“I need him to tell me,” said Alex. “I would imagine he would be too busy running the family business to make the trip.”
Kari knew Alex didn’t play games. Nor did he play around with words. “What family business?” she asked him.
“That’s what I want to know,” DayVon said.
“What family business, Alex?” Kari asked again.
She had to know for Jordan’s sake, Alex decided. “The drug business,” he said. “He runs a drug cartel.”
DayVon frowned for the first time. “Now that is not true,” he said. “I do not run any such thing. Does my mother and my brothers run such an illegal trade? Yes, they do. Am I involved? No, I am not. I run the family’s legal import/export business. Sugar cane is my trade. It is entirely above board. Ask any official on the island.”
Alex remembered how Oz said every governmental agency on that small island was in the Clarke family’s pocket. But it was Kari who seemed to believe him.
DayVon even looked at Kari. “You know me, Maple,” he said. “You know what kind of man I am. I would never do something that vile. I told you about my family when I came to America all those years ago. I told you they were involved in illegal activities.”
Kari nodded. She suddenly remembered. “Yes, you did,” she said. “You wouldn’t tell me what exactly it was,” she added, “but you told me it wasn’t right.”
“You know how I hated it then,” DayVon said. “I still hate it now. Please do not believe anybody who would claim I am involved in my mother’s enterprise. I am not. She and I, in fact, are not even on speaking terms. It is more so the case now that I know about the lies she told to you all those years ago. It is a disgrace what she did to you, to Jordan, at a time like that. It still hurts my heart what she did to you.”
He was good, Alex thought, staring at him. He was also certain that Kari was eating it up too. And she might have been. Alex could never quite tell with Kari.
She stood up. DayVon stood too. “I need some time,” she said to him.
“I completely understand,” he said. “That’s why I’m subjecting myself to this rather imprisonment situation and interrogation by your husband’s men. For your sake. And Jordan’s.”
“Thank you,” Kari said.
“But when will I be able to see my son?” DayVon asked again.
Kari exhaled. “After his father and I have had a chance to talk to him,” Kari said.
“I’m his father,” said DayVon. He was tired of the charade she was playing.
But Kari didn’t play. “After his father and I talk to him,” she said again, “then you will be able to see him.”
“Thank you, Kari,” DayVon said.
Alex watched as Kari continued to stare at her former lover. And then a sad look appeared in her eyes. “Today is his birthday,” she said to him.
DayVon nodded. “I know.” Then he smiled that charming smile. “I was there, remember?”
Kari couldn’t help but smile too. But then that sad look returned, and then she left the room.
Alex, however, remained seated in that room. DayVon, surprised, sat back down.
“Why are you here?” Alex asked him.
“I told you why. To let my family know that their worst nightmare really wasn’t true. And to let you know that your billions might get you anything else in this world, but I know Kari, and I’m sure she raised our son the correct way. No amount of money is going to win her and Jordan’s hearts. We have a blood connection, the three of us. And we always will have that connection. You just have money.”
Alex stared at him. A part of him wanted to beat the shit out of his punk ass. Who did he think he was talking to? But there was some truth in what he said, and Alex knew it. He was in for a fight, alright. But it wasn’t with that guy.
He had to fight for his family.
And he intended to.
He stood up, and walked out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The drive to Benny and Faye’s was a quiet ride. Alex was behind the wheel of his sleek black Mercedes-Maybach, and Kari was on the passenger seat. There was security around them, but it was out of sight. Alex, Kari knew, was her security.
He looked at her. There was so much he wanted to say to her, and so little he knew he needed to say. She had to figure this out for herself. He knew how much she had loved DayVon once. He knew she still had feelings for him. She had to decide what she was going to do about those feelings.
Mostly, he knew, whatever she decided would determine just how strong their bond really was.
On his end, it was unbreakable.
But on Kari’s end, with her first love, her baby’s father, in the way? It might be bendable.
Alex reached out, and took her hand. His mind was made up: he wasn’t certain about DayVon’s agenda, and he didn’t care. He was going to fight for this woman.
Kari looked at Alex and smiled when he took her hand. “I’m okay,” she said.
“I didn’t think I said you weren’t,” Alex said.
“Your face is saying it,” said Kari. “You’re worried about me. And Jordan.” Then he looked at him. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Alex admitted. “Very.”
“Don’t be. We’ll do the right thing in the end.”
But what was the right thing, Alex wondered?
When he drove into the driveway at Faye and Benny’s, he stopped the car and stared forward. “Do you want me to tell him?” he asked her.
But Kari shook her head. “I have to be the one,” she said. “I’m the one who told him his father was dead for all of these years. I have to be the one to tell him the truth.”
“Maybe we should have the guy take a DNA test first,” said Alex. “We need to be certain about this.”
“I’m certain,” said Kari. “That’s DayVon. And it’s not just about his looks, either, although he looks just like him. It’s the feeling I get whenever I’m around him. I’ve only gotten that feeling around Von and nobody else. It’s him,” she said.
Alex swallowed hard. He got out, walked around, and opened her car door. As Kari got out, his heart was still hammering. She’d only gotten that certain freeing from being around one man. And it wasn’t him.
He was in trouble.
Jordan was in the backyard shooting hoops with Benny Church when Alex and Kari walked onto the backyard patio. Faye had answered the door and was escorting them around back, but she was getting worried too.
“You two look like you just came from a Wake,” she said as she took them to their son. “What’s the matter?”
“I’ll tell you about it, girl,” Kari said. “But first, we need to tell Jordan.”
“Uh-oh. Sounds serious,” Faye said, and then she said no more. Because Alex was there too. He rarely followed Kari to visit friends. It had to be serious.
And when they walked outside, both Jordan and Benny were surprised.
“Dad!” Jordan said, hurrying to him. “You’re back because it’s my birthday, aren’t you?” he asked him.
“I thought you were still in London,” said Benny, as he walked over to them too.
“No, I’m back,” Alex said, shaking Benny’s hand. “How are you, Sport?” he said to Jordan.
“I’m good, sir. And you?” Their relationship was still more formal than loose. But it was getting there, Jordan felt, if Alex could stay home long enough. “So, what’s going on? Why are both of you over here?”
“We need to talk to you, J,” Kari said.
“Okay,” Jordan said, as if it was going to be as simple as that.
“Alone,” Alex said, and it was only then did Benny realize the seriousness.
“Oh!” Benny said. “I’ll be inside,” he added, and then he, along with Faye who remained at the back door, went back inside.
After they left, Kari sat down, and made Jordan sit beside her. Alex sat across from both of them. He needed to see them, not sit beside them, he felt.
But Jordan and Kari
both would have loved to have him on that bench with them. But they also both knew that just wasn’t Alex.
“What’s going on, Ma?” Jordan asked.
“We have some news, son,” Kari said. Alex could see how she was unable to hide her distress.
“What news? Is it about Uncle Oz? Has something happened to Uncle Oz?”
“No, Jordan, nothing like that,” Kari said, quickly reassuring him as his face was now filled with dread.
“Then what is it?” he asked her. He looked at Alex, too, to see if he had any answers. Then he looked back at his mother.
Kari took both of Jordan’s hands. “It’s about your father,” she said. But she said it clumsily.
“What about Dad?” Then Jordan looked at Alex. “What’s wrong, Dad?” he asked Alex directly.
It was only then did Kari realize her mistake. “No, not Alex,” she said quickly. “Not . . . your father, but. . . It’s about your biological father, Jordan,” she said.
Jordan was confused. “My biological father? What about him?” he asked.
Kari braced herself. “Remember when I told you what happened to him?”
“That he died? Yes, I remember. I mean, I don’t remember him at all. But I remember you telling me about him.”
Kari didn’t know how to say it. “I was mistaken,” she said. “He’s alive, Jordan.”
Jordan stared at her, and frowned. “What?”
“He’s alive,” Kari said, tears welling up in her eyes. “I thought he was dead. His mother told me he was dead. But it wasn’t true, Jordan. He was alive. He was sick. He had suffered amnesia and had it until very recently. But he was alive. He is alive.”
Jordan couldn’t believe what she was saying. Had his mother lost her mind? He looked at his father.
Alex nodded. “It’s true, son,” he said. “DayVon Clarke is very much alive.”
“But . . .” Jordan was so confused he could barely sit still. “How could he be alive? You didn’t see his body?” he asked his mother. “You didn’t go to the funeral?”
“There was no funeral,” Kari said. “At least, that’s what his mother told me. She said on their island they buried their dead right away. When she told me, he was supposedly already buried.”
Jordan shook his head. He tried to stand up, but his mother pulled him back down. “How could this be true?” Jordan asked.
“Jordan, listen to me,” said Kari.
“How could he be alive and not come and see about us? How could he do that to us?”
“Jordan, he didn’t know. Please, listen to me. Your father didn’t know. He had been badly injured and had suffered a brain injury. He did have amnesia for many years. When he saw us in a magazine a few days ago, it was only then did he remember us. And he came to see about you right away. Please don’t blame him for this.”
But Jordan wasn’t trying to blame him, or his mother, or anybody else. He just couldn’t believe it. “Where is he now?” he asked his mother.
Kari looked at Alex. Jordan looked at Alex too.
“He’s at The Drakos,” Alex said.
As soon as he said those words, Jordan jumped up. “Then let’s go see him,” he said. “I’ve got to go see him!”
Alex and Kari stood up too. “We want to make sure you’re ready, Jordan,” Kari said. “You need some time to digest it first.”
“No, I don’t,” said Jordan. “You tell me my father isn’t dead, and you think I want to think about it? I want to see him. I’ll know if I belong to him when I see him. Let’s go, or I’ll walk all the way there if I have to!”
And before Kari or Alex could react, Jordan was already running around the house, toward the car.
Kari looked at Alex. Neither one knew how to handle a situation so different. Alex took her hand, and they followed him around.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The Mercedes pulled up to the hotel and Kari and Jordan got out of the backseat, with Kari’s arm around her son, while Alex got from behind the wheel. Kari, however, stopped Jordan, who was so anxious to see the man who would be his father that he was nearly running, and waited for Alex. When Alex arrived beside them, they all headed for the Soviet suite.
At the door of the suite, Kari stopped Jordan and looked at her son. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she asked him.
Jordan pushed his glasses up on his face, which both of his parents knew meant he was nervous. “I’m ready,” he said.
Kari looked at Alex. “Are you ready?” she asked him.
Alex smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You two go on in,” he said. “I’ll be around.”
Kari stared at Alex. This was affecting him in ways he would never discuss with her, and she knew it. But Jordan needed her undivided attention, and she gave it to him. And both mother and son went into the suite.
Alex went into the adjacent room of the suite where Oz, staring out of the one-way mirror, was located. Alex sat beside his brother.
“So Jordan gets to meet his old man,” Oz said.
“That’s what he wants,” said Alex.
“It’s bullshit, you know. You’re his old man. You’re his father. Not some guy who just hit the scene.”
But Alex was watching Jordan as he walked up to his father.
DayVon stood to his feet when Jordan and Kari walked in. And as soon as he saw him, he let out a big grin. “We look like twins!” he said, and hurried toward Jordan. It was a lie. They barely favored. But it was enough.
When DayVon hurried to Jordan, Jordan hurried to him. And DayVon pulled his son into his arms.
Jordan had tears in his eyes, which caused Kari to get emotional too. What would their life had been like, she wondered, had he been there? And when DayVon began moving Jordan’s small frame from side to side, and he began grinning with glee, Kari realized what it would have been like. Fun, she thought. They would have had loads of fun!
Jordan and Kari couldn’t help but grin, too, when DayVon began moving Jordan side to side. Then DayVon stepped back from Jordan, to get a better look at him. “Look at you,” he said. “All grown up, but still looking like a kid. Yeah. Yes. You’re mine.” Then his look turned serious, and Jordan and Kari’s looks turned serious again, and DayVon pulled Jordan into his arms once more.
In the adjacent room, Oz looked at his brother, who was staring at Jordan and Kari.
“He’s good,” Oz said.
Alex did not look away from his family. “Yes, he is.”
“What do you think about all of that?”
“I think,” Alex said, unable to take his eyes away, “I’m in trouble.”
Oz didn’t expect such bluntness. He placed his hand on Alex’s back, and rubbed it.
Kari and Jordan would spend hours in that suite getting to know DayVon Clarke. And Alex remained in that anteroom, watching it all unfold, as long as his family was with the man he was convinced was nowhere near the saint he was portraying himself to be.
That was why, when Oz returned with coffee for both men, Alex accepted the coffee, blew on it before sipping, and then made a request. “Send a crew to Cecoya,” he said.
“I already did, remember?” said Oz.
“Another crew. A bigger one.”
“And what do you want them to do?”
“Search every inch of that island,” said Alex. “And find all the dirt they can on Mr. Clarke.”
“They did that too. Every official we talked to said his mother ran that drug cartel, just like he claimed.”
“Don’t talk to the officials,” said Alex. “Talk to the ordinary joes, those who see everything, and see nothing. Put money behind those conversations. I want the dirt.”
“The dirt,” Oz asked, “or the truth?”
Alex stared at his family. The more Kari hung around that guy, the more comfortable she seemed to get around him. “Dirt,” Alex said.
Oz nodded. “Then dirt you shall get,” he said.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The next
morning, Kari woke up smiling and moaning. Her eyes could barely register the room, but her body knew exactly what was going on and was responding to it with movement and relaxation. Alex was between her legs, his face buried between them, licking and sucking and mouth-fucking her with a fervency that kept Kari smiling. She used to wake up with him doing her that way all the time. Then it stopped when his travel schedule picked up. It felt good to have it back again.
But when Alex leaned up, and moved his mouth up her body, kissing her as he moved, until his mouth landed on her breast, she realized it was different. Because as soon as he began sucking her breasts, one and then the other one and then the other one again, he immediately thrust his fully aroused penis inside of her with such force that it still managed to hurt even through her wetness.
Kari leaned her head back, enduring the pain, as he rammed through, but then the euphoria came. And as he moved further in, filling her up with his overwhelming size and sucking her breasts as he filled her, her entire body laid back and enjoyed the ride.
Alex was sucking Kari’s breasts as his penis stroked her with a rhythm that was increasing in intensity with every stroke. Because he couldn’t get enough of her. Because every time he thought about losing her, his intensity increased. Soon, he had her wrapped in his arms and was pumping his love into her with a fierceness that both of them could hardly bare, and absolutely loved.
And when he stroked her spot one time too many, and when she tightened around him one time too many, they both came, one behind the other, with an avalanche of emotions that trumped all fears. They came with all of the love and passion that defined their relationship.
And even after Alex had poured all he had into Kari, he leaned up and looked into her eyes. He worried that her focus would already be somewhere else.
But it wasn’t. It was completely on him. He smiled at her. She smiled at him. And then he leaned back down, pulled her tighter into his arms, and kept stroking her and moving into her, a little deeper and deeper still, until they were both cumming again.
Alex Drakos: Branding Her Again Page 13
