imani could barely stand up on her feet. Somehow, Garrett managed to get to her before she fell on the floor, but even he was having trouble keeping them upright.

  CRACK! Was that an explosion? As if she weren’t already scared to death, that noise shook Imani to her core. She was terrified.

  The lights flickered on and off until they finally went out. The room was cloaked in semi-darkness. If it weren’t for the evening light flowing into the building from the outside, Garrett’s office would have been pitch black. Fortunately, within seconds, the emergency lights came on.

  Glass shattered. Everything rattled, objects shook from off the walls and onto the floor. Imani held on to Garrett for dear life. “What’s happening?”

  Loud screams from outside his office found their way inside to them. Not wanting to sit still and wait for answers, they made their way out into the hallway only to find panic and chaos. People were running in every direction.

  Garrett managed to get a hold of one of his frantic managers as they were dashing past him. “What’s going on?”

  Wide-eyed and terrified, the man shouted. “It’s an earthquake!” He took off again on a sprint heading for the stairs.

  Imani turned to Garrett. “Oh, my God. We’re on the seventeenth floor!”

  Chapter 2

  Two Years Prior

  “You’re fired.”

  Imani Jones’ notepad and pen fell out of her hands and onto the floor. Shock couldn’t begin to describe the warring emotions flowing through her body. She never expected this news when she entered her boss’ office. A promotion? A raise? Yes. She was more than deserving of that. Fired? No way!

  Imani uncrossed her legs and scooted up to the edge of her seat, looking around for the you’ve been Punk’d cameras to come out of hiding or, at the very least, an “I’m just kidding.” Listening intently, after several minutes of silence, she realized Tabitha North, her supervisor over the last two years, wasn’t joking.

  Once Imani’s brain started to somewhat function, she blinked a few times before responding. “I-I’m sorry. What?”

  Tabitha had never liked her and, truth be told, the feeling was mutual. Actually, Imani couldn’t stand her. It was impossible to like someone who stole her design ideas and always presented them as their own.

  Smugly, Tabitha sat behind her desk and folded her arms. Imani couldn’t seem to focus on anything, but her thin red lips that were always much too bright for her porcelain colored skin. The lipstick managed to get on her two front teeth. If Tabitha spent half as much time on her talent as she did chasing her youth, maybe she wouldn’t need to steal Imani’s work.

  Tabitha’s rail-thin frame pushed up from her chair, and she stood. “Budget cuts. People are not hiring interior designers like they used to.” She shrugged as if she hadn’t just blown a hole into Imani’s world. “All department heads must release someone on their team. You’re going to have to be my one.” The words coming out of Tabitha’s mouth didn’t match the expression on her face. She wasn’t sorry in the least.

  Imani’s brain went from not being able to form one coherent thought to a jumbled mess. She couldn’t get all of her questions out fast enough. Her eyes slowly narrowed. Her mouth opened, then closed only to re-open.

  “Tabitha, I wouldn’t wish for anyone to lose their job, but I’m having a hard time with this. I’m usually the first to arrive at the office, and I’m always the last to leave. I’ve had more design concepts and projects accepted by clients than everyone on this team, including you. Especially if you include the ones I’ve submitted, but you put your name on. There are plenty of people on this team that just do not pull their weight.” Imani pressed her hand to her chest. “I find it hard to believe that I’m the one that’s getting let go because of budget cuts!”

  Like a hawk about to pounce, Tabitha trained her eyes on Imani. That was the best she could do as an expression of anger. Her face was so tight from Botox injections that Tabitha couldn’t even frown. Instead, Tabitha raised her voice. “I’ve never stolen anything in my life! I certainly wouldn’t take something from you.”

  Imani shot up out of her chair. “You’ve taken credit for more of my designs than I care to count!”

  Tabitha stalked over to her door and yanked it open. “I didn’t think we would need security to escort you out. Am I wrong?”

  Imani was pissed, but she wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of calling security and making a spectacle out of her. DeCorInterior Design was making a huge mi
stake. Imani held her head up high and never broke eye contact as she walked past Tabitha. She stopped suddenly just inches away. “I thought you were at least smart if not creative. Nobody on your team has my talent. When I leave, I’m taking it with me. At some point, they will realize your creativity dried up the second I left the company. How long do you think it’ll be before you are right behind me in the unemployment line?”

  Tabitha pursed her thin lips. “Leave . . . now!”

  Almost imperceptibly, Imani nodded. “I wish you nothing but unhappiness and incredibly bad luck.”

  Furious, she stalked back to her desk. How dare that woman fire her when she worked her ass off for this company!

  Malika Turner, a close friend, sat in a nearby cubicle. She’d been periodically checking the closed door to Tabitha’s office curious about the hastily called meeting. Malika continued to crane her slender neck around the short cubicle wall until the door opened. She whipped her brunette curls behind her ear and nervously chewed her bottom lip as soon as she spotted Imani leaving Tabitha’s office. Sitting upright, Malika used her short legs to roll her chair over to Imani the moment she got back to her desk and whispered, “What happened in there?”

  Imani was doing all she could to keep it together. “Not here. I’ll call you later.” She packed up her things, and surprisingly, her few possessions fit in a medium sized box.

  Malika’s eyes widened. She immediately understood what was happening. Her throat began to close up. In a series of short, quick nods, she acknowledged she would wait to talk until after work.

  It was awkward leaving the building. The coworkers on her floor watched every move she made, but no one said a word. Still, Imani wouldn’t let them see her crack. She would do that in the privacy of her own home. Instead, she squared her shoulders, kept her back ramrod straight, and left the building with as much dignity as she could.