Pretty Packages

by Dodson, Mi'Chelle

  I’m going over there right now, Giada thought, headed to Kentucky’s home instead of the house on Wilmington Street after work. Fortunately, she didn’t have to study tonight and could sleep over if he wanted her to.

  When Giada arrived at Kentucky’s home, she saw a familiar car parked outside. “No, that can’t be . . . Bartley’s car?” she muttered to herself as she rapidly got out of her vehicle.

  When Giada opened the door to Kentucky’s home, she realized that that was indeed Bartley’s car outside. His sour-looking presence on the sofa confirmed that.

  “What is he doing here?” Giada asked Kentucky, deliberately ignoring Bartley. She saw no need to play nice now. She wasn’t with Fabian anymore. She no longer had to hold her tongue, lest she lose access to certain gifts.

  “I’m here to save you and your boyfriend a world of trouble,” Bartley replied, also showing his open contempt for Giada.

  “My fiancé,” Giada replied, holding up her left hand to show off her impressive engagement ring. As she talked, she walked over to the leather recliner where Kentucky sat.

  “You must have more money than I thought if she’s willing to marry you,” Bartley said, looking at the scowling man in the recliner.

  “It’s none of your business what I have,” Kentucky snapped as he gently lowered Giada down upon his lap.

  “I know what you won’t have, your school and your bodyguard service, if it becomes public knowledge that you stole a woman from a client,” Bartley retorted.

  “Watch your mouth in my house and toward my woman!” Kentucky warned, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. “If I wasn’t so concerned for those kids at my school, I would have wrung your puny little neck at that first disrespectful comment. Either way, don’t push your luck.”

  The smug look on Bartley’s face instantly flew away and was replaced by fear. Kentucky looked as if he meant every word he just said.

  “And for the record, Kenny didn’t steal me from anybody. We were together long before I ever met Fabian,” Giada added, trying to set the record straight on exactly when her and Kentucky’s relationship started.

  “So you really did go back to an old flame, huh?” Bartley said, looking amazed that she hadn’t lied to Fabian.

  “Yes.” Giada smiled tenderly at Kentucky. When he planted a tender kiss on her forehead, she snuggled even closer to him. The depth of their love was obvious.

  “Too bad people aren’t gonna believe we have history together since we never openly dated before,” Kentucky noted in frustration. “And if Fabian wants you back as bad as Bartley says he does, he’s gonna use the media to try to ruin my reputation as a bodyguard and to bring bad publicity down on the school during its pivotal first year. I can’t afford for either of those things to happen right now.”

  “So what do you suggest we do? Stop seeing each other? That would break my heart, Kenny. And I’m not going back to Fabian under any circumstances,” Giada replied, frowning at even the thought of doing either.

  “None of us want you back with Fabian under any circumstances,” Bartley said, “which is why I came to Kentucky to offer him, or shall I now say, the two of you, a proposition.”

  “Which is what?” Giada’s frown deepened.

  In reply, Bartley began to explain what he’d been in the midst of explaining right before she arrived. How he could distract Fabian with a lucrative around-the-world tour and also various collaborations that would keep him busy for the next nine months. How, in that amount of time, his client’s interest for Giada would surely wane since it had only taken Fabian four months to get over his last serious relationship.

  “Yet me keeping Fabian away for any length of time won’t do a lick of good if he finds out the two of you are not only dating openly now, but also engaged to be married,” Bartley concluded.

  “Which means he wants us to keep our relationship a secret,” Kentucky said, cutting to the chase.

  “At least until Fabian has moved on emotionally,” Bartley added. “Can you do that?” He looked from Kentucky to Giada.

  “We can, but whether we actually will is up for discussion,” Giada said, defiantly crossing her arms in front of her.

  “There’s really nothing to discuss, baby,” Kentucky countered. “If we don’t keep our relationship a secret for the next nine months to a year, I stand to lose everything I’ve built up over the years, which will, in turn, affect what I’m trying to build with you for the future. Now had this been the school’s second year of operation, it wouldn’t have mattered. Or at least not as much since we would already know whether the school was able to stand on its own without constant financial assistance from me.”

  Giada glared at Kentucky, then Bartley, and then back at Kentucky again. “Fine!” she conceded reluctantly, snatching her engagement ring off her left hand and placing it on her right. “Happy now?” Giada raged before springing to her feet and stomping out of the room.

  * * * *

  “You got your hands full with that one,” Bartley said when he and Kentucky were alone again.

  “I can handle her,” Kentucky replied confidently, rising to his feet to show his guest out. He had an angry woman to go soothe.

  Bartley stood also. “I believe you can. Had that been Fabian, she would have pouted or cajoled him with sex until she got what she wanted.”

  Kentucky frowned. “As you can see, I’m not Fabian and don’t ever want to be.” He led the way to the front door. “Now what are you gonna tell him about Giada now that it is clear she has decided to stay with me?”

  “I plan on telling him that Giada’s old flame is actually not a man at all, but instead a woman. This way his pride will get all involved and he will leave the matter alone.” Bartley smirked. “After all, no heterosexual man wants the world to know that his woman dropped him for another woman. For a man in Fabian’s high-profile position, especially with all the love songs he’s written this year, that kind of news could cost him big-time in sales.”

  Kentucky’s frown deepened. “Though I don’t appreciate you painting Giada as a lesbian, I do understand why it’s necessary,” he said as they paused at the front door. He gave Bartley a hard look and added, “I also don’t appreciate you taking so much pleasure from it. Especially since you like playing on the same team from time to time yourself. Matter of fact, I bet you wouldn’t mind playing on Fabian’s team every now and again.”

  Bartley dropped his smirk like a bad habit. “How did you . . . ?”

  “It doesn’t matter how I found out. You just need to know that Giada and I aren’t the only ones with something at stake here.” Kentucky opened the door. “Call me if anything changes.”

  “I will,” Bartley replied nervously.

  * * * *

  As Bartley exited Kentucky’s house, his anxiety increased. He thought he’d come to make the man indebted to him for saving his school and bodyguard career. Now he found himself in Kentucky’s debt.

  Fabian was as homophobic as they came. Once he found out his manager was bisexual, Bartley would be demoted to just manager instead of manager/assistant. If Fabian ever found out Bartley was secretly in love with him, he would fire him completely.

  I’ll make sure Fabian gets over Giada if it’s the last thing I do, Bartley promised himself now that his own livelihood was at stake.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Nine months later

  After that encounter with Bartley, Giada found the same pattern repeating itself in her life—her continually giving up something for Kentucky.

  It was now April, and she was tired of the constant sacrifice.

  Giada couldn’t wear her engagement ring on the correct hand because it might harm Kentucky’s school and career. She couldn’t be seen in public with him for the same reason.

  On the day of the school’s official dedication, Giada even had to sit in the back of the auditorium instead of in a place of honor on the front row with Kentucky’s stepmother. And no photos could be t
aken of them standing anywhere near each other due to all the PR at the event.

  To make matters worse, Kentucky had taken on several bodyguard assignments back-to-back over the last four months, which meant they hadn’t even been in the same room with each other recently.

  They definitely hadn’t been in the same bed.

  Giada couldn’t even go shopping to ease her mind, at least not to her favorite stores. Kentucky insisted that Giada create a monthly and annual budget and stick to it, the same as he’d done for his finances. This meant no more thousand-dollar suits and no more five-hundred-dollar shoes. She couldn’t even afford a good pair of eighty-dollar stockings.

  Thankfully, Giada had an additional source of revenue coming in from her small specialty gift business. She also received an unexpected scholarship two months ago, and so her first year of law school was now paid in full. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had the funds to get her car fixed after unexpected repairs arose and pay her tuition.

  On top of that, just this week, Giada saw two old flames while driving back from lunch—her high school teacher and the guy who’d stalked her for a while. Both men had been driving Mercedes—Giada’s dream car. They’d both spotted her in traffic, honked to get her attention, and then smirked before driving away.

  Fed up with having to constantly deny herself without being rewarded for her sacrifices, Giada decided to take herself out to dinner at her favorite restaurant. Who cared how expensive The Raven was?

  Kentucky was somewhere in France guarding an ambassador’s adult son, no doubt eating like a king in all sorts of fancy places. Why shouldn’t Giada treat herself to a meal fit for a queen?

  After ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, Giada sipped on a glass of grape juice and enjoyed the exotic appetizers that had been placed before her. For the moment, life was good again.

  Suddenly she heard a male voice ask, “Are you dining alone?”

  Giada’s hand snapped to the left and upwards. “F . . . Fabian? What are you doing here?” The last she’d heard, he was on tour. Had it ended early?

  Fabian smiled. “Trying to get something to eat, just like you. Are you eating alone tonight or waiting on your girlfriend?”

  Giada looked at him in puzzlement. Fabian knew she didn’t have many female friends. He knew she usually went out with a man or by herself.

  “I’m eating alone tonight,” Giada replied, still wondering what he meant by “girlfriend.”

  Fabian smiled wider. “Perhaps I can join you then?” His eyes looked hopeful.

  Giada shook her head. “I don’t think my boyfriend would like that very much.”

  Fabian’s eyes bucked. “Did you just say boyfriend?”

  “Yes.” Now Giada looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  “But I thought . . .” Fabian paused, sat down without permission, and then tried to regroup his thoughts. “Who did you leave me for, Giada?”

  Giada frowned. “Why?” she asked cautiously. “What does it matter anyway?”

  “Did you leave me for a man or a woman?” Fabian persisted, looking as if he was desperate for that answer.

  “A woman!” Giada’s voice rose before she self-consciously lowered it again. “I left you for a man, of course. I’m not a lesbian by any means. You of all people should know that.”

  Fabian’s face reddened with ire. “It appears I’ve been misinformed about a few things. Now I want to know why.” He pulled out his cell phone, pressed the number three, and waited for Bartley to answer.

  Giada sat on pins and needles as the inevitable occurred. Bartley squealed like the pig that he was. To his credit, he did not disclose the proposition he’d made with Kentucky and Giada or anything about Kentucky’s school.

  Instead Bartley shouldered all the blame. The reason he gave for withholding the truth was the fact that he thought Fabian’s career would be severely damaged if women knew that an unattractive man like Kentucky could take a woman from him. They both knew that sex appeal was a major driving force of Fabian’s career and couldn’t be trifled with.

  Though seemingly satisfied with what he’d heard, Fabian hung up the phone a few minutes later with a frown upon his face. He looked over at Giada in silence for the longest time. Finally he asked, “Were you and Kentucky lovers before, during, or after that Caribbean tour?”

  “Before,” Giada replied. She didn’t have the heart to tell him about her and Kentucky in that hotel room. “And, of course, after.”

  “Did you ever sleep with him on the boat?”

  Giada shook her head. “No, Fabian,” she said, keeping her answers short and sweet. She tried hard to concentrate on the meal she’d been served while Fabian was on the phone, but her appetite was all but ruined now.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about your history with this man before I hired him?”

  “I didn’t know you had hired Kenny until the day you were due to meet him yourself, remember?

  Plus, what he and I had was over as far as I was concerned.”

  “Obviously not. You’re back with him now,” Fabian quipped.

  Giada felt her cheeks get hot. “I didn’t know old feelings were going to stir back up during the tour. When I realized they had, I left and went home so there wouldn’t be any conflict.”

  “And you’re sure you two didn’t have sex on the boat? There were a lot of late nights that I woke up and you were gone from the bed, Giada.”

  “I said no. What do you take me for, some kind of slut?” Giada hissed with her patience wearing thin. “I never slept with Kenny on that boat or any other boat. Now if you’re done giving me the third degree, please excuse yourself so I can eat my dinner in peace.”

  * * * *

  Fabian didn’t move an inch. He was too mesmerized by the fire in Giada’s tone to budge. It reminded him of how fiery she could be in the bedroom. He missed that, wanted it back.

  “I want you back, Giada,” Fabian said, telling her what was on his mind. “I never stopped loving you.”

  Giada took a deep breath and exhaled. “I love Kenny, Fabian. He’s the man I want. Isn’t that obvious by now?”

  “But is Kentucky the man that can give you any material thing your heart desires? And you know I know how many material things your heart desires,” Fabian replied, reminding her of countless conversations they’d had about her ever-growing wish list.

  “Kenny means more to me than any of those things,” Giada advocated fervently.

  “But for how long?” Fabian asked, unconvinced by her statements. “Look, my last tour was very lucrative, Giada. So lucrative that I can now afford to buy a small island if I wanted to.” He leaned in closer to her and added, “But I’d rather spend that money on you, Giada. Is there anywhere you want to go? Anything you want to own? Just name it, baby, and it’s yours.”

  * * * *

  Giada inhaled sharply at Fabian’s words. If only they were coming from Kentucky’s mouth. But they weren’t. They were coming from another man’s. And thus Giada had to make yet another sacrifice for Kentucky.

  “No, thank you, Fabian, but it was nice of you to offer,” she said, feeling grieved in the pit of her stomach. Giada absolutely had no appetite now, which made her mad as fire. There was nothing worse than having to pay over a hundred and twenty-five dollars for a meal she didn’t even eat.

  “Well, at least let me pay for your dinner,” Fabian insisted.

  “All right,” Giada conceded, pushing that expense upon a man who was willing and more than able to carry it. She even allowed Fabian to stay and watch her pick at her food, while he heartily consumed a meal of his own.

  * * * *

  While Giada and Fabian were having dinner together, Kentucky was on the phone with Bartley receiving updates. Though it was 2 a.m. in France, this was news that he needed to be awakened for.

  Kentucky took the first part of the conversation in stride. Although Bartley claimed he didn’t mention anything about the school, there was no real worry eve
n if he had.

  As of the last quarterly report, the school was already starting to stand on its own due to the recent increase in endowments and donations. This meant that Kentucky didn’t have to back it financially anymore. Soon the school would have enough leeway in its budget to make the first repayment to its founder.

  Once Kentucky got that money, he planned to add it to the scholarship fund he created for Giada’s education two months ago. The money he’d made from his last job had been used to create that anonymous fund.

  To keep Giada from knowing that it was him funding her education, Kentucky arranged for her law school to offer it to her without detailing who the benefactor was. It had worked like a charm.

  When Giada shared the good news of her scholarship with him, they’d made love for hours in celebration. Kentucky almost thought she figured out the source of that scholarship based on how fervently she went at him that night.

  Thinking about that night now, Kentucky grew angry instead of turned on. His ire increased after Bartley revealed the second part of his conversation with Fabian—the part about why Fabian had suddenly decided to question Bartley about Giada’s old flame after all this time.

  “She’s still with him at the restaurant now?” Kentucky asked.

  “As far as I know, yes,” Bartley replied. “I thought you said you could handle her.” His tone became mocking at the end.

  “It’s easy to be brave over the phone, huh, Bart?” Kentucky said in a menacing tone.

  “I really don’t mean no harm, but I’m just wondering how long you’re going to hide your head in the sand about Giada. Don’t you know that, no matter how much she tries to change, she’s always going to be a gold digger at heart? Which means she’s always going to gravitate toward the man holding the heavier wallet.”

  Kentucky squeezed the phone so hard that he broke it, instantly disconnecting his call with Bartley.

  He cursed under his breath, having realized that all of his preprogrammed numbers were in that phone. Since Kentucky didn’t know Giada’s cell phone number by heart, he had to now wait until she got back to his stepmother’s house to call her.