“Oh, Kenny,” Giada said with thick emotion in her voice and then offered her lips to him. That loving kiss soon turned into a prelude to foreplay and total oblivion to the fact that they were not alone.
* * * *
After a full minute had passed, Hannah cleared her throat. Loudly.
It did no good. Kentucky and Giada still continued to kiss.
Malik grinned, clearly enjoying the passionate interaction between the newlyweds. He looked pleased to see Kentucky so unbelievably happy right now.
Hannah cleared her throat again. She did so even louder this time.
Giada and Kentucky finally and reluctantly broke apart. They laughed at how quickly they’d succumbed to passion, how quickly they’d forgotten their surroundings. This was a clear indication that they needed to return to the bedroom soon.
“When did you get this ring?” Giada asked Kentucky, getting back to the previous subject after taking a deep breath to compose herself again. “To my knowledge, you haven’t been out of the house since we came back last night.”
“I got that ring before I left for Africa. I gave it to Mama for safekeeping,” Kentucky explained.
“She watched over it all this time. Even after I tried to give it to her in my anger toward you, Mama still deemed it your ring and never wore it. She gave it back this morning while you were showering.”
Giada’s eyes watered. “Thanks for keeping it for me, Mama Jones.”
“You’re welcome.” Hannah smiled, getting up to finally clear the table. Those dirty dishes had been tolerated long enough. A silent Malik moved to help her.
“Had this ring been presented to me before now, I might have sold it and given the money to the school like I did with the funds from my engagement ring,” Giada said, letting them in on a little secret as she moved to help clear the dishes.
“I was wondering where you got so much money to make that sizable donation,” Kentucky said, pulling her back into his lap. His stepmother had already insisted upon spoiling them over the next few days. Thus there was no need for Giada to move an inch to do anything but kiss and make love to him.
“You know about my donation to the school?” Giada asked with wide eyes. “But how? I sent that money in a cashier’s check. Used a PO box for the return address.”
Kentucky grinned. “As the new CFO of the HardyJonesAcademy, it’s my job to know where all money comes from and goes to at the school. Following the money is also how I found out that my cousin Millsap has been sending funds to the school through his legitimate businesses,” he replied, inadvertently sharing a secret of his own in that response.
That secret? Kentucky was giving up the bodyguard business for good and taking on a regular nine-to-five job.
“As your new husband, it’s also my job to find out how you feel about living in Village Square, Georgia full-time. I can commute to work if you’re not ready to leave Florida yet on account of work and school.”
“You’re leaving it up to me to decide where we live?” Giada couldn’t believe he wasn’t taking charge like before.
“Yes. I had a long time to think about what might have gone wrong in our relationship. I realized that I was too domineering at times,” Kentucky shared. “I think it was because I didn’t want you leading me around by the nose like you’d done all your other men. Plus, I thought about how, if I had listened to you about that African assignment, I could have saved all of us a whole lot of heartache and pain.”
“But then you never would have met Malik,” Hannah said, returning to the table for more dishware. “Which means I never would have met Malik.” She turned to smile at the African man coming from the kitchen.
“She’s got a point there, baby,” Giada said, noting how amorously the older couple stared at each other.
“So I guess everything worked out in the end, huh?” Kentucky said, kissing the side of his wife’s neck.
“Guess so.” Giada moaned.
“Let’s go back to bed, baby,” Kentucky suggested.
“Please do,” Hannah inserted, “before y’all start rubbing off on other people.” She nodded in Malik’s direction.
Giada chuckled at the ardent look on Malik’s face. The man looked like he wanted to kiss Hannah at that very second.
“Malik, you might want to go watch TV while Mama cleans the kitchen alone,” Kentucky said with special emphasis.
“Yes, television sounds very good right now, Kosey,” Malik said with a sheepish look before quickly making his way to the den.
“Stop scaring the poor man,” Giada said, poking him in the side before rising to her feet.
“Scare Malik? Please.” Kentucky chuckled, standing to his feet as well. “His nickname should be Kosey, because he has the heart of a lion way more than me. It was Malik that taught me how to hunt all kinds of wild animals. Plus, I saw him personally spear a lion to death when it tried to get at one of the village goats,” Kentucky continued as he and his wife exited the room.
* * * *
Behind them, Hannah’s mouth dropped open in shock. She had no idea Malik was so courageous since Kentucky had neglected to share certain African experiences with her. He hadn’t wanted to alarm her about the other dangers he encountered in the motherland.
“I think somebody deserves a kiss anyway.” Hannah headed for the den. How could she not kiss the man who not only took care of her stepson when he was injured, but also taught Kentucky how to survive in the African wild?
Chapter Thirty-One
Much later, Giada spooned on the large bed against Kentucky’s sweat-drenched chest. They’d just made enough love for five newlywed couples and a few celebrating their anniversaries. And even though they were resting now, they were still connected in the most intimate of ways.
“I’m going to make a doctor’s appointment this week so we can start on our family,” Giada said after their breathing patterns had regulated again.
“Great. No need to waste all this good seed.” Kentucky chuckled behind her.
“I know, that’s right.” Giada laughed, too, squeezing her thighs together and using her inner walls to clench him.
Kentucky moaned at her actions.
Giada moaned right after him when she felt his lower body stir with excitement, causing him to pulse inside of her.
“By the way, where are we gonna raise these kids? You never did give me an answer about whether you wanted to live in Florida or Georgia,” Kentucky said, continuing their conversation in a huskier tone.
“I think it would be cheaper to live in Georgia considering the cost of commuting. I don’t think I would have much trouble finding a job there. Only thing is, I don’t know if my scholarship is transferable.”
“It is.” Kentucky bent to kiss her neck.
Giada looked over her shoulder. “How do you know that?”
“Because I’m the benefactor behind that scholarship. I have been from the beginning,” he confessed as he began to move within her wet depths again.
Giada’s eyes widened. “Now I feel bad for getting mad at you for making me stick to a budget and get a job, for thinking I was the one constantly giving up things for the relationship. You’ve been making sacrifices all along for me. The biggest one is when you went to Africa just to afford some big wedding that I don’t even want anymore.”
Kentucky suddenly stopped moving. “You sure you don’t want a big formal wedding? Not even just a little bit?”
Giada chuckled. “Okay, maybe just a little bit, but I definitely want you more. Now that I finally have you, I don’t need all the frills. As you recall, I married you in somebody’s living room with no wedding dress, no tuxedo, and no ring.”
“Can I give you that dream wedding anyway?” He started to stroke inside of her again.
“Only if you let me pay for half of it. Plus, I need to tweak it a bit since I no longer want the same level of extravagance.” Giada faced forward again, closed her eyes, and moaned at the wonders of Kentucky’s lovemaking.
The man was lethal with his hips.
Suddenly he stopped.
* * * *
“Are you sitting on money somewhere, Giada?” Kentucky asked upon pausing their lovemaking. This was the first time she ever offered to go half on anything. Now that he thought more about it, she’d also offered to pay for an elopement trip to Vegas.
Was Giada sitting on a stack of money? If so, how?
“I got a small nest egg from the sale of my house across the street. It’s actually a big nest egg considering the fact that I sold it for way more than it was worth.” Giada grinded against him.
“Baby, please go back to what you’re doing. It felt so good.”
Kentucky moaned this time and started moving again. “We’ll see what you can do to get your house back. No use both of us losing our houses.” The house he’d owned had been razed to the ground soon after being sold. He still didn’t know why the new owner had done that. The house had been in mint condition, livable for many years to come.
“I already have my house back.” When Giada told him how she got it back, Kentucky stopped moving again and actually disengaged them.
“What’s the name of the Realtor Fabian used to buy your house?” he said, sitting upright in bed.
When she told him, Kentucky sprang to his feet and started pacing the floor, oblivious to his nakedness. “He used the same Realtor to buy my house above and beyond the asking price, too. No wonder he had it torn down right after buying it. And a review of the school’s books revealed that this same Realtor made an offer on the school’s land.”
“What!” Giada sat upright now.
“Which means Fabian has been working behind the scenes for a while now, trying to take nearly everything we owned so that he could use it against us one way or the other. And I have no proof, but I’m starting to think he had something to do with me getting that African assignment with Jamie. Jamie said that I came highly recommended by a friend of his, but he never would tell me who that friend was.” As Kentucky paced the floor, his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.
“I guess the joke’s on Fabian, because we still ended up with each other and with most of our original possessions. We also now have fatter bank accounts because of him,” Giada noted, trying to calm Kentucky down by appealing to his common sense.
Kentucky abruptly stopped pacing and looked at her. “You’re right. The joke is on him,” he said as a slow smile spread across his face. “Now where were we?” he asked, giving her a heated look as his anger was swallowed up in rising desire.
“I believe you were right here,” Giada said, directing his attention to her hot core as she spread her legs in invitation.
Kentucky licked his lips as he approached the bed again. Within seconds, he was back where he belonged, joined to the hilt, as one with his beloved wife.
* * * *
It took three days for Lloyd to learn the story of Kentucky’s miraculous survival in Africa. It had taken every connection he had to get even the basic details about the man’s sudden reappearance since this was a story that Kentucky intended to keep to himself until he finished writing the book about his experience. One hundred percent of the proceeds of this book would be donated to help the foster kids at his boarding school.
Lloyd couldn’t help but admire Kentucky’s courage and dedication to educating society’s forgotten youth. He couldn’t help but despise Fabian for some of the things he learned about him in a subsequent search he performed.
As a result, Lloyd decided to drop Fabian’s case altogether. There was no way he was going to help someone hurt a man who deserved all the happiness he could get. Kentucky deserved the ultimate happiness after all he’d been through.
* * * *
Fabian was incensed to learn that his case had been dropped. He was even more incensed to learn that Kentucky was alive and well, which was the only information Lloyd would give him.
“Oh, yeah, and don’t bother trying to go to another PI. I’ve spread the word around, and none of them will have anything to do with someone that tried to send a man to his death,” Lloyd asserted.
Fabian frowned. “I never tried to send anyone to their death.”
Lloyd scoffed in disbelief. “Didn’t you when you recommended Kentucky to your alcoholic photographer friend Jamie Benedict? The same friend that you gave money to so that he’d be able to offer the bodyguard triple his usual fee, plus extras? The same friend that Kentucky risked his life repeatedly for during that trip because the man took too many stupid risks to get his photos, putting them both in constant danger? Need I mention the fact that this same photographer friend has become an all-out drunk since that incident and was more than willing to relieve his guilty conscience when I questioned him about your connection to him?”
“Nobody’s going to believe the word of a drunk over mine. Furthermore, I don’t need your help anymore anyway. I can get Giada back on my own,” Fabian retorted, suddenly having one whopper of an idea as he rudely slammed the phone down.
* * * *
Giada got to enjoy all the preparations for her modified dream wedding, which would be held on Christmas Eve at the Delfinos’ house since it was bigger than Hannah’s church. Hannah, Bev, and Velicity, who were Giada’s two matrons of honor and bridesmaid respectively, helped out a great deal.
Velicity finally got to see Giada and Kentucky together at the informal dinner the Delfinos hosted for the newlyweds. She didn’t stay in the loving couple’s presence for too long before she ran out of the room in tears.
Giada and Kentucky followed the crying woman into the next room. As soon as Velicity saw them, she started to apologize for her tears and for everything else in between. Most of her apologies were directed at Kentucky.
“Velicity, I’m not mad at you,” Kentucky reassured her. “I really couldn’t be mad at Giada,” he continued, pulling his wife in his arms. “She thought I was dead. It had been three months. Your advice was sound in terms of her moving on with her life. I just didn’t like who she moved on with.”
Velicity started to cry again. “I’m the one that told her to date Fabian.”
“I don’t blame you for that either.” Kentucky smiled in forgiveness. “A lot of women would have gotten caught up with Fabian’s good looks, his fame, and his money. I’m hoping now you’ll see that you have to look deeper than that to find real love.”
Velicity nodded, sniffing back her tears. “I see why Giada loves you. You’re a wonderful man.”
“Yes, he is,” Giada said, speaking up after watching Kentucky console her friend with all the right words. “Now go wash your face, fix your makeup, and meet us back at the table.”
Smiling now, Velicity nodded and headed for the nearest bathroom.
“Do you think we have time for a quickie?” Giada asked when Velicity was out of sight.
Kentucky squeezed her bottom. “There’s always time for that.” Then he led her to the small room that the Delfinos used as a parlor and took her right up against the wall.
When they returned to the dinner fifteen minutes later, everyone burst out laughing at their wrinkled clothes and tousled hair. It was clear what they had been up to while they were missing in action.
Kentucky and Giada looked at each other and laughed, too. That night was the first night they decided to stay at her apartment until their Georgia move.
* * * *
After that incident at the Delfinos, Kentucky and Giada enjoyed their newfound privacy to the max. His only reservation was the fact that Malik and his stepmother were now completely alone at the family home. But after his African friend requested Hannah’s hand in marriage and she accepted, there was little Kentucky could say. After all, they were grown.
Yet for the four days that it took for them to get all the paperwork processed on account of Malik’s citizenship issues, Kentucky did not sleep well at all, or much at all, considering the fact that Giada couldn’t seem to get enough of his body during that same timeframe. At the
end of those four days, he finally got some rest. By then, he and his frisky wife were both exhausted from nonstop passionate loving.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I wish Kenny were here. Giada thought, looking out the apartment window on that sunny Saturday morning.
Kentucky had gone to give Malik another lesson on how to cut his stepmother’s lawn. The older man still didn’t have the hang of all those American tools yet.
He said he’ll be back by noon, Giada reminded herself as she stepped away from the window and returned to packing up the apartment. There were still loads of clothes she needed to pack from her bedroom closet.
Around midday, Giada went to the window and looked out again. She was disappointed to find Kentucky’s vehicle still missing from the parking lot.
Suddenly, she gasped as she caught sight of Fabian pulling up in front of her apartment complex with not one, but three Mercedes Benzes trailing his limo. They were all in different colors—white, black, and red. Not one was in the color she really wanted.
Just act like you’re not home. Giada quickly stepped away from the window.
That would have been easy to do if Mercedes, the dog, hadn’t started barking the way she normally did whenever she smelled Fabian’s scent.
“I know you’re in there, Giada,” Fabian said through the door. “I see your car in the parking lot, and I hear Mercedes barking. Why don’t you open up the door and pick out a real Mercedes?”
“Go away, Fabian. I don’t want anything else from you,” Giada replied, opening her mouth, but determined to keep her door shut as she descended the short staircase. At the bottom, she picked Mercedes up from near the door and held her soothingly to quiet her down.
“I know about Kentucky being alive, Giada,” Fabian went on to say. “I know you were probably tempted to go back to him. I’ll even forgive you if you slipped back for a brief reconciliation. Just open the door, baby, and we can work all this out.”
Pretty Packages Page 20