Kevyn was physically and emotionally drained. It occurred to her that two things happened that night, when her mother died a life ended but when she finally publicly acknowledged what Patrick was to her, a life had begun, theirs; but she was much too tired and sad to think beyond that thought, there was still the funeral to plan and to get through.
As soon as the papers were signed Patrick led Kevyn to the car, he would have carried her if she would have let him. The ride back to the hotel was quiet with the exception of Kevyn sniffling in an attempt not to cry anymore. Her mother wouldn't have wanted her to be sad for too long but she missed her, she would miss the Sunday afternoon phone calls while they watched the cooking channel at the same time and talked about how they would change the recipes.
The next battle would be over her belongings, "You would thing we're the Ewing's from Dallas with the way you're all arguing over her stuff!" She snapped during her last visit home. After that the subject didn't come up again. The house was going to Louise and she wasn't going to bend on that point. Louise was the one who lived with their mother and spent many a sleepless night sitting up with her after their father had died and if they didn't like it...
"Baby, stop thinking ahead." Patrick said holding her hand, "One thing at a time." he added.
Kevyn gripped his hand so tightly her fingers were going numb. How had she gotten through her father's funeral alone? She wondered as a tear escaped and ran down her cheek. She missed him too, sometimes more times than others but especially now.
She was his girl, she was the one that would rather stay home and watch a ballgame on TV with him than go out with her friends. Tears flowed in earnest when she remembered how her mom used to complain about the two of them hogging the television on Sunday afternoons so that they could watch sports together but yet she kept them in a steady supply of soda and chips while she did her crossword puzzles. It was then that she realized that she had a connection with her parents that the others didn't. That didn't mean that they weren't loved, they were but her relationship with her parents was.... Different.
And now they were both gone but hopefully together in heaven or another dimension. That thought gave her a small measure of comfort as did the thought that in a week or two she could go back to California leaving Clay and his secret behind. Suddenly, she wanted it all to be over with; she wanted to start her life with Patrick. The rapes mattered but didn't matter; he was no longer that man. They mattered because they were horrible and they couldn't be discounted but on the other hand they didn't matter in regards to how they felt about each other. She would stake her life on the fact that Patrick couldn't and wouldn't harm another woman like that.
Her head had begun to pound again and she took a deep breath to calm her nerves, she was so tired.
********
Gene stood staring at the phone his loyalties torn. He asked himself what was it that he owed Clay other than for the sizable investment that he was going to make and came to the realization that he was being used and that the money was his thirty pieces of silver. He then thought about Kevyn, she was his sister and that alone should have trumped any sense of loyalty that he felt toward Clay but yet he was still hesitating. He walked away from the phone confident that whatever was going to happen wouldn't happen until after the funeral. It would give him some time to try to talk Clay out of following through with his plan; if he couldn't get him to change his mind then he had a decision to make.
********
Puff Jefferson held the phone in his hand long after Clay hung up. He just didn't get it; Clay had been in love with Kevyn since grade school even though he had been teased as badly as she had been. He had gotten into more fights and had more detentions than any kid in their class and it was always because he was defending Kevyn. The sad thing was that Kevyn had never returned those feelings even though Clay was the only guy paying her any attention until she lost weight and then they came out of the woodwork. Hell, he wanted a taste of her himself but never acted on it, as far as she was concerned, she belonged to Clay then and she belonged to Clay now.
Like Kevyn, Clay never talked about the one date he and Kevyn had. Puff wondered if Clay had gotten impatient with her and tried to force her but he didn't think so, that wasn't Clay's style. He simply was too in love with Kevyn to do that which meant that Kevyn had either seen something or heard something but what? They were on a date and surely Clay wouldn't have.....
"He wouldn't have been that stupid would he?" Puff thought to himself, it would explain the orders that he had just gotten but why now? If she had seen or heard something and she hadn't said anything why.... It had to be the man, there could be no other explanation but why not just have the man taken care of? He wondered.
Before he did anything, he was going to talk to Clay. Of all of the people who worked with Clay he was the only one that could get him to see reason. He didn't want to hurt Kevyn, the man he didn't care about but Gene too? What in the hell was Clay thinking?
*******
Clay lay on the bed totally nude, the hooker that he had hired for the night could have been Kevyn with a few differences; Kevyn's voice was soft and melodic where the woman that had just sucked him off had a loud, tinny almost whinny voice. Kevyn's skin was a deeper, richer tone of brown but in the dark the difference wasn't noticeable. The resemblances were all physical, personality wise this woman in no way resembled Kevyn.
"Honey...."
"I told you not to say anything!" Clay snapped. Her speaking had just destroyed the illusion that he was in bed with the love of his life and wife Kevyn. The illusion shattered, Clay pushed the woman off of the bed.
"Get dressed!" he snarled at the confused woman. He reached for his wallet, threw four one-hundred dollar bills on the floor and got out of bed leaving the woman alone in the bedroom to get dressed. By the time he would be finished with his business the woman would be gone, one of his men dropping her off at whichever corner she chose.
He didn't indulge in the use of prostitutes often and when he did it was because Kevyn was somewhere in the vicinity and he couldn't have her. He didn't feel guilty about it, it was what it was but he wished that it was different and maybe it would have been if he hadn't......
He pushed the thought out of his mind; Kevyn had never loved him and never told him or given him any indication that he did. At first he thought it was because she thought that he wouldn't amount to anything but he eventually came to realize through her brother Gene that she simply didn't love him.
Gene tried to warn him every time he called to tell him that Kevyn was in town.
"Dude, you need to stop, she doesn't care for you like that."
Clay would always shut him up choosing to believe that at some point she would change her mind. Now she was fucking some rich white dude.
It was over.
The love that he felt for her was the only thing that kept him from making the decision that he made, she was no longer his and no longer under his protection. He still loved her, he always would and every woman he would think about marrying would have to measure up to her-an impossible task.
But love her or not, her risk to him just rose exponentially, he couldn't trust her not to say anything to her new man if she hadn't already, that's why the both of them had to go. He felt a deep sadness for Kevyn but for Patrick Sinclaire he felt absolutely nothing.
********
Patrick led Kevyn from the car and to the closest elevator holding her tightly against him. When the elevator stopped on their floor they exited not speaking to the people who were waiting to get on. He hurried her to the room and sat her on the bed leaving her long enough to start the bath water running and adding the lavender scented oil to it.
When he went back to the room she was sitting in the same spot but she was crying softly and trying not to. She needed to cry and didn't understand her hesitancy to do so. He sat beside her, pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, "you're safe, it's alright to cry."
Kevyn bit back a sob and then slumped against him and sobbed she knew that she was breaking her promise to her mother but she couldn't help it, she needed to cry and deal with her grief before the funeral. Patrick lifted her from the bed and onto his lap and began to gently rock her as she cried.
As he rocked her he made a silent promise to her that after this was over, there would be no more pain for her only happiness. When she quieted, he carried her to the bathroom and stripped the both of them with a thought. Still carrying her, Patrick stepped into the tub, sat down and readjusted Kevyn in his lap. His cock hardened as it pressed against her bottom but he ignored it, she needed to be cared for, his own need would wait.
"Tell me about your parents." he said softly suspecting that she had never talked to anyone about them in depth.
She talked throughout the bath, as Patrick dried her off and carried her back to bed and through the complete head to toe body massage. When she was finished, she was drained but she felt better than she had in a long time.
"Thank you." She whispered as she kissed him.
Patrick returned the kiss deepening it and then pulling back. He didn't want her to think that he was taking advantage of her in her grief.
"Don't stop." Kevyn whispered, "I need you."
