Chapter 22

Now that K.C. knew Rielle was in no danger he decided to leave the siblings and head out, giving them some privacy. Gabrielle walked with him onto the porch holding his hand.

Whether this move was a dig at her brother or not K.C. wasn’t certain and chose not to make too much of it.

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait a little longer to see if the rain will ease off?”  Gabrielle asked concern in her voice as they looked out at the sheets of rain still coming down.

Visibility was still not the best and even though he wasn't going more than half a mile up the hill K.C. was still getting used to the winding roads on the island. 

“This looks like something that could last until morning and I don’t think your brother would appreciate me staying any longer than necessary. I want you to take this and I’ll give you a call when I get in okay?” he told giving her his business card with his personal email address written on the heavy stock.

“Don’t be too hard on your brother he obviously loves you, that's not a bad thing believe me I've got a younger sister so I know how he feels. I’ll see you tomorrow at Paradise Bay okay, good night Gabrielle.” He said pressing a kiss on her forehead before running down the steps and she watched him go out into the stormy night.

She rubbed her hands over her arms as he started the vehicle that was parked beside her fence and didn’t move until he drove off. She held the card up to her nose inhaling his scent before she turned to find her brother standing in the door looking at her pensive face.

“Did I chase him off?” Chris asked a frown on his handsome face. 

He shifted so that she could enter. Gabrielle sighed and shook her head as he closed the door behind them it was just like her brother to act like it wasn't what he expected. 

“What difference does it make if you did Chris wasn’t that the point?” she asked dejectedly going to sit on the sofa.  

He was silent for a moment studying her sad face.

“You just met this guy literally the other day Rielle. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked as he pulled her booted up laptop closer to him.

“I don’t recall you being this interested in any of the other guys I’ve dated. What are you doing?” she complained as he grabbed the card from her and logged on to his user account before going online.

“He’s the only strange guy  I’ve found you plastered all over that you just met yesterday; kissing on him like the world is coming to an end with his hand grabbing all over your butt. You apparently don’t care who K.C. Whitfield is but mom and dad will so I’m checking him out.” He grumbled typing Aurora Enterprises into the search engine.

Rielle reluctantly looked on as the page came up with entries for the company and she breathed a sigh of relief that it appeared to be legitimate and even her brother took notice.

“Aurora is one of the most successful privately run real estate development companies in the country and the economy hasn’t affected them because they’re so diversified. I read about them in The Economist.” Chris said obviously impressed.

He quickly chose the company’s home page and the siblings looked at each other when they saw the name Whitfield as the founders and owners of the company.

“Rielle do you know anything about him?” Chris asked again and this time she shook her head slowly.

“No, we haven’t really talked too much about work.” She admitted knowing that didn't sound good.

"I'll bet." Rielle heard him mumble under his breath but she still heard him.

She sucked her teeth at him something they both knew her mother would strongly berate her for but at this point she could have cared less. 

They looked at the history of the company seeing an overview of the property holdings including office buildings, apartment communities, shopping malls, country clubs and several resorts spread across the country.

At the bottom of the page were the executive bios and Gabrielle reached out to click on the tab which brought up thumbnail shots of several men and women including K.C. He was listed as one of the executive directors and head architect in charge of new projects and Rielle dropped her head in her hands in disbelief.

“Are you okay sis?” her brother quietly asked seeing her reaction.

“Why wouldn’t he tell me about this?” Gabrielle mumbled from between her fingers. Now she understood his nonchalant attitude about the large house and the fact that his company leased a Range Rover for him indefinitely according to Camille.

He was clearly used to a life of luxury. She was beginning to sympathize with her friend. These men were definitely in a different category from any either of them had dated. 

“I imagine he’s had plenty of women who come onto him when they find out that he comes from megabucks. Can’t say that I blame him Rielle but at least now we know who were dealing with. Stewart seems like an all right guy the few times I met him so hopefully his friend is the same.” He said reasonably patting her on the back with a heavy hand.

“Well I’m glad your mind has been so easily put to rest.” Gabrielle said rounding on her brother.

“I just found out that the first guy I’ve been interested in isn’t a regular Joe but some Donald Trump… oh no, oh no.” she wailed, remembering what she had said to him at Jarrod’s. 

“What are the chances he knows ‘the Donald’? She asked jumping up with eyes blazing as she did air quotes looking down at her brother who was typing something on her laptop again.

“It says here that Aurora Enterprise supports The Face of A Child charity which helps kids with facial deformities and I remember seeing a news blurb recently where Trump was in Denver for a charity event for kids so I’d say there’s a pretty good chance K.C. does know him. Why?” he asked curiously his eyebrows quirking.

She told him what had happened and had to listen to Chris laughing at her for a few minutes.

“Well your boyfriend has a sense of humor I can’t wait to meet him again.” He said when he finally could catch a breath.

Her house phone rang before she could answer and she snatched it up angrily to find K.C. on the other end.

“Hey Gabrielle, I made it in safely.” He told her wiping his forehead with a small towel.

Looking out the large plate glass window he could barely see anything in the dark night, but he wanted to believe he saw a small light on where her house was and he smiled at the thought of seeing her tomorrow.

The lightning and thunder had eased off thankfully and now it was just raining heavily and he hoped that it would clear up before morning. 

He heard her take a deep breath and then she said something that gave him pause.

“What would I find if I looked you up online K.C.?” she asked and he felt his stomach plummet.

He knew giving her his card had been a calculated risk with her brother at her house. After what he had walked in on Chris Hall would more than likely take the initiative to investigate the man his sister was making out with.

“You would find that I work for my family’s company. Is that a problem?” he asked cautiously.

“Is there anything I should know about this family company, Aurora Enterprises is what it’s called correct?” Rielle said silkily.

He knew something was up when she continued with this line of questioning. He had a feeling that he might have a tempest on his hands with Gabrielle however.

“Should I come back down so that we can do this in person?” he asked finally.

“No, tomorrow will be soon enough.  Good night K.C.” she replied quietly before hanging up.

K.C. staring at his phone for a moment unsure what had just happened. It actually sounded like she was disappointed and he couldn’t believe it. Of all of the reactions Gabrielle could have had that was not what he would have predicted.

Was she genuinely hurt that he hadn’t told her his family was relatively famous and wealthy or was she just acting? If that was the case then she was a very unusual young woman indeed.

He knew Gabrielle had dealt with fame after winning the medal and he had seen how men and women looked at her both times he had seen her in public. She was still in the spotlight even living on the island so she could understand what he went through living in the public eye.

She had some experience dealing with money and had opted to build her own home. All of his ex-girlfriends had their own place but Gabrielle was the only one who had achieved the feat of complete home ownership at so young an age. That showed him that she had her feet on the ground but was still fulfilling her dreams and he admired her independence.

After the Tiffani debacle he was more critical of his past relationships and while not naïve K.C. saw some things that he had noticed before with some of the women he had dated. He had long admitted to himself that he wanted to be desired for himself and not what he could give a woman, his former fiancée had played a good game for him not to notice something was amiss in the relationship. 

K.C. had never had any doubt when a woman was interested in him at college and while he hadn’t been the horn dog like some of the other guys he’d gotten some play. The money issue hadn’t really been a factor at college where he could get away with being one of the guys; it was only at graduation that the difference in his family had come to light.

He’d kept a beat up Jeep during college when he could have driven a Porsche or Mercedes like some of the other well to do students but his laptop and camera had been the best money could buy. K.C. hadn’t been raised to flaunt his money and he knew Michael might have guessed but they had never made a big deal about it.

Both his parents had instilled a strong work ethic in him and his siblings so that they appreciated the many privileges that had been afforded them. K.C.'s grandparents had reinforced that principle and any big monetary shows of affection had been saved for birthdays and Christmas.

He had even worked during spring break and summer with Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes for less fortunate people. Winter breaks had been reserved for skiing with the family in the Canadian Alps as Banff was called and that family tradition still continued.

K.C. showered and lay on the king sized bed staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully, the last few days had been eventful and he wondered what else was in store for him on St. Sebastian.