Chapter 13 #4
Aloiki frowned at his sister’s name. “Kalea? Why?”
It took a long while, but I filled him in on everything.
And I meant everything. I did not leave out a single thing from the moment we disembarked off the plane from Yonkers.
I confessed my feelings for Caroline, feelings I knew were not paternal before we even got on that plane.
Told him about trying to be honorable and keeping my distance, but falling for her more every day.
And then confessed what happened a month ago when he kicked me out of the house, with my gratitude.
The sun came up through the open window blinds as I talked, and eventually I slid down the wall to park my ass on the floor, rather than standing over their bed like a soldier delivering a report.
Lu dozed for a little while, but woke up to use the bathroom, came out wearing a kimono robe, and then climbed back into bed between Aloiki’s legs.
He positioned his hands at the base of her enlarged belly and lifted to give her some relief.
I remembered doing the same for Kalea when she’d been pregnant with Pualani.
I continued my long confession by telling them how I’d gotten drunk and broke into Shakaloha, and the damage I didn’t remember causing there.
Then I explained how I’d ended up at Kalea’s.
I was more honest with Aloiki and Lu about why I went back there than I had been with myself over the past month.
I made it clear that I had no intention of reconciling with Kalea, and the guilt I felt about inadvertently leading her on.
I needed to take a breath before I confessed the rest, filling both of them in on the true nature of Pualani’s paternity. If Lu hadn’t been sitting between Aloiki’s legs to hold him in place, I didn’t think I would have been able to get through my entire story without him going apeshit.
By the time I got to the wedding, he was shaking in Lu’s arms. And by the time I got to Kalea’s confession and going to Kayl’s house, she had to move onto his lap to hold him down.
“Tell me he’s alive,” Aloiki growled. “Tell me he’s waiting on Tommy’s boat and you’ve come to get me so we can set sail.”
I shook my head. “She is your sister, but she was my wife. I took care of him.”
“How?” he demanded. Though he had his arms wrapped around Lu too, I had a feeling he was using her as an emotional anchor more than a physical one. “Tell me every bloody detail.”
I did, only feeling bad when Lu had to excuse herself to throw up. At least Aloiki had stopped fighting to leave by then.
“I can’t argue with your methods, even if I am still pissed I wasn’t involved,” Aloiki said from the bathroom as he held Lu’s hair back.
“You got Jones,” I reminded him. “I got Kayl. We’re even.”
Aloiki mulled that over for a heartbeat before nodding. “Fair. I would have rather been fucking Lu anyway.”
“Ugh,” Lu groaned. “Do not talk about fucking while I’m throwing up.”
When I apologized to Lu for my part in her current state, she waved me off before moving over to the sink to brush her teeth.
Aloiki stepped out of the bathroom. He was still unabashedly naked. I was comfortable around nudity and being nude, but the man took it to a whole different level. “Is that everything?” he asked.
I shook my head, “He didn’t just fuck with Kalea’s and my lives.”
And then I confessed the rest.
It was nearing noon by the time I left Aloiki and Lu’s bedroom.
It was a good thing they were planning on doing construction between their room and the next to make a nursery, because Aloiki got a head start on knocking out the connecting wall.
I couldn’t blame him. Finding out we’d been manipulated into killing our once-friend was a hard pill to swallow.
I descended the stairs slowly. I didn’t know where everyone was or who was aware I was in the house.
I didn’t even know if I was technically still banned.
Wasn’t exactly a topic we’d covered while trying to make sense of the web of lies Kayl had cast upon us.
Lu didn’t even remember taking a call from Kayl the day she walked out of Aloiki’s life, but she did say that most of that day was a haze.
I still didn’t know what to believe. But if he was able to orchestrate pitting us against Kahoku, why was it so unbelievable to think he’d done the same between Aloiki and Lu? Then again, he’d also confessed that he hadn’t meant to break Kalea and I up.
Shit. Kalea. I still had to check in with her.
I wasn’t staying, but she deserved to know that Kayl would never bother her again.
And I had to get someone over to Kayl’s house before a cop friend decided to check in on him.
That probably should have been a bigger priority, but I was beyond exhausted and not thinking with a charged battery.
I pulled my phone out to text Mako when I spotted who was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. In leggings and a sundress, she was fucking incredible.
I didn’t stop. Like a moth to a flame, I continued down the stairs, took her into my arms, and lifted her mouth to mine. She tasted sweet, like peaches. I was careful of her back, not knowing if she was still sore from her first round with the tattoo removal laser.
Caroline kissed me back, her arms wrapped around my neck as her feet dangled in front of me.
Fuck, I missed her. I was so sick and tired of denying myself what I wanted, and I wanted in her life. However she would have me.
Reluctantly pulling away, I rested my forehead against hers.
I could have gone on, kissing her forever, but she was owed an explanation first. After the heaviness of talking to Aloiki and Lu for the past several hours, though, I was all out of words.
The only thing I could say was the prayer of forgiveness. “Ho’oponopono, o ku?u aloha no ?oe.”
I felt her chin tremble against my face. “Nau ko?u aloha.” Her pronunciation wasn’t perfect, but I still understood, even without her English translation. “My love is yours.”
I smiled, but when I tilted my head to kiss her again, she pulled her head back. “Caroline, what is it? I—”
But she stopped my words by pressing the tips of her fingers to my lips. “Maisy,” she said, her sea-green eyes boring into mine. “My married name is Maisy Dalton-Jones, and I’m not seventeen. I’m twenty-two.”