She Fell In Love with A Savage

By Shavekia Layfield

Tiara Brookes has no choice to step up but to the plate of being single mother after her boyfriend, A' Quan Billings, gets himself and her locked up behind a drug charge. A'Quan takes full responsibility of the incident and Tiara is released, but she is not left to raise their two kids alone. Tiara is devastated. Even, though she knew that Quan was bad news from the start, she still loved him and gave him her heart. Getting arrested changed Tiara's outlook on life and men. She vowed to never love a bad boy again.

Six years later, Tiara makes good on her promise to herself. It was a struggle to raise her kids alone but she put the S on her chest and prevailed. But just like most women, she couldn't do everything alone. Her money was low and her car decided to break down on the side of the road. Tiara felt like giving up until the clouds open and God sent her and angel, or so she thought at first.

Omega West, a sexy poetic and business tycoon stops to help her on the side of the road. Tiara is elated. He is fine and handy and instantly Tiara is head over heels. He may not be the normal thug that Tiara usually attracts, but he is full of secrets and baggage stemming from the mysterious disappearances of his recent and past love interests.
Tiara's best friend, Mercedes, sees the damning signs early on but Tiara chooses to ignore them. In her eyes Omega is everything that she wants in a man and to top it off his is not a bad boy. Or is he?

Find out Tiara's fate in this roller coaster thriller full of twists and turns. Maybe she should have just stuck with the thug.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royalty Publishing House
• Release date: Aug 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781648406447

Book preview

Prologue

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Open up! It’s the police!

Tiara jumped out of the bed. She was barely dressed. She looked over and checked her clock. It was close to noon. The sun was beaming through her curtains. She looked out of the window and could see that their apartment was surrounded.

Quan, the police are knocking on the door. What are they doing here?

Shit…fuck! Baby, stall them until I get rid of this shit, Quan said.

What shit? I know, damn well, you don’t have no damn drugs in my got-damn house around my kids. Quan, you promised me that you would keep the streets away from our family, Tiara whined.

I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t have anywhere to store it. They already raided my storage once.

So, what am I supposed to do? Tiara asked.

Go and stall them like I told you, Quan said. He went over to the closet to retrieve his stash so that he could hide it. Tiara put on a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank, and went to the door where the police were still banging. She heard her son and daughter stirring in their room, but didn’t open their door. She didn’t want to startle them.

How can I help you? Tiara asked when she finally opened the door to cease the banging.

Ma’am, we are looking for A’Quan Billings. Is he here? the officer asked.

Why are you looking for him? Tiara asked the officers. She didn’t want to make a scene, because she could already see her neighbors starting to gather outside.

Please don’t do this, ma’am. We know he is your man and the father of your kids. We know he is here, so step aside, or we will have no choice but to take you in for aiding and abetting a fugitive, the officer said. He was mean and stern. He was an old white man and stood about six feet even. His scouring look sent chills up Tiara’s spine.

Tiara was doing her best to stall the officers, but they were getting annoyed. She periodically looked back to see if Quan was coming. Eventually, she gave in and stepped outside.

Look…I have two small children in the house. I am not trying to cause a scene. Can you please arrest Quan another time…when his children aren’t here? Tiara pleaded.

So, he is in there? the officer asked, ignoring her plea.

Move in, guys. He is in there.

On the officer’s command, Tiara was pushed to the side and the other officers stormed her apartment. She immediately started screaming and crying.

My babies are in there. Do not hurt my children, please, Tiara yelled. She hoped that they went in, arrested Quan and they left. Unfortunately, that is not what happened. The next thing she knew; she was being arrested.

What am I being arrested for? she cried.

Tiara Brookes, you are under the arrest for being in possession of illegal drugs with the intent to distribute, the officer said. He went on to read Tiara her Miranda rights. Tears streamed down her face as they placed her in the back of the police car.

My kids…give them to my friend next door, Mercedes Gibson. Do not take them to foster care.

You will be lucky if you ever see your children again. Do you know how much weight your man had in there? a female officer asked her.

No, I didn’t know. Please, just give my kids to Mercedes, Tiara said. She pointed to a woman who was trying to get into the apartment where the police officers were standing.

Okay, calm down. Let me go get them. A word of advice, get as far away from these thug ass men as you can. They mean you no good. You are about to go to jail behind his mess. That is fucked up. Sistah, for your kids’ sake, leave this man alone.

The officer left to go and hand-off Tiara’s kids to Mercedes. Tiara slumped back into the uncomfortable seat. She cried as she watched her kids try and run to the car where she was sitting. Mercedes was having a hard time holding the kids, because she was crying too. They were both fighting her, trying to get to the car where Tiara was sitting. The female officer ended up assisting Mercedes with controlling the children.

Quan was escorted out shortly. The officers had him handcuffed. Other officers followed behind him with duffel bags. Tiara didn’t have to ask what was in those bags. She already knew that it was drugs.

Baby, I am going to get you out. Don’t worry! Don’t say a damn thing to anyone, Quan yelled out to her. Tiara didn’t say a word. She just let the tears flow from her eyes. She replayed what the female officer told her. Here she was, twenty-five years old, and about to go to jail behind her man’s piss poor decision. Quan not only messed up her life, but their kids as well. If I go to jail, who is going to care for my kids, she asked herself. Mercedes already had her own two kids to take care of, and didn’t have room for two more.

While riding to the station and going through the booking process, Tiara couldn’t help but think about her bad decisions. She should have left Quan a long time ago. He never meant her any good, but she wanted a bad boy. Now look where this bad boy got me, she told herself. Tiara made it up in her mind, at that very moment, Quan would be her last bad boy. In fact, he would be the last man that she let intrude in her life and cause her pain. She wanted a husband and not a thug.

1

Tiara

Six years later…

Oh no, not today.

Tiara was hot and frustrated. It was just the middle of spring, but the hot Georgia sun made it feel more like the middle of summer. The heat was scorching as her car decided to shut down. She coasted the car over to the side of the road, so as not to interrupt the traffic flow. Tiara wanted a new car so badly, but her budget just wouldn’t allow for one. She tried patching up her old ninety-six Hyundai Elantra hatchback the best she could. In reality, all the money she put into repairing the car could have probably been enough for two new ones. At the end of the day, the car was paid for, and she couldn’t afford to buy a new one.

The car was more trouble than it was worth. Every time she looked around, she needed to get something repaired. Car repairs were not in her current budget, and she did not have a single penny in her checking or in her savings account. She was up the creek without a paddle.

Tiara was a single mother of two children; one boy and one girl. Her first and only true love, A’Quan, was arrested six years ago on a drug trafficking charge. Here she was, thirty-one years old, playing the role of mother and father to her kids; fifteen-year-old Aubrey and ten-year-old AJ. She worked at a manufacturing plant just to make ends meet. She only made eleven dollars per hour, and it was barely enough to pay bills. Now with the car acting up, yet again, Tiara was not sure where she would get the money to fix it.

Mama, I am hot, her son AJ said, fanning and wiping the sweat that dripped from his head. The car was already hot because they didn’t have AC, but with it at a standstill, it was even worse.

I know, AJ. There is nothing I can do. Drink that water over there.

But it’s hot, too, AJ whined. When Tiara looked at him, she couldn’t help but think that he was a spitting image of his father. Slim and light skinned, but swear he was bigger than the world. He reminded her so much of the rapper Common.

Dammit, AJ! This is not the time to get on my nerves. Drink the damn water or don’t, but you are going to leave me alone.

AJ sat back. He knew that he had irked his mother. If he kept on, she would surly pop him in the mouth, and he wasn’t in the mood to be hit. He looked over at his sister. She was in her own world. She was such a project diva. She acted like nothing ever bothered her. Even as the sweat dripped from her face, she didn’t say a word. Her ear buds were in her ear, and her IPhone four was in her hand. AJ often felt left out. Since his daddy left, he couldn’t do anything. His mama would say she didn’t have any money, but that never stopped Aubrey. She always got stuff one way or another. AJ slick hated her, and resented his mother. He looked up to his father, and wanted to be just like him. To AJ, Quan was a legend. He just slipped up and got caught. AJ had learned from his father’s mistakes and, unbeknownst to his