Numb.

That's the only word Kylie could find to convey how she felt as she stood next to Jax at their father's funeral service.

She'd never attended a funeral before but she had always assumed that the associated aura created by the sobbing faces around her would be sufficient enough for her to struggle to suppress the tears threatening to spill. She thought she'd feel bruising within her from her insides churning away like a tornado. She thought that the words from the minister and seeing her father's wife Libby would be enough to evoke something inside her empty soul. To finally make her feel something, again.

But instead, she felt the usual tedious emptiness.

No tears emerged. Not when her fathers' casket was being lowered into his eager and waiting grave. Not even when Libby stood up to give her tearful moving eulogy, muttering words of love and family. Not even when people paid their condolences to her and Jax.

Nothing.

"Kylie, I'm so glad to have finally met you. Your dad spoke about you so often." Libby exclaimed, grabbing Kylie's hands and swiftly planting a gentle kiss on each.

Kylie sighed, avoiding meeting Libby's gaze. Instead, searching around the room for Jax and seeing him enveloped by the guests who were commenting on how much he'd grown since the last time they'd seen him. Guests, that nor he or Kylie recognised.

Libby appeared exactly as Kylie had anticipated. She recalled Jax referring to her as a Goddess. And she certainly lived up to that claim with her golden ringlets and clear blue eyes.

The only flaw Kylie could find on her perfect face was the cerise coloured puffiness around her eyes indicating that she had been crying for long periods of time, unlike Kylie.

Her ocean blue eyes emitted nothing but rays of kindness, and Kylie knew straight away that every word uttered from her mothers' mouth about Libby had been so very wrong.

Libby's name had rapidly become a curse word in the Campana household, and the two kids had grown accustomed to avoiding it like the plague if they wanted to live a peaceful life, void of their mothers' erratic behaviour.

Their father had reached out to Kylie and Jax for the first time on Kylie's sixteenth birthday. As though a few meaningless scribbles on a birthday card eight years late would suffice in making up for lost time as well as the childhood and innocence that the two had lost with it.

Jax may have forgiven their father and Libby the day that card arrived through the post-box but Kylie hadn't. And so, on her fathers' funeral reception she was finally coming face-to-face with the then nineteen-year-old teenager that he had left their mother for all those years ago.

Kylie reclaimed her stone-hearted persona, consisting of her usual resting-bitch face. She would never forgive the woman who stole her father from them and made him transgress to the levels he had.

"Hi Libby. I've heard an awful lot about you too, can't say any of it was good though." Kylie sneered back at the blonde beauty in front of her.

The hurt was evident in Libby's clear blue eyes as she realised that Kylie was referring to Valerie and what the two had been told by their mother. She noted that building a relationship with Kylie as her father would have wanted was not going to be as easy as it had been with Jax.

"I hoped maybe you'd like to come around to our home, you're always welcome. I know the kids are dying to meet their big sister." She continued hopefully. She had a tissue crunched up carefully in the palm of her hand and occasionally used it to dab at the wet patches forming around her eyes.

"I have no interest in you or your sprog."

Kylie knew very little about her three siblings from her fathers' second marriage. She'd always wondered how her father, who had been a lousy dad to her and Jax thought it was okay to go and put his sperm to use elsewhere.

"You know, your father would always tell me how beautiful you were, but my god, his descriptions barely do you any justice." Libby cautiously moved her hand towards Kylie's cheek but Kylie automatically took a step back.

"I didn't want to talk about this here, but somehow I doubt I'll ever see you again. Your father wrote a will before he died."

"Oh?" Kylie's eyed widened in surprise.

"He left a small sum of money for all of his children, but he had his will changed a couple of days before he died. He wrote a letter explaining...explaining why he decided not to give you any money. I hope you'll read it." Libby slipped an envelope out of her bag, and handed it to Kylie.

"What? What are you even saying?" Kylie's face scrunched up in confusion. Her mind was sent reeling, unable to fully grasp or process the information that had just been shared with her. To say she was shocked would be an understatement, perhaps betrayed would be more fitting.

"I don't agree with his decision. But you should read what your father has to say to you, his final words to you."

"I hate that man, and I'm glad he's six feet under. My only wish is that he was in dire pain when he passed away." She involuntarily yelled, so that everyone in room had turned their attention to the two.

"Kylie, please not here." Jax had started making his way through the crowd, towards Kylie.

"Why not Jax? Actually, I'd like to propose a toast to my stepmother here, Libby. The bimbo gold-digging bitch that my father shacked up with!" She leered at all those watching, picking up a glass of wine from the table beside her and holding it up.

"Come on, let's go."

"No Jax, I'm just about getting started." She stated, a mischievous grin finding its way onto Kylie's face as she hauled her glass up and let the contents splash across Libby's face and onto her dress, the liquid swiftly moving down to her hand, completely soaking the letter. The wetness soaked through her clothes, exposing her cleavage greatly.

"Ah, now I can see what my dad saw in you." Kylie laughed as Jax finally drew her out of the room.

"Kylie, what the hell was that?!" Jax yelled at her, grabbing onto her shoulders and shaking her body slightly.

"She changed the will, didn't she? There's no way that dad would leave me nothing, not after everything I've done for him!"

Jax's eyes darkened a few shades, transforming to the recognisable identical grey of Kylie's eyes; the lustrous colour of polished metal.

"She didn't. Dad made that decision on his own, he told me his plans to change it before he died."

"What? Why didn't you say anything to me about it?"

"Because of this, Kylie. Because of you, I don't know how you'll react from one minute to the next." He said, moving his hand from side to side, trying to emphasise how irrational her behaviour had been moments before.

"So, you agree with what's he done?"

"No. I don't, but I don't blame her for that man's mistakes. She's innocent in all of this, she doesn't know half of what dad did to us or to Mum." He explained, finally wrapping his arms around his younger sister, knowing how vulnerable she was, despite the strong front she put on daily.

"He never cared about me, did he Jax?" Maybe this was the cue for her to start sobbing had she been surprised by her fathers' decision. But she'd always known and so, even then no tears emerged.

-------------------------------------------------

When Kylie returned home that evening, she found Elijah alone in the lounge room.

"Hey, you okay? How was the funeral?" He switched the TV off using the remote as soon as he noticed her presence, making it obvious that he had been sitting there waiting for her.

She carelessly dropped her bag on the table, and fell into Elijah's lap before slamming her lips against his. She tilted her head slightly as she bit down on his lower lip, and opened her mouth to allow Elijah access to delve into her mouth. The strong scent of the wine she had consumed earlier was being exchanged through their intermingling hungry tongues.

Kylie's arm hung around his neck, and she let out a quiet moan in response to the feel of Elijah's erection pressing against her own crotch.

The kiss was far from innocent. It was demanding and full of fire, and the warmth was rapidly spreading through both of their bodies.

"Jess...Jess is upstairs." He whispered through gasping breaths, pressing his forehead against Kylie's as the two struggled to keep their lips away from each other for even this mere second.

She clasped her hand on either side of his face, a smirk arising on her face, "I don't care if you don't."

"Let's just talk, yeah?"

"Why talk when we can do better things?" She said, as she used her long, faux finger nails to trace along his torso, stopping at his groin, applying slightly more pressure to the area causing Elijah to groan.

His dark mahogany orbs coruscated a darker shade, almost completely becoming black. Kylie smiled as she recognised that she had unleashed his animalistic lust and that she wouldn't need to ask him twice now.

She led him to the bathroom opposite the lounge room, locking the door behind them and biting her lip seductively.

Elijah hoisted Kylie's body up and perched her on the edge of the sink. His hand dropped instinctively to her thigh, drawing perfect circles which seemed to move higher and higher under her skirt with every passing second.

A moan escaped Kylie's red lips in response to his finger-tips. His hands not quite yet reaching the designated place, but already causing pulses of electricity to surge through her body. She was already aware that when he begins touching her, she'd be unable to process the pleasure and would be reduced to a quivering mess.

He gazed up at her, almost as though he was waiting for her approval as their eyes locked for a brief moment.

"Kylie..." His voice was hoarse as he whispered her name, prolonging it as though he was saying a prayer. He caressed his lips against hers again tenderly, before roughly tugging her hair back as his lips formed trails along her neck.

"Kylie? Are you home?" Jess's voice directly outside the door broke their trance, bringing them both back to reality. Elijah jumped away from Kylie and Kylie jumped down from the sink top.

"Oh, for fucks sake." Elijah muttered under his breath, running his fingers through his hair and an obvious panicked expression spreading across his face.

"I'm in here. I've got the shits." Kylie blurted out, attempting to sound as realistic as possible whilst adjusting her clothing and rubbing around her lips in the mirror, trying to clean the smudges.

"You get out of here when the coast is clear." She whispered to Elijah as though giving directions to a young child who is frankly, quite incapable.

"Do you need me to get you anything?" Jess yelled back through the door, her voice fading as she slightly backed away from the door to avoid getting a whiff.

Kylie popped her head out, ensuring that Jess wasn't close enough to notice Elijah in the room, before jumping out of the bathroom.

"You might not want to go in there for a while, yeah it was a big one." Kylie responded, wafting her hand in front of her face to indicate the smell.

"Fucking gross, Kylie." Jess laughed as she patted the seat next to her, indicating that Kylie should sit beside her.

"I'm going to throw a house party tomorrow."

"Why?" Kylie sighed.

"Because it'll break the ice for you and the guests on the wedding day, and I've got an announcement to make."

"What announcement?" Kylie adjusted her body to face Jess. She felt fear bubbling inside her.

Could Jess know?

"You'll have to wait to find out tomorrow like everyone else." She smiled, a radiance about her as a slight flush appeared on her cheeks.

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Authors Note: Thanks for reading! Hope you guys enjoyed, as always leave a comment, what do you guys think Jess's announcement is?! I know, all you guys are super intelligent and will probably figure it out easily :')

And please vote if you enjoyed this chapter :))

& Dedicated to onsra- for the amazing new cover! Thank you :)