Kendall's POV
Gleeful screams fulled the house as I stood making dinner in the kitchen.
"John!" Tasha laughed, "Stop tickling me!"
I smiled and shook my head, thinking about how good of an idea it was to have her move here. She never really got the chance to have a childhood, she worked for my family basically from the time she could walk. So this 'play time' with John, in my opinion at least, is exactly what she needs.
An ear piercing scream filled the kitchen, telling me that Tiny had escaped John and was looking to me for saving. I was proven correct when she hid behind me.
"I'm not here," she whispered.
I shook my head again as I worked the meat and bread crumbs together for meatballs.
"Priceless, have you seen Tiny?" John asked as he joined us in the kitchen.
I was going to say no when she laughed, giving herself away. John charged at us but instead of getting Tiny, who ran out of his reach, he picked me up and twirled me around, while I screamed. He finally set me down at I said, "John Felix Anthony, if you want to eat dinner tonight, you'll put me down right this second."
He placed a soft kiss on the top of my head and wrapped his arms around my waist, "I'm sorry about last week," he apologized, "I overreacted and I shouldn't have done what I did."
"Whadya do?" Tiny asked.
"Tasha Ann, don't you have homework or something," I asked, looking at her pointedly.
She sighed dramatically, "Fine. I can see when I'm not wanted."
When she walked out of the kitchen John started talking again, "Priceless, will you please look at me?"
I turned around to face him but when he started to apologize again I shook my head, "John just don't. We both know that the next time you lose your temper I'll be on the receiving end. So please don't apologize for it because I know, even if you can't admit it, that it'll happen again."
"I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand. I didn't mean to throw you down the stairs," he said letting out a frustrated breath.
I laughed sarcastically, "Yes, that's right. I accidentally slipped out of your ridiculously tight grasp as you held me over the stairs."
"Kendall, you're pushing it," he warned, "I'm trying to apologize to you and you're throwing it in my face."
"Ooh, this time I get told before I get hit. That's refreshing," I said with a roll of my eyes.
John went to respond but the door bell rang.
"Saved by the bell," I joked, "Can you get that? I'm busy making you dinner."
He banged his fist into a cupboard as he walked out of the kitchen, letting out some of his anger before he got to the door. I knew that I was walking a thin line and that I was testing his patience, but the last thing I want to hear every time he hits me is an apology. I didn't want an apology he didn't mean. If he meant it, then he'd never hit me again, but he and I both knew he would.
I heard a muffled "Hey man what's up" from John. Then what sounded like someone punching something. Then John yelled "What the fuck, man!" Then more hitting and grunting. I ran to the front room to see Randy and John beating on each other.
"What the hell is going on here?" I yelled, causing the two meat heads to stop and look my way, "If y'all are going to fight do it outside of my house. I will not let you tear up the furniture and walls in here."
"I didn't do anything! I opened the door and this fucker socked me," John said as he rubbed his jaw.
"Randal!" I admonished.
"I had good reason," he grumbled, "Ken doll, why didn't you tell me he hit you?"
Silence took over the room as they both waited for me to say something. I whispered the first the that came to mind, "Who told you?"
"Well, thanks for incriminating your husband."
"Oh shut up, John. He already knows, why lie to him?" I asked, "Who told you Randy?"
"That doesn't matter-"
"Yes it does," I shouted. Then it dawned on me. There was only one person who would tell Randy. I looked at John and asked, "Where is he?"
"I had him sent away. He's not allowed contact with anyone from the main group. He's been advised to leave the country," John answered.
"And if he doesn't listen?" John only shook his head, indicating that I didn't want to know. I turned back to Randy, "Did you hear about Hunter's dismissal and his warnings?"
He nodded, "We didn't know what it was about though."
"Well maybe you should get the facts before you come into my house and start being up my husband," I advised, "You didn't even ask questions before you started swinging your fists. How did you know that you could trust Hunter over the man who had him dismissed?"
"That's right baby, you tell him," John muttered, I glared at him.
"Ken doll, you can't tell me you're actually defending him," Randy scoffed.
"Randy, stop talking. You just get stupider every time you open your mouth," I retorted causing John to snort his laughter, only to stop when I sent him another glare, "The next two things that come from your mouth better be an apology and some damn questions about why Hunter has been dismissed."
"Why should I apologize?" he sneered.
"First because you came into our house and punched him for something you know nothing about. Second, I'll call Sammy and tell her that you flew your ass here and punched John for no reason. She'll believe me over you. And third, because if you want spaghetti with homemade meatballs, you'll apologize," I shrugged.
"Sorry John," he muttered while scratching the back of his head, "Why did you dismiss Hunter?"
John looked at me, silently asking me if I was going to answer but I shook my head. "I'm going to go check on dinner. Just tell him the basics, please Johnny."
He nodded and pulled me into his arms. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"John don't-"
"I'm not talking about that. I'm sorry that I wasn't here to protect you," he explained.
I looked up at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes. I bit my lip as it started to quiver and whispered, "Thank you."
I rushed back to the kitchen before either man saw the tears that were already escaping my eyes. It meant a lot to me, what he said. And it proved again that he wasn't going to let anyone, other than himself apparently, hurt me. And if they did there would be consequences for it.
Evan's consequence was being sent back to St. Louis. Kelly was so mad when she found out. She had liked it here and wanted to stay. Hunter's consequence was excommunication and if he didn't get the hell outta dodge he'd be dead.
The thought of that scared me a bit. What would happen if I crossed John too far? I mean, the times he's hit me really weren't that bad. I've been hit much, much worse before, so I wasn't too worried about that. But John was more of a psychological punisher. He liked to use people's minds against them and that's what scares me the most.
Randy's POV
John had this stupid fucking grin on his face when Ken doll walked back to the kitchen. I would have given anything to just wipe it off. Fucker.
"She called me Johnny," he muttered, more to himself than to me, "She hasn't called me that since- never mind."
"John what the hell is going on? Hunter showed up at my place a few days ago say you hit Ken doll. And we heard shit about you kicking him out but we didn't know why," I said.
"I didn't trust him from the beginning, you know that. But when they came over to meet Priceless, he was a bit too friendly for my liking. That was the night I hit her. And no, before you ask, I didn't hit her because of him. Anyway, the next day she defended me against him, just like she did to you," John told me.
"So you sent him away? Because she defended you?" I asked, not following him at all.
"Shut up and let me finish," he said, "I don't know the details and trust me she wont tell you because she hasn't even told Tasha. I didn't even find out until our wedding night and that's only because I saw the bruises she didn't know she had."
"Bruises from what? Damn it John! Just get to the point!"
"The bastard molested her three days before the wedding."
I couldn't think. I heard him wrong. No one touched her in any way she hadn't wanted them too. No, this was just an excuse. To get the heat off of John. He was making her tell stories so that people didn't suspect him of abuse. But then how did they know it was Hunter who told me? And he was dismissed before he told me. God damn it.
"Tiny and I were at work. I don't know how he got in and neither does Priceless. He did it in our bed, Randy. What was I supposed to do? Give him a slap on the wrist? No, that motherfucker is dead if I ever see him again," he promised.
I looked into his eyes and saw that he was actually upset about what happened. Not that I didn't expect him to be, just not with as much emotion as he was showing right now.
"Dude, you're like, genuinely upset about this," I stated.
"She's my fucking wife, Randy," he shouted, "I'm supposed to protect her from things like that. She should have been safe in our house. But I didn't and she wasn't."
Just as I was going to respond, a flash of purple ran in front of me and jumped on John. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. It wouldn't be complete if her lips weren't connected to his in the largest display of passion I have ever seen Kendall show. Ever. John must have been just as shocked as I was because I saw him almost tumble as he tried to support the sudden onslaught of unexpected force.
John's POV
In that moment, I wanted to kill Randy. How could I not be upset about it? He molested my wife. And she hadn't told me. And I thought she'd cheated on me. So, that part was all on her, but it wasn't her fault he had touched her.
And then the anger was just gone. It was replaced by Priceless practically mauling me to death with her body. But there was no way that I was going to complain. She hasn't initiated any kind of intimacy since our wedding night and I'd pretty much thrown that in her face. So this, right now. Standing here, barely being able to keep my balance as she jumped into my arms and kissed me, there is no way I'm stopping it. I don't care who is watching.
But Priceless pulled back a bit and whispered in my ear, "I'm fine. I'm here. I'm safe."
I gently set her on the ground and made her look in my eyes. She knew that I wasn't believing her in the least. I shook my head but stopped when she gave me a look and walked back to the kitchen. I looked at Randy but he just shrugged and followed her.
"Ken doll, why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked.
"Don't push it Randy," I whispered. She didn't want to talk about it. At all. I'd even tried to pull the whole 'I'm your husband, I deserve to know these things' card. That didn't even work. Tiny tried using her 'But you tell me everything' excuse that had apparently worked about a billion times in the past, nothing. Eve tried their telepathy thing they've got going on, but she was blocking that part out. Finally, I just gave up trying. If she doesn't want us to know then she's not going to tell us. If she wants us to know, she'll let us in. I'm not going to push her anymore.
"Because." Her answer was short and simple. She was clearly telling him that it was the end of the conversation. He looked to me and I just shrugged as he'd done to me.
"Ken doll," he whined, "Please talk to me."
She turned and glared at him, "What? What could you possibly want Randal?"
Her words were sharp and he visibly wince at them. He knew where her animosity towards him was coming from. They never got a chance to sit down and talk.
"Barbie doll," he corrected softly.
"No," she said adamantly shaking her head.
"Fine, if you wont talk then I will. I didn't mean what I said. Well, I did. I just didn't mean for it to come out the way you took it. I never meant that I regretted being your-"
"Can we have this conversation later? As in, when my husband isn't in the room and when I'm not in the middle of making dinner," she interrupted.
"As in not tonight," he questioned a defeated tone in his voice.
"Exactly."
"Then when? Because to be perfectly honest, there never will be a right time for this conversation," he admitted.
"How about never then?' Priceless suggested.
Randy gaped at her. Hell, I gaped at her. I'd never heard her stand up for herself against anyone like she was right now. Well, except for our small conversation that Randy interrupted.
"Kendall, we need to talk about this. Obviously you're upset about it or you wouldn't be acting like this," Randy said as he finally gained composure.
"I think I have every right to be upset Randy. I think I have every right to act the way I'm acting towards you right now. First, you break my heart. Then you barge in here, my house, and try to break my husbands face. Would you have expected Sammy to react any differently than I am right now?" she snapped.
"No, I wouldn't have expected Sam to react any differently. But that's the thing. You aren't Sam. You are two completely different people. You were brought up differently and have different backgrounds," Randy explained softly.
"Next thing you'll say is that Sammy would've been strong enough to fight him off. She never would have let him close enough to touch her in the first place. She would have trusted her husband enough to tell him what happened," Priceless said, her voice cracking.
"That's because she can trust me!" Randy shouted.
"But I can't. I can't trust you Randy. You did the one thing you promised you wouldn't do. And then you act like I should just forget about it. You act like it's nothing. My whole life you were my one constant. For 23 years you were the one person I knew I could go to if something went wrong-"
"You still can. I'm still here for you," he interrupted.
"No, Randy. You're not here for me. You are in St. Louis. I'm here and I'm broken. And there's no fixing me. None. Nothing you can say will ever fix the way I feel. In less than ten words you completed the one task my father and brothers have been trying to do for my whole life. You can't just apologize and expect everything to be okay. That's not the way it works in my life. You promised me that nothing would go wrong. That one night, remember? The night before your wedding. You promised me that you'd always be my best friend," Priceless said before whispering, "You broke your promise."
With that being said, she walked out of the kitchen as quickly as she could, not looking at either of us. I knew, when she asked him how Sam would react, that his response would affect her badly. She'd told me that he always compared her to his wife. It was part of the reason she never felt good enough. She thought that she meant enough to him, that he loved her enough, but when he met Sam it was like they'd never shared anything. He'd found someone better and didn't waste any time showing her off.
"What do I do man?" Randy asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"How am I suppose to know? You've known her her whole life. I've only known the girl for two weeks," I said.
"Dinner's ready!" I heard Priceless yell.
Randy sighed giving me a defeated shake of his head. If he wanted her to talk to him, he'd have to fight for her attention. Giving up was not an option. It only showed her that she wasn't worth his time. It showed her that she didn't mean anything to him.
But he needed to figure that out on his own. It would have been pretty sad if I knew her better than he did. Especially after he claimed that they were oh so close. I wasn't going to get in the middle of it. This issue is between the two of them and it's honestly not my business. When either start bringing my name into the conversation then it'll be my business. But until then.
"Tasha, I said dinner is ready. If you aren't up here in three minutes, I'm eating without you!" Priceless yelled again.
I rolled my eyes, "Can you just imagine what she'll sound like when that's our kids she's yelling out?"
Randy looked at me funny, "What are you talking about? Ken doll doesn't want kids. She all but sworn that she'll never have kids as long as she lives."
I smirked at him, "That's kinda funny. We haven't used any kind of protection. And I don't plan on starting anytime soon."
He looked at me like he wanted to say something, but held back. It made me suspicious. Was she taking birth control pills and not telling me?