Chapter 41

She turned her head with difficulty to stare up at K.C., the betrayal she was experiencing beginning to overwhelm her.

“This is your biological mother?” she whispered brokenly and watched him nod his golden head.

It happened in slow motion for her as she pulled herself away from his arms and bumped into a passing waiter with a tray full of drinks.

She barely heard the glasses crash to the carpet as she spun around and stalked out of the restaurant and she literally saw red, her vision a scarlet mist as she ignored her name being called from behind. Her long legs quickly took her past people who stared after the young woman who had left a trail of chaos behind her.

“K.C., why wouldn’t you tell her that I was biracial?” Frederika asked as she hurried after her son who had gone after the young woman.

Colton had stayed behind to soothe ruffled feathers but would follow shortly.

“I don’t know Mom.” He ground out as he spotted his lover.

They got to the bank of elevators in time to see Gabrielle get in an elevator and the searing look she sent them before the door closed was enough to stop him in his tracks.

“Shit I can’t even understand how it got to this point myself.” K.C. seethed angry that he had done something so stupid.

He took heart from the fact that she had forgiven him for not telling her about the family money and Tiffani acting like a stalker but this was something a lot bigger.

He jabbed angrily at the button after checking to see that she was going up to their room not even aware of his mother’s worried gaze on his face.

“Kingston Crawford Whitfield this is not like you. Why wouldn’t you tell her?” Frederika persisted as she followed him into the elevator.

“I don’t know. Gabrielle was reluctant to go out with me in the first place and she wasn’t thrilled about finding out about the money. She's the most genuine woman I've ever met and I fell in love with her. I can’t lose her Mom.” He told Frederika tightly as the car quickly rose.

He waited impatiently for the doors to open and squeezed between them striding down the hall with his heart thudding in his chest. K.C. pulled out the hotel card and shoved it into the slot holding his breath when he turned the door handle and it opened.

The sight that greeted him made his heart sink to his toes as he saw Gabrielle with her makeup bag coming out of the bathroom as she shoved it into the zippered section of her suitcase.

“Gabrielle please talk to me.” He said quietly as he approached her slowly.

She didn’t even acknowledge him as she continued to pack in angry silence. It was when she saw his mother move from behind him that she halted, her breathing a harsh sound in the room as she turned to face him.

“Did you have a good laugh together?” Gabrielle scathingly asked as Frederika Whitfield eyed her angry face.

“What are you talking about?” K.C. asked only a little relieved that she was talking to him.

“Didn’t your mother tell you about our little talk in the bathroom? I practically spilled my guts about how worried I was meeting your parents because oh silly me I thought they were both white!” She hissed her eyes dark.

The fact that Frederika had said she would ruin K.C.’s life wasn’t something she could tell him and Gabrielle saw the relief on the other woman’s face when she didn’t say anything else about that chat.

There was a knock on the door and Gabrielle stalked over to open it expecting someone from the hotel, she threw the door open and found Colton Whitfield instead.

“Can I come in Ms. Hall?” he asked solemnly looking down at the young woman’s troubled face.

“Look the gang’s all here.” She said sarcastically turning around and going back to packing her clothes.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t keep it from you deliberately. When I gave you the card and you checked the website I thought you had looked at all of the officers of the company. I didn’t think anything of it when you didn’t comment because I thought you knew.” K.C. said and wondered if that sounded as lame to her as it did to him.

From the look of disbelief on her face he knew it did and he didn't even care that his parents were witness to this, all he was concerned with was he was losing Gabrielle.

“I wasn’t looking to find out your life history when we first met. Chris was the one that looked you up online and once he confirmed you were who you said and not a crazed rapist we…” Gabrielle stopped her tirade when she saw their reactions.

All three Whitfield’s winced, Frederika actually shuddered as she turned her face into her husband’s grey suit and Gabrielle met Colton Whitfield’s furious look.

“K.C. I’m going to take your Mother up to our suite. She shouldn’t be here for this.” He bit out and Gabrielle knew he was angry at her for some reason.

“No, no. Colton I need to stay.” Frederika insisted her voice sounding weak.

Gabrielle frowned at the older couple seeing that Frederika actually looked ill and drawn so unlike the elegant, composed woman from the elevator. That didn’t stop her from refusing to leave as she tried to collect her emotions when her husband would have physically escorted her out of the room.

Rielle swung her confused gaze back to K.C, beginning to realize that this wasn’t just about them anymore.

“So it isn’t a secret that your Mom is black, what took you so long to tell me that she was from St. Sebastian? What was the big deal?” Gabrielle asked no closer to figuring this out.

“My Mom is actually like you Black/Puerto Rican and I didn’t tell you because my Mother has never spoken of her past to me. I couldn’t tell you what I didn’t know. I didn’t find out until I was nearly fifteen that she was from St. Sebastian and that was only because I overheard my parents talking.” K.C. explained trying to remain calm.

But he knew that this was one of the most important moments of his life and he had to get this right or Gabrielle would leave him.

“Remember that day just before Carnival when I found out something that upset me about my family?” he asked and waited for her to nod.

“I went to the library and Mrs. Wells the librarian helped me with the year books and archives.” He said to her gently and saw that she remembered how agitated he had been that day.

“I found out something happened to my mother when she was a teenager on St. Sebastian.” K.C. explained and heard Frederika moan.

He turned and saw that his father was sitting on the bed where he and Gabrielle had made love, his arms wrapped about his upset mother. That image juxtaposed against the tragedy that had befallen his Mother was striking.

“I’m sorry Mom this isn’t how I wanted to tell you that I knew.” He said wanting to comfort her but knowing he needed to deal with Gabrielle.

“I know that K.C. this isn’t your fault. It isn’t even your father’s fault for sending you down there. I should have told you before you left and maybe all of this could have been avoided.” She replied her voice a little stronger.

“What happened wasn’t your fault either. Patrick Roebuck had no right to...” K.C. was interrupted by a shocked gasp from Gabrielle.

It became clear to Gabrielle at the mention of that name why K.C.’s mother had never told him about her past. Rielle had heard the name Patrick Roebuck whispered in hushed tones over the years and had asked her mother who he was only to be told that he was a very bad man.

It was only when she was older that she had discovered that bad man translated to rapist. There were a few Roebucks left on the island but the Leons had left after the incident.

Crime on St. Sebastian was an issue but not as serious as on some of the other Caribbean islands. There was the occasion murder, and some drug related incidents mostly break-ins when no one was home but domestic violence and crimes against women were not very common.

What had happened to Frederika Leon had been a heinous offense and was a subject that was still talked about to this day on the island.

Rielle looked at the other woman with new eyes and understood why she would think nothing good could come from St. Sebastian.

“I’m very sorry if I caused you any pain with my thoughtless words Mrs. Whitfield. Please accept my apologies.” She finally said sincerely and saw the other woman nod.  

She turned to look up at K.C. who was frowning at her.

“Maybe you should go with your parents K.C.” she told him quietly.

He could feel the tension radiating from her and her normally open face was closed to him, she was pushing him away and he would be damned if he would let her go.

“Mom and Dad I’ll see you later.” He told his parents firmly not taking his gaze from her set face.

The older couple looked at each other and then back at their son and the beautiful young woman who obviously meant a great deal to him. They saw the determined look on his tanned face and both remembered their stubborn little boy, but Gabrielle's face told the story of equal fortitude.

“Gabrielle, please forgive K.C.’s lack of foresight. It wasn’t done to cause you harm but to protect me. ” Frederika said quietly before her husband took her from the room.

Gabrielle watched the devoted way Colton looked at his fragile wife before they left and knew the same look was on their son’s face when he looked at her. That did not mitigate the fact that once again he had omitted to tell her something that was important.

“Is there anything else I should know about you K.C.? Do you have a love child somewhere? Is your Dad an alien? My life is an open book but it seems like it’s just one thing after another with you and your family.” She said and felt tears prick her eyes as she looked up at him.

“I’m sorry Gabrielle but I’ve learned to be careful with the information I tell people and when you didn’t ask any questions I thought it didn’t matter. My family is worth a lot of money and we’ve had our share of unsavory people like Tiffani try to weasel their way into lives. I know you don’t have any ulterior motives but we’ve always been careful that way and knowing my mother’s history you should be able to understand that.” He said frustrated by this whole situation.

It didn’t help to know that he had created some of it by not sitting down and talking to Gabrielle about his mother’s murky past. He knew she had a right to be upset, after Tiffani’s betrayal he had been guarded but Gabrielle had not deserved to be treated like this and he was man enough to admit that.

“When have I ever given you the idea that I would judge you or your family? When did I ever give you the impression that I cared about anything but you! I was the stupid idiot that took you literally at face value and gave you everything while you kept the most important parts of yourself from me!” she cried angrily and felt the tears that she had been fighting since the scene in the restaurant overflow.  

“I’m not even sure who you are anymore.” Gabrielle sobbed and K.C.’s sinking heart rapidly dived to his feet.

Rielle took a deep breath totally confused now as she looked at his blurry figure and he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and offered it to her.

“I’m the man that loves you and never wanted to hurt you, but I’ve had some bad experiences telling people that I'm not white." he told her bitterly. 

Gabrielle looked up at his hard face and something occurred to her in that moment.

"Tiffani could have blown you out of the water when she was there couldn't she? When she called you a black hearted bastard she was referring to you being mixed race. She probably thought I already knew, but if the police hadn't come who knows what else she might have said." Gabrielle murmurred almost to herself.

"My father's family is very powerful but having money hasn’t insulated any of us from racism and Marcus and Danni as well as I have lost people we thought were friends over it. I just didn’t want to lose you.” He revealed solemnly as he looked down at her.

Gabrielle had experienced racial prejudice herself once on St. Sebastian from a store clerk who hadn’t wanted to serve her, the other time had been at college after she had won the medal and she had gone to buy a vehicle.

The salesman had been so sure that she couldn’t afford the brand new vehicle and he had said so in front of the sales manager, Rielle had been only too happy to present the certified check from her bank and had driven off with Martha that same day.

“I understand that you wanted to protect yourself. But did you really think I would hurt you like that K.C.?” Gabrielle asked him wiping fiercely at her face.

“You didn’t trust me enough and apparently I might have trusted you too much. I need to think about this and you need to leave.” she said her face resolute and K.C. knew he couldn’t push her on this.

“Are you planning on checking out?” he asked quietly not about to let her leave like this but not sure what he could really do to stop her.

Gabrielle looked at her suitcases and frowned for a moment before shaking her head, she needed to stay and settle this and leaving wouldn’t do that.

Her anger was still there but it was lessening because she could understood why this had happened but the pain was rising to the top.

"I'll stay but I want you to get another room." she finally said looking up into the bright blue eyes of the man she loved. K.C. had broken down barriers she hadn't even known she had and she had let him into places no one else had seen. 

He reached out to touch her his eyes warm, but she stepped back from him. Rielle needed time to wrap her mind around this new development and she was sure that he had used sex more than once to distract her from talking about this subject.

She was angry, confused and hurt by his lack of trust and she refused to just fall back and open her legs for him. She grabbed a shirt and pair of pants from her suitcase and quickly went into the bathroom out of his charismatic presence. 

He was packed by the time she'd gotten dressed and he went into the bathroom she had just vacated to get his toiletries.

Gabrielle grabbed her purse and almost ran from the room not daring to look at K.C. although she could feel his gaze on her. 

She went to the elevators and found her way to the dark bar of the casual dining restaurant in the hotel and ordered a virgin pina colada before finding a table in the corner where she could sit and sip her drink.

"There's something wrong when a beautiful lady drinks alone." said a deep voice and Gabrielle looked up to find a handsome black man in front of her.