He took off my sandals and massaged my feet. “Let me take care of you tonight.”
He called room service and ordered us a romantic dinner in our suite before going to bed. He ordered two lobsters, baked potatoes, salad, and chocolate cake for dessert. It all sounded so good to me.
“Let’s just relax,” Kev suggested as he yawned. I could tell he was worn out. To be honest I was tired too. I loved the fact that he was so attentive to me. The way he kissed me, touched me, and loved me made me feel beautiful.
“I want you to enjoy the time we have together here and not meditate on anything else or anyone else, but I did want to tell you that I think I have everything planned out so we can get out of the situation with Jason and move away without a trace behind us.”
Room service knocked on the door shortly after and Kev got up, went to the door, and got the food. I got off the bed and went on the balcony and Kev followed me with the food. As we ate we continued to talk about the plan.
“Okay, Kev, what’s the plan?” I was excited. I wanted to know everything that our future held. And to get another shot of happiness was a blessing that I knew came from heaven.
“Not now, Reese. Trust me, I got this, but now is the time to focus on making you happy while we are here.”
“Well, baby, I wanna hear. I wanna know what our next move is.”
“We will discuss it later. You have been through hell and all I want to do now is create a little bit of heaven on earth for my wife.”
I knew Kev well. We had become friends and gotten close over the years so I knew that Kev learned from his father how to treat women with respect and to protect his wife at all cost.
“Baby, what you thinkin’ ’bout?” I asked him.
He smiled and looked down at his watch. He got up. “It’s after ten. Time is going fast.”
“I didn’t realize it was that late. I’m getting sleepy,” I said while I stretched my arms over my head.
“I know you’re tired. A lot has happened in the past few days.” He looked over the balcony with me, then massaged my shoulders.
“Umm, that feels so good.” I turned to him, “Thank you for the massage. You know exactly what I need. I love you.”
Kev had his hands on my shoulders. I was standing face to face with my husband. He took his hand and moved my hair out of my face with his finger. “I love you too. I want you to know that I am so proud that you are my wife.”
Knowing there was still so much I needed to share with Kev, I didn’t feel so proud of myself. “Kev, I need to tell you something.” I took a deep breath. “I was so angry and have been so angry at Jason for some of the things he has done to me.” Kev tried to interrupt and tell me I didn’t have to explain any of my actions. “No, Kev, I have to tell you this. You’re my husband,” I said with a stern look. “Jason did a lot of things to me. He has raped me, he has beat me, he has spit on me, he has taken away a lot from me and I do not like him for that.”
I didn’t know what was going to happen after I came clean. Will he divorce me? What will he do? I wondered. I hoped he knew how much I needed him. “Kev, out of all that he has done and as much as I hate him, nothing compares to when I saw him kill Shy.” Kev sat down in the chair on the balcony.
Kev put his hands on top of his head, then his eyebrows slanted in, his eyes turned red, and his face turned redder. He began to cry. “What are you talkin’ about Reese? Jay wouldn’t do that. Tell me you lyin’. Tell me!” He yelled and got up from his chair, pushed it out the way and walked out the hotel room, running into the server from our room service.
I laid on the bed, put my hands over my face, and cried. I thought it was over that fast. He didn’t even believe me.
I waited in our suite for hours and he never showed up. I cried myself to sleep and when I woke up and looked at the alarm clock it was four-thirty in the morning. I didn’t know where Kev went or if he was coming back. However, I knew he needed to know the truth about everything.
I got up, put my Nike sandals on, and decided to go find my husband. We were going to get through this together.
I looked for him in the casino but he wasn’t there so I went outside. That’s where I found him sitting on the bench with his head down and his elbows on his knee. A hand was on his head and he was deep in thought.
“Kev,” I called out.
He looked up and saw me coming. He then put his head down.
“Where you been, babe?” I asked.
“I’ve been outside the hotel pacing back and forth.” He lifted his head up and looked at me. “Baby, I know you wasn’t lying. I could feel it. Besides I always felt Jason was hiding the truth about the situation with Shy. Jason’s story never added up. I’m sorry, babe, it’s just blowin’ my mind. I could have . . .”
I bent down and put my head down where his was. “Kev, don’t do that. Jason did this. It’s not your fault.”
“But, babe, I could’ve . . .” His words trailed off as he shook his head and stood up. He helped me up and walked away from the bench. He had his back turned toward me.
“Jason is out of control, Reese. I didn’t know he was gettin’ down like that and I thought I knew everything about him.” He turned around and looked at me. “Babe, I gotta get you and the boys out of here.”
I looked over at the bench and thought how a couple days ago we sat at this same bench and he had proposed. I went over to him and stood there in front of him. He looked into my eyes.
“Baby, your eyes are bloodshot red from crying. Babe, don’t cry anymore. I got you. I promise Jason will not hurt us.” Kev held his arms out and I slowly walked over to him, and leaned against him.
“What really hurt me more is knowing you had to see him do that to Shy.”
I pulled his face up with my hand and made him look at me. “I love you,” I confessed.
He turned his head away again; then he looked back and grabbed me closer to him. “I love you too.” He went and sat back down on the bench.
“Kev, I have something else to tell you.” I sat down beside him on the bench.
“So, what else is there?” I could hear the frustration in his voice.
I closed my eyes for a moment longer, then opened them and said, “Kev, I took the money.”
