Love, Unexpected

by Ra'Chael Ohara

  I jump up on the sink counter while Layla gets me some paper towel to dry my face off. “I’m sorry, Aria.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  “He’ll come around. Just give him some time.”

  “No, he won’t.” When Layla starts to argue with me, I talk over her. “And that’s okay. I lied to him. No matter the reason for that, it was wrong. I deserve this.”

  “Come on, that’s not true. You did what you had to do. You’ve been through unspeakable things, and you were doing it for your own protection. If Kulani can’t understand that, then he doesn’t deserve you.”

  As horrible as this situation is, I still can’t help but grin. Layla is such a happy person, so when I see her as anything but—especially angry—it’s comical. Before I can say anything, there’s a knock on the bathroom door.

  Layla opens it. Kendrick is waiting on the other side. “Aria, can we talk for a moment? In private.”

  “What’s the use, Kendrick? Secret is out. Everyone knows. You can talk in front of Layla.”

  “Yeah, that’s kind of what I have to talk to you about,” he says, concern written all over his face. What he says next shatters me for the second time tonight. “I’m sorry, but, like you said, the secret is out. It’s not safe for you to stay here. We need to move you…tonight.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  My Real Name Is Gianna Donatelli

  It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve talked to Kulani, two weeks since I left Hawaii. I haven’t even been allowed to talk to Layla or Camille. Kendrick wasn’t kidding when he said we had to leave that night.

  I left with him from the Resort and only had enough time to pack my bags and change out of my dress. I left a goodbye note on Layla’s bed. As much as I love Hawaii and the people there, I can’t go back. I have to accept that, no matter how much I love Kulani, it isn’t meant to be, but I can’t go back to Hawaii and watch him move on or witness him eventually fall in love with another girl. I’m not strong enough for that.

  I was surprised when the plane landed in New York, of all places. Detective Kendrick thought, with the trial being so close, it would be better to stay close. I’m hidden away in a tiny suburb in a small house all by myself.

  I walk to the seat next to my bedroom window. Through the pouring rain, I can still see the unmarked cop car parked out on the street. There’s one out there every hour of every day for my protection.

  I’m only allowed to leave if I have one of them following me. Not that I even think about leaving. I never leave this house. I’m not going to be here long. As soon as this trial is over, I’m going to take the little amount of money I have and start over somewhere new.

  I jump when I hear the doorbell ring. It’s ten at night. “Who could that be?” I whisper to myself. I relax when I see Kendrick through the peephole. “Hey.”

  “Hey, Aria. I just wanted to check on you before heading home,” he says before sitting down on the couch. “Camille and Layla wanted me to tell you hello for them.”

  I give him a small smile but say nothing as I sit in the chair across from him.

  “The trial is next week. How are you feeling about it?”

  “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I would be okay with never having to see Sal again, but I’m ready for it to be over, ready to get justice for my mom, and ready to start a new life, somewhere far away from New York.”

  “What about Hawaii?” Kendrick asks.

  “I’m not going back to Hawaii,” I state in a matter of fact tone. I’m hoping that Kendrick will get the point and see that it’s not really up for discussion. No luck.

  “Aria, you need to understand and accept the fact that you lied because you had to. You did nothing wrong. If Kulani, or anyone else, for that matter, can’t see that, then that is their problem, not yours.”

  I know part of what he’s saying is true. I did have to lie at first. I didn’t know Kulani and he didn’t have a right to know the truth, but that changed somewhere along the way. He became more to me. We became more.

  I fell in love with him, and the moment I realized that, I should have told him the truth. He deserved to know. Even though I tried many times to tell him the truth, I can’t deny how relieved I was when something came up and prevented me.

  Kendrick and I go over all the details about the trial and what time I’ll take the stand before he says goodnight. After I see him out, I go about my nightly routine and climb into bed.

  Night time is the worst part of my day. During the daytime, I can find small ways to distract myself, usually by reading, watching TV, or cleaning this already spotless house.

  At night, I have no way to distract myself. I’m not in the city, so I don’t even have the sounds of honking or fighting to keep my mind occupied. My mind is consumed with Kulani and all the memories I have with him.

  The ache in my chest seems to amplify, and when I’m lying in bed, it’s impossible to deny how much I miss him. It’s harder to fight back the instinct to pick up my cell and call him or to write him a message telling him, again, how sorry I am.

  I roll over and face the wall when the tears start to slide down my face. It’s not just Kulani I miss. I miss Layla and Camille too. Layla had become way more than a best friend. She’s the sister I never had. I miss our late night conversations and just her positive attitude in general.

  My breath seizes when my doorbell rings again. Looking at the clock, I see that it’s one in the morning. I get out of bed and go to my window. The police cruiser is still sitting out on the street.

  I have to assume that whoever is at the door is okay or that police offer would have tackled them by now. I begin to cross the room to open the door when I remember that I’m only wearing a white tank top and no bra. I grab a hoodie I stole from Kulani and throw it on before continuing to the front door.

  I should have looked through the peephole before answering.

  ***

  “What are you doing here?” I croak. My heart is threatening to beat out of my chest and my legs feel like noodles. I never expected to see him again, much less to open my door and find him waiting on the other side of it.

  Kulani looks just about as broken as me. He shrugs. “I want to talk.” I’m trying to read how he’s feeling, but it’s impossible. I don’t know if he’s still mad at me or what.

  “How did you find me?”

  “Kendrick told Camille. Camille told Layla. Layla told Pika. Pika told me.”

  “How did you get past the police car downstairs?”

  “I ran into Kendrick on the way up. We went for coffee, then he let me up. Are you going to let me in?” he asks rather impatiently. If I had to guess, I’d say he’s still angry with me.

  “Sure. Yeah, come in.” I move to the side so he can walk past me. “Do you want anything to drink?” I ask after locking the door.

  “No.” He drops his duffel bag on the floor and sits on the couch.

  “Something to eat?” I know I’m stalling. Or maybe not stalling, but definitely trying to fill the awkward silence between us.

  “What I want is for you to tell me the truth,” Kulani snaps. Whatever patience he had is obviously long gone.

  “You mean you don’t know yet?” I’m a little surprised.

  “How would I? You left,” he growls.

  Now my patience has run out. “Well, I assumed Layla or Kendrick told you, and I really didn’t think you cared that I left. After all, you made it pretty fucking clear you were done.”

  “Aria…or Gianna, whoever the fuck you are! I had just figured out everything I thought I knew about you, about us, was a fucking lie. You could have given me the night to fucking digest that before hopping a plane and getting the hell outta dodge.”

  “My name is Aria,” I growl. “And I didn’t leave because I wanted to; I left because I had to.”

  “I don’t know what you fucking want me to call you. You show up in Hawaii two months ago, blow my world to pieces, and then I find out tha
t you’ve lied to me from day one about everything, including your name,” he snarls.

  “Look, I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing. I have no interest in fighting with you.” I sigh through my tears, open the front door, and wait for him to leave.

  “Can you blame me for being angry, Aria?”

  “No, I can’t, but I can honestly say that if roles were reversed, I would have given you a chance to explain. Don’t you think there is a reason I had to change my name? A reason why a police officer is sitting outside my door right now, watching my house? There is, and you can bet it’s a damn good one, especially if it caused me to lie and hurt the man I’m in love with, the only man I’ve ever been in love with.”

  Kulani, who was staring at the floor through my whole admission, whips his eyes in my direction as soon as I utter those last words. I didn’t mean to say them, but I refuse to take my confession back because it’s true. Even if he ends up walking out of this house and out of my life forever, my words, my feelings, will still be true. At least now he knows that I love him.

  My heart breaks when I see Kulani stand up and walk toward the door. He’s leaving. That’s my only thought. Me loving him isn’t enough. I’m surprised when he pulls the door from my grasp and closes it.

  “Then tell me. Tell me the truth so I can stop feeling like my world is out of control, so I can stop feeling like I’m losing the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he pleads, his voice a ragged whisper.

  “My parents were murdered and I saw who did it,” I blurt.

  I know, out of all the things I could have said, he wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t even expecting to blurt it out like that. I also didn’t expect the tears to come back with a vengeance.

  All the stress I’ve been feeling the past months—hell, all the stress, sadness and heartbreak I’ve been dealing with my entire life—is too much. I cover my face with my hands and sob.

  I don’t even uncover my face when Kulani picks me up bridal style. “Where’s your room, Rocky?” he asks gently.

  “Door on the right,” I answer without removing my hands from my face, so it comes out muffled. I cry as he lays me on the bed. I cry as he lies next to me, and I cry when he pulls me to him.

  I bury my head in his chest and allow myself to calm down as he rubs his hand up and down my back. Kulani waits patiently for me to calm down.

  I know that I’ll never be able to tell him this without breaking down if he keeps comforting me like this, so I get up.

  “Baby?” he asks. I ignore his questioning look and sit in the chair across the bedroom.

  Kulani sees that I need my space and remains seated on the edge of the bed. I take a deep breath and say, “My real name is Gianna Donatelli.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I’d Go Anywhere With You.

  “I didn’t have the life I made you and everyone else believe I did,” I say. “My papi was an abusive alcoholic with a gambling addiction.” At the word abusive, Kulani’s muscles tighten.

  I don’t stop talking, though. I need to get this out. “The only true thing I shared with you from my childhood is all the beautiful things I told you about my mom. She was amazing, and she always tried to protect me from the pain in our life. I grew up in a poor neighborhood in New York. My clothes came from thrift stores and more often than not either fit too big or too small. I was lucky if Mom could hide enough money from my papi to buy enough for dinner every night that week.”

  I clench my hands. “From the time I was old enough to realize that the way we lived wasn’t normal, I was embarrassed of my life, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. In my house, it was all about survival. My mom and I never knew when Papi would come home drunk and looking for a fight. She tried to protect me, and most of the time she was successful. Even though she stopped most physical abuse, there was nothing she could have done to stop the scars that are imprinted on me from watching the violence she suffered at the hands of my dad. At night, my mom and I would sit up and talk about leaving, about moving to some place warm, and all the things we were going to learn to do.”

  My eyes burn with tears when I say my next sentence. “We never got the chance. Two months ago, I was walking home from work when I saw three men leaving my house. I knew who the main guy was instantly just from talk around the neighborhood. Salazar Milano. I didn’t know why he was at my house, but I knew, in my gut, it wasn’t good. I waited until they left and then went in. What I found is engraved in my mind. I see it every time I close my eyes. I walked into my home to find my momma and papi dead. They were shot.” I choked out the last sentence. My throat suddenly feels like I swallowed a cup of sand. “My mom died because Papi was a coward, a selfish man who put money and himself above the people he was supposed to protect most!”

  “Christ, baby,” Kulani says. It’s the first time he’s spoken since I started talking. I can hear the guilt and the turmoil in his voice, but I still don’t look at him.

  “It didn’t take long for Sal to find out that I went to the police. Even after he was arrested, Kendrick was scared that he would do anything in his power to not get me to testify, even if that meant sending one of his many men to make me suffer the same fate as my parents, so I went to Hawaii to stay with Layla and Camille. I didn’t expect to love it there. I didn’t know that Hawaii would become a part of me, that I would become Aria.”

  Now, for the first since I began to relive my past, I look in Kulani’s eyes.

  “I didn’t plan on meeting you, Kulani. I didn’t plan on falling in love or I would have told you the truth. I tried so many times, but I was so scared you wouldn’t understand or that I would lose you. Every day it got harder and harder and I became more scared because I was falling in love with you, but it was for nothing because I ended up losing you anyway. I’m so sorry, Kulani.”

  “No, baby,” he says. He stands in front of me, drops to his knees, and moves my hands away from my face. He cradles my face and forces me to look in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have let you talk to me. I should have known you wouldn’t have lied unless you were left no other choice.” Kulani pauses to place a soft and quick kiss on my lips.

  “I’m so sorry about your mom, baby. I know how it feels to not have a mom, but I couldn’t imagine losing her the way you did.” He uses his thumbs to wipe the wetness under my eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I will regret walking away from you for the rest of my life, but if you forgive me, I’ll never walk away again.”

  “Of course I’ll forgive you.”

  I crash my lips down on his. Without breaking the kiss, Kulani picks me up from the chair and carries me to the bed. He lays me down with him on top.

  My hands go to the bottom of his shirt. He pulls his lips from mine when I yank his shirt up and over his head. “Shit, I missed you so much,” he growls when he buries his face in my neck.

  I moan and my core convulses when he bites my neck. “I need you,” I cry. Kulani pulls us up into a sitting position. Without any effort, he pulls both my tank top and his sweatshirt over my head.

  “Look at me, sweetheart,” he commands softly. His brown eyes are full of arousal and lust. “I love you, baby. You hear me?”

  My emotions make it so the only answer I’m capable of giving him is a nod. I close my eyes when he leans in and sucks my nipple into his mouth. “I love you, and I’m about to show you how much.”

  After nipping my nipple, he releases it and places a trail of kisses on my body, starting between my breasts and up until he reaches my lips. I receive one, two, three soft pecks on my lips before he takes the kiss deeper and thrusts his tongue in my mouth.

  Our lips are still connected as he guides me back down on my back. I want to pout when his lips leave mine, but I’m quickly distracted when his hands go to my sleep pants. Like my shirt, he wastes no time ridding me of them.

  My back arches and I sigh out his name when he licks and kisses my waistline. “I’m hungry, baby girl,” he says before
licking my wet sex. “God, I love the way you taste.” He plunges two fingers inside of me.

  “Kulani,” I moan.

  “Give me one, sweetheart. Come on my fingers,” he orders, then sucks my clit in his mouth. I’m not sure if it’s the fact I’ve missed him so much or it’s because it’s been so long since I’ve had him inside me, but, in no time, an orgasm rocks through my body and I’m yelling for more.

  The aftershock of my orgasm is still rocking through me when I feel Kulani slide inside me. “Nothing, Aria. Nothing feels as good as being inside you.”

  “Faster, Kulani,” I beg while scratching my nails down his back. I can feel another climax building as he fucks me with long, slow, strokes. I can feel that delicious tingly feeling that overtakes me just before an orgasm pillars through me. I don’t give in to it. Instead, I place my hands on his shoulder and push him to his back so I’m on top of him.

  “Fuck, baby!” Kulani screams when I slam down on his cock. I know what he wants by the way his eyes squeeze close and his head goes back. He wants it fast and hard, but I don’t give in to what he wants.

  I give him slow and sensual movements, moving up and down on his thick erection. I’m torturing him slowly and loving it. I know he’s had enough when he sits up and grabs a fist full of my hair and pulls it back so he has easy access to my neck.

  After sucking and kissing my neck, he grabs my hips and moves me up and down at a faster pace. With this new position, he’s deeper than he’s ever been before. He’s hitting a spot that now has me throwing my head back in pleasure.

  Soon, the feeling is so intense and the need to let go so strong that he no longer needs to guide me by the hips. I’m fucking him with reckless abandon. “Hell yeah, baby. Fuck me. Jesus you’re so wet.”

  “I…can’t.” I gasp. I can’t even form a complete sentence that makes sense. It’s the strongest climax I’ve ever felt and when it finally shocks through me, it’s so intense I’m scared of passing out.