53. Kennedy
Kennedy
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
I heard what the judge said, but I still can't believe it.
It's as if the words were spoken in a foreign language.
I'm finally free.
No more desperate dawns in which I wake up and bring King to our bed so I can watch the two men in my life as if trying to record them forever inside me for fear that all of this will be stolen from me.
" The Prosecutor’s Office has decided to drop the charges of complicity in the murder of Miss Pam Marcotte against Miss Kennedy Juliet O’Neal. Consequently, Miss O’Neal no longer has any outstanding commitments to the justice system."
Soon after I received the right to respond to the case while out on bail and went to New Orleans, the Public Prosecutor filed charges against me not only for advice on committing a crime but also for complicity in Pam's murder.
I panicked, so hearing the judge say now that I am free from all charges fills my heart with happiness.
The fact that I can barely believe that I am free does not mean that I doubted Hades' word that he would not rest until I was found innocent. Rather, it’s that I became accustomed to the constant threat of going to prison and being labeled a criminal.
The judge's impassive face tells me that, to him, I'm just another name, the number on the main page of a lawsuit. He has no idea he just gave me my peace back.
The lawyers informed us that a hearing had been scheduled to announce the withdrawal of the charges and that's why we came, but I needed the certainty that only the judge's statement could give me.
Miss O’Neal no longer has any outstanding commitments to the justice system, I repeat to myself.
It's like having a closed cut.
Healed? No.
The scars of that accusation hit me deeply. The scars won't disappear, but the pain will.
I stand up on wobbly legs and feel like everyone is watching me, but I only have eyes for a specific group and I look directly at them:
The Kostanidou, the Lykaioses, Ernest, and especially, my future husband who holds our son in his arms.
Suddenly, I snap out of the almost catatonic state I entered into, and my body is overcome with adrenaline. Relief washing over me makes me truly smile for the first time in a long time.
I feel the tears of happiness roll down my cheeks when, after quickly returning the lawyers' greetings, I start to walk towards Hades and King. Only when I see a sob from my boy do I dry the tears.
"Mommy sad ." He still doesn't know the difference between tears of joy and tears of sadness.
I smile at my Kostanidis miniature. "No, my love. Mom is very happy."
When I lift my head to face Hades, I see sparks in his black irises. He is also emotional.
"It's over," I say and hide my face in his chest, not caring that the courtroom is crowded, including photographers and reporters, who must be taking photos of us.
"No, now we can really start," he says, kissing the top of my head. "It's the beginning of the life you deserve, Kennedy, and the beginning of my redemption."
"I thought that was already happening."
"Partly," he says, holding my chin and kissing my mouth, which makes King scream, “ kissyyyy, " laughing. "But until now, I've focused on saving you. From this moment on"—he bends down and whispers so that only I can hear—"my revenge will begin."
"Don't do something crazy because of me," I beg nervously.
"Everyone achieves their own peace in a different way, my beauty. We got yours; I need mine too."
I still feel apprehensive, but I don't have time to ask him anything else because soon, Ernest and everyone else approaches us.
I am surrounded in a group hug by my sisters-in-law and also by the three new friends I made at lunch last week: Brooklyn, Elina, and Zoe.
"Are you at peace now?" Serenity asks.
"Yes, I am. I can finally dream again."
Two days later
"Why are you two looking at me like that?" I ask Ernest and Hades at the same time.
We finished dinner, but instead of going upstairs like he usually does, the man I consider my real father told me he wanted to talk in the library at our house. When Hades didn't ask what it was about, I was sure that the two of them knew something I didn't know.
"We need to talk, Kennedy," Ernest says, and his tone sends me a clear message that I'm not going to like what I'm going to hear.
"What’s wrong?" The only thing that crosses my mind is that he is much sicker than he told me at first, even though I know that Ernest refuses to seek medical help or even undergo tests.
I tried everything to convince him that Athanasios, the Greek who is Brooklyn's husband, is not called the “god in white” for nothing. He is considered the best neurosurgeon in the world, and perhaps he could save him.
Hades apparently understands my agony, because he pulls me onto his lap and kisses my cheek, while Ernest continues to stare at me, sitting in an armchair in front of us.
"Do you know that I love you as if you were my daughter?" Ernest says.
"I do."
He nods in agreement. "What you don't suspect is that my dream is that you really are."
"What?"
"It's a long story, Kennedy. I hope you will be patient in listening to it and that, in the end, you'll be able to forgive me."
For the next hour, I listen to him explain about the lives of my parents, or at least, the man I thought was my father and how his marriage to my mother happened.
Ernest finally clarifies who was, for a time, my secret protector—in fact, the man who was forced into it.
A senator. I'm the daughter of a senator.
While I was starving as a child, sleeping on the floor for years, I had a rich father who knew about my existence but refused to take on his responsibilities.
I don't feel anger; I feel a deep contempt for him as my family's past is unraveled.
He knew my mother was pregnant and discarded her like trash on the street, and if it weren't for the support of Beny, the man who accepted me as his daughter, what would have become of her? I remember little about her, frankly, but from what Ernest is telling me, she was fragile and without much initiative.
"What would she have done if Beny hadn't accepted me?" I ask.
"I would have thrown prudence to the wind and married her."
"What?"
"I haven't gotten to that part yet. I was going to confess to you that I was madly in love with your mother."
"Then why didn't you marry her?"
"I was a contract killer, Kennedy. I was paid to clean up after your father, Balantine."
"He's not my father. I don't care what you did for a living, Ernest. I have met few people in my life more honorable than you. Ryan was born with a silver spoon, he had everything going for him to become a good man, and yet he is a monster."
"I'm a monster too, Kennedy. Or at least, I once was."
"Not for me. Not for King. For both of us, you were our protector and family. Father and grandfather. Did you say you didn't marry her because you didn't think you were good enough?"
"Yes, and because it would have put her in danger. I had many enemies. At that time, I hadn't had the plastic surgery that completely changed my face."
This time, I notice that even Hades, who seemed to know everything up until now, seems surprised.
"You did that?" he asks.
"Yes. And I changed my name and documents too. That's why, when you first researched me, Greek, it only said that I was Balantine's driver. Beau, however, figured it all out."
"But he didn't tell me about you changing your face or name."
"I'm sure he knew. Maybe he didn't bring it up because he understands that we all have secrets to keep. The fact is, I would never have come near Kennedy as a teenager if I hadn't been sure I'd covered all my tracks. To the world, I'm just a harmless old man." He runs his hand over his head, looking sad. "I'll understand if, now that you know everything, you want me to leave."
I get off Hades' lap and kneel in front of Ernest, resting my head on his legs. "Don't leave us. I need you with me. King needs you."
"I won't go anywhere, if that's what you want."
"We all want that, Ernest. You’re family," Hades says.
Hades
"How is your head after everything you’ve discovered about the past?" I have her on my body, we are both naked, and only the black silk sheet covers her from the waist down.
When we went upstairs, Kennedy took the initiative for the first time to undress me and demand sex, commanding me to tell her all the time that I loved her.
I don't know what it did to her inside to know that that son of a bitch never wanted to recognize her and only helped her because he was forced to, but she seems stronger now, like she's reached rock bottom and nothing can hurt her anymore.
"I feel contempt for that man. I know it might be selfish of me not to allow King to live with his grandfather, if Balantine ever wanted that, but I hate him and I don't want him anywhere near our son."
"We can tell King the whole truth when he grows up. I don't think it's selfish of you. The man has proven himself to be despicable, and as long as we can protect our boy from bastards like him, we will."