Devoted - The Complete Series: A BWWM Romance Boxset
Read Devoted - The Complete Series: A BWWM Romance Boxset Online
Authors: Sadie Black
DEVOTED
Part One of Three
A BWWM Interracial Romance Serial
First edition. June 17, 2015.
Copyright
© 2015
Sadie Black.
Written by Sadie Black.
The right of Sadie Black to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book was published by Sadie Black. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.
This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All characters represented within are eighteen years of age or older and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This work is property of Sadie Black, please do not reproduce illegally.
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Please note that this is a work of adult fiction and contains graphic descriptions of sexual activity, graphic language, and violence. It is intended for mature readers aged 18 over only. All characters depicted as engaging in sexual activity in this work of fiction are consenting adults, eighteen years of age or older. Blood relatives never engage in sexual activity of any kind.
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Chapter One:
Brianna
“Couldn’t you find something more appropriate to wear? You’re in God’s house, young lady,” Pastor Henry, or Dad as I call him, hisses at me as we set up for the dress rehearsal.
Looking down over my outfit, I think I did pretty well actually. My violet V-neck blouse isn’t too low-cut, and my black skirt is a bit on the tight side but goes down to my knee. Ok, so maybe the shoes are a bit much, 5-inch heels do feel strange to wear in a church, but they’re just so cute I had to. Anyway, what does he care? I’m a grown woman, not a child.
Arguing with him won’t get me anywhere. Instead, I stare at the runner on the floor and count the seconds until this wedding is finally over so I can go back to seeing my father only twice a year. Christmas and Easter.
“Ok, so does everyone know where they need to stand? Where’s my groom?” Dad looks around the empty church for Matthew. My father’s gaze stops as he spots him over by a massive stained glass window. The husband and wife-to-be are oblivious to the world around them as Matthew murmurs in Kendra’s ear and tenderly touches her cheek.
“Matthew! There’ll be plenty of time for all of that after the run-through. Stand over here, my boy.” He points to the floor in front of him, “Come keep me company up here.” His focus changes to the entire crowd as Matthew makes his way over, “Alright, let’s do the dry run. The sooner we do this right, the sooner everyone can go home.”
People scurry to follow my father’s direction. Everyone does. There’s something about him that makes people move when he tells them to. Making my way to the back of the church, I’m thankful to have a few minutes away from his overbearing presence. Since I was a kid, I’ve been watching Dad give sermons and guidance to entire congregations of people who have hung on his every word.
Now, whenever I hear him speak about God’s love and forgiveness I just think about how much of a hypocrite he is. Even though it has been more than eleven years since I lived under his roof, memories of how he kicked me out at seventeen have never faded with the passage of time.
“Henry! We can’t kick her out onto the streets!” I remember how Mama sobbed while I stood there defiantly staring at Dad.
“She isn’t staying here, Evelyn, and that’s final!” His voice made the picture frames shake.
Sure enough, she spent the entire night calling her sisters and brothers until Auntie Ruth agreed to take me in. The way she tirelessly fought to find me a safe place to stay, I knew that Mama didn’t want to see me leave. Too bad she never used any of that energy to fight for what was right with my father. In our house, he laid down the law and we obeyed, Mama was no exception.
My father casting me aside hurt, but it wasn’t a deep cut. By seventeen, I’d long known that we would never see eye-to-eye. However, when Mama watched me pack my things, it turned all of my sadness into rage. I’ll never understand how any mother can sit in silence and watch their child be cast away, yet that’s exactly what she did.
Refusing to utter a word to either of them, I packed my bags and waited on the front porch for the station wagon with the wood panel veneer down the side to come pick me up. Mama never gave me a hug goodbye. My father refused to look at me. I just slipped into the car and didn’t even watch as their house grew smaller in the passenger seat mirror. I didn’t look back then, and I’m not going to waste my time looking back now.
Giving my head a shake, I focus on the cute blond man with gray eyes holding his arm out to me so we can walk down the aisle. You can clearly tell who is here for Matthew and who is here for Kendra. All of Matthew’s groomsmen are dressed like the wedding is today. In their designer suits and shiny, square-toed shoes, you’d think that they were heading to walk down the runway at fashion week and took a wrong turn.
Kendra’s bridesmaids, each of her brother’s wives, look like they just got off a long shift at Walmart with their discount jeans and bargain bin tops. The one notable exception on her side of the aisle is Tina, but her couture dress and perfect nails can be attributed to the fact that she’s Matthew’s sister. That family must have had an angel smiling over their births because they’re both stunning.
Walking down the aisle, I avoid my father’s disapproving stare and instead focus on the speech I have to give in a few nights. As Kendra’s maid of honor, I have to sum her up in a sweet, funny and touching way. The truth is, I still have no idea what to say. Not because she isn’t sweet and funny, but because writing this speech feels like I’m writing the final chapter on our friendship that I’m just not ready to say goodbye to yet.
Taking my place on the left side of the altar, I watch as the bridesmaids make their way down the aisle.
I need a cigarette. Please don’t let Dad blather on and on tonight.
Sometimes I think the real reason that man joined the church is because he loves the sound of his voice filling a room. Having people stuck in their seats, unable to get away from him was just a bonus. I know that’s not true, my father’s passionate sermons pop into my head. Back when I was still in his good graces, I used to watch him practice them in a full-length mirror. Back then, I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. Now that I have, we couldn’t be further apart. Glancing over at him, I’m relieved to see that his focus is on Kendra making her way down the aisle instead of my apparently scandalous clothes. It always feels better when we just do what we both do best: ignore each other.
When Kendra asked me if I’d mind my father marrying her and Matthew, I was stunned. I know her family was in my Dad’s congregation, and she grew up with his weekly sermons, but she also knows better than anyone how much bad blood is between us. I mean, Kendra was always my impossibly perfect friend, so I never did tell her why he kicked me out, but it didn’t raise any questions with her. Just goes to show how much he and I were always fighting even before he turned his back on me in my darkest hour.
The night he found out I was pregnant.
Chapter Two:
Bradley
“Rachel? Send Dwight in here, please.”
“Right away, Mr. Sheppard.” She speedily walks from her desk to the large waiting room just around the corner while I lean against my office wall.
That’s more like it.
When I took over as CEO from Matthew Blackwell, I made the clumsy mistake of not switching over the staff that worked with him for years. It didn’t take long to hear grumblings about every change I wanted to make around here. The worst offender, by a mile, was his secretary for years, Stephanie. The way she would wring her hands in dismay every time I did something like change the blinds to a new color or switch out the modern art on the office walls for more peaceful landscapes, well, you would think that I was dragging Zervion Communications down into a pit of anarchy. If I heard her say “but that’s not how Mr. Blackwell did it!” one more time, I was going to snap. As it was, I spent more than a few minutes considering showing her the door with a pink slip in hand and asking if she thought that I was firing her the way Mr. Blackwell would do it. However, I realized that I was letting the stress of my home life overshadow my professionalism and instead opted for a major shuffle. That way Stephanie got to work for my executive senior systems manager and I got an assistant who actually assists me without constant questioning.
After that, I’d say that most of the growing pains that come with a company takeover passed. Any remaining employees who were still loyal to Blackwell’s vision for Zervion over mine learned to keep it to themselves. Unfortunately, things at home haven’t smoothed out quite so easily.