Always (Always & Forever 1)

"I'm sorry, I should've considered they didn't know," Paulie said and clasped Kane's hand tighter. "It's just wrong, Son. Tonight they crossed too many lines."

"We don't turn our back on those in need. We walk in love, and live the life of a good Christian regardless of what anyone else does. That doesn't change, but I agree. They didn't seem in need to me either." Kane wiped his mouth and began picking up plates to take to the sink. They all spoke the truth, and Paulie hadn't said anything more than Avery had, but this wasn't a conversation to have in front of Robert and Autumn.

"Did you see the report?" Autumn asked.

"Yes, honey, I did. That man needs to rot in hell. Your Daddy hadn't eaten in days—" Kane held up his hand and cut Paulie off.

"Did you know Daddy's father before?" Robert asked. Kane flipped on the water, running the dishes under the faucet, realizing this conversation was taking place whether he wanted it to or not. Honestly, he was in too bad an emotional place to judge whether this discussion was a good or bad idea for his kids.

"No, Son, I met your dad a few days after he was put out of the house. It was one of the best days of my life," Paulie said, adding a little force to the word by slapping the table with his hand. Paulie looked up at Kane, when he glanced over his shoulder to the table again. Loving eyes met his and warmed his heart. If he were honest, it was Paulie who taught him what love meant—gave him the tools to become a caring, supportive father—not the family who had raised him.

"How could anyone put Daddy out of the house? He's a good man," Autumn exclaimed, and now they were all looking at Kane. Thankfully Avery's mom was pensively quiet, one less person to dissuade from the conversation.

"That's enough. No more talk of the past. That time's done and over and we can't change anything. Autumn, did you finish your science project? Robert, you have a math quiz on Friday. You won't have time to study tomorrow night. You have a scrimmage," Kane stated firmly, finally feeling on even ground, and trying to switch gears, get them back to normal.

"Okay, I'll be quiet, but I still think it's wrong," Robert mumbled, digging back into his second plate of spaghetti. He was the only one left eating at the table and back to shoveling the food.

"I think Dad will handle it," Autumn whispered to Paulie, who gave her smile and patted her head.

"Someone needs to handle this," Kennedy said as she cleared the plates from the table.

Chapter 23

February 1990

Lost in thought, Avery added up the air miles he'd traveled as he sat on his mother's private jet. He didn't usually pull strings, opting instead to fly commercial most of the time, but not today. Today, he was taking the long way home from DC, by way of Alabama. His briefcase sat close by. He'd traveled light—only one file filled the case.

He had gathered a lot of information on Kane's family for years, and he'd never told anyone, never brought it up. The data he'd pulled over the last few weeks since that horrific news report featuring Kane's father told him far more than he'd expected. His steely gaze narrowed. He knew all their names, ages, and marital statuses. He'd found out where they worked, how they lived, and all Kane's nephews' and nieces' names. He knew about every letter they'd sent to Kane, knew all the coercion they used to manipulate his husband, and it had worked every single time. He also knew Kane didn't send them small amounts of money occasionally, he sent large amounts every month.

Kane had kept this from Avery, and he didn't like it, but let the process happen, knowing his mister was too good a man to abandon his so-called family no matter what they'd done to him. He also wondered if Kane paid them not to hate him. His kind, loving husband was paying his family not to hate him…that broke his heart the most.

How could a family turn their back on their own blood, but take the money he worked so hard for? Avery had also wrongly assumed the money would keep Kane's family quiet if they were approached. That turned out to be a huge underestimation of both their intelligence and their level of hatred.

Over the years, Avery estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars had been sent to this hateful, lying, backwoods blood connection that had just shoved his husband through a weeks-long public ringer. They hadn't shut their fucking mouths for the last three weeks. Every overeager news reporter across the world now played clips of the venom spewed by Pastor Dalton.

No matter what brave face Kane put on, Avery knew he was deeply hurt and couldn't take any more. He shouldn't have to. Those people needed to pay for what they had done.

Avery prepared for his arrival in Alabama, with intimidation as his goal. He hoped the two large bodyguards he'd hired, who sat directly behind him on the private plane, might give the visual he wanted, but regardless, he needed to shut that damn family's mouth and move them out of the picture. He'd use the full force of the law, as well as his large bank accounts to silence them, forever.

Kane would be angry at him for getting involved. And this wasn't for him, because Avery couldn't give a shit one way or another about what they had to say, but it bothered Kane too much. He could hear the stress in Kane's voice every time they spoke. Kane sounded more and more down, withdrawing into his carefully constructed shell. The very one that had taken Avery years to pull him out of, and that just wouldn't do at all.

For whatever reason, Kane cared what those awful people thought about him. So they needed to shut the fuck up as soon as possible.