“Angel?” Months had passed, and Angeline’s belly was bigger. And she was somehow more beautiful. He loved running his hands across her wide belly, and he smiled whenever the baby kicked. He couldn’t help but thing that this kid was a fighter, just like his mom.
Kane watched as Angeline turned away from the spare room, the place that she now called the nursery. Not knowing what that meant, he had told her to trust her instincts and do what she though best. Best became a little room bathed in yellow with lots of zoo animals, monkeys and lions and the like, taped to the wall, stuffed and waiting around the rocking chair where she planned to sit. Kane had asked if she wanted to know if the baby was a boy or a girl, but every time he posed the question, she just shook her head of soft curls, smiled, and said, “I want to it to be a surprise.”
This whole thing was a surprise.
When he touched her growing belly—fighting his need to hold her closer when she kissed his cheek—Kane sometimes wondered if he could handle this. Screw the fact that they knew it was Noel’s; Kane would say that this was his child with his dying breath to spare her the memory. But a baby… just a baby…
For a lot of nights, too many too count, he stayed awake and stroked her hair as she slept. He had missed this for five years, just being able to hold her and know that she was with him. But when he thought of the kid, his mind drifted back to his father. Harsh hands and harsher words that had sent him running away. What if the apple didn’t fall far from the tree? He pictured the kid, boy or girl, not finishing dinner or failing at school. If he was his father’s son, Kane would form a fist and pound hard in the hope of getting a better result.
Every time he touched the life inside her, he vowed that he would learn from his father’s mistakes. This kid would stay safe. Always.
“You okay?” she asked.
Returning to her eyes, Kane saw her smiling, and he fell into her kiss. As he touched her, he patted her skin. “I’ll never hurt it,” Kane said. “I swear. I…”
As his voice drifted away, he felt her arms surrounding his neck, and he held her closer. “I know, Kane,” she said. “We’re safe now.”
Brent Wilkins saw things differently. Kane had the feeling that the injured man was barely tolerating his presence, but somehow he held his tongue when Angeline smiled. That was a father, a man that saw to his child’s comfort even if he had his doubts. Kane would forget his own father and look to the better example.
“Always, Angel.”
Kissing her softly, he looked around the room. The kid would be happy here. It’d probably be happy anywhere with her.
“You’re going to get this so right,” he said. “Kid’s lucky.”
“Yes. Yes, he is.”
Angeline started to kiss him again when he backed away with a start.
“Something you’re not telling me, Angel?”
He wanted it to be a boy. A little man that he could talk shop with. A girl would be harder. Angeline would take the lead. However, Kane wanted to sink his whole heart into this.
“Just saying,” she said. “Maybe hoping.”
Taking her hand, he wished that he could just stay here with her and wait. After that, maybe they could play at being ordinary folk and argue over the name and what the little one would do as it started to grow. Kane wanted it to be a boy…
His boy.
Noel hadn’t spoken one word, had not made one move that warned Kane that he was wise to the situation. The crew knew that he was living with Angeline and her father, but that’s where the ribbing started and stopped. Sometimes Noel glared at Kane through the smoke of his cigarette with what felt like the surest of questions. Kane had to look away, and when he glanced back, Noel was back to chugging his beer and paying Kane little to no mind. Settling back into his own drink, Kane was sure that Noel didn’t suspect a thing.
Everything was going according to their plan.
“I’ll be late tonight,” Kane said.
Angeline looked upset, but she was growing used to the routine. Under any other circumstances, he would have shown her off again. He longed to celebrate her now as she carried the weight of their secret inside her. She had to wait for him here.
And he would come back.
“Hey?” she called to him. Turning back to face her, Angeline brought her lips to his. As she stroked his back, Kane’s body melted under her hands, and when their eyes met again, she smiled and ran her fingers across his cheek. “Don’t leave me hanging,” she said. “I go crazy without you.”
“Same here, Angel.”
Kissing her one last time, he hopped onto his bike and sped away from her father’s house.
Noel was calling a meeting, another surprise. Family meeting, he liked to call it. Sometimes it was to plan a fun run, corralling the girls that never flinched at the chance to dance for the boys. From time-to-time, the girls would get combative when they learned that they had to turn two-thirds of their tips over to the club. In another life, the old guard would talk the girls out of the idea with a fresh joint or some head on the house.
Noel was playing things differently. If a girl got mouthy, she got a slap to the face. Or worse. Most of the time that shut them up. However, if Noel was keyed up, he kept going until he was dragged away from broken, crying skin. Kane would often lead the charge to separate Noel from his target, the dancers becoming Angeline. Whenever Noel caught his breath, he would light another cigarette and keep quiet before disappearing behind walls of tape, and Kane helped one girl or another to their shaky legs. He thought of Noel’s eyes. Kane made no secret of the fact that he was back with Angeline, living with Angeline, but the rest of it? The whole truth?
Pushing the grip harder, Kane hit the throttle and accelerated. He thought, “Just get this over with and get back. Back to her.”
He pulled up to the insignia of the snake insignia with blood dripping from its teeth—the same insignia that matched his tattoo—and he parked his bike. Running his hands through his hair, Kane gnashed his teeth and stepped into the fire. Last night it was the girls, and now Noel had said that he just wanted to chill with the crew, shoot pool, and shoot Kane a few knowing looks between jabs. Kane couldn’t help but wonder what was his real deal? He figured he just needed to head in, find out, and get out.
The brothers were already buzzed when Kane joined the party. Waldo tapped the keg dry as Ben hauled another barrel to the center of the room. A part of Kane wondered why they had started celebrating without him. It felt good to wake up in her arms, and now, they were making a family. However, sometimes, Kane still felt like the little boy hiding in the dumpster without a friend. Without a family. He still wanted to be a part of them until he left on his own terms.
“What’s up?” Kane’s bellow brought the room to a halt. Ben choked out his beer as soon as he saw him, but Waldo did not miss a drop. Needing a drink of his own, Kane drew from the keg, chugged fast, and tossed his glass aside. “Something major?” Kane asked. “And you didn’t tell me?”
He stared them down, stripped off his jacket, and was ready to battle back any lie that they tried to sell. Maybe they would call him too soft for this bash because he was with Angeline. What if they knew that he was protecting her from the boss? Strippers and whores were one thing, but his girl was different, and if they didn’t get that, he would show them how wrong they were. As Kane retrieved his glass and drew a fresh drink, the bubbles swirling down his throat, he wondered if it was time. They had talked of hiding, and if it came to that…
“Who’s the daddy?”
Ben’s rumbling voice shot Kane back to reality, and as he tilted his end at the question, Waldo barreled forward. Suds dripped off his lips, and he lifted Kane into a harsh hug and shook him hard.
“This guy!” Ben yelled. “So why the big secret?”
The room spun as Waldo whipped him around, and Kane’s tongue curled around his teeth, chattering even as he fought against it. Waves of tape and the laughing faces of his crew passed before his eyes, and Kane thought that he might pass out. “Wait! What…?”
Angeline’s face appeared for a small second, and he tried to reach out for her. As fast as she appeared, she was gone, but Kane pushed Waldo away.
And he fell to the concrete floor.
“K Man? You okay?”
Ben was helping him to his feet, and as he gripped his arm, he looked worried. Kane had crumbed the play, and he forgot himself as his hands ensnared Ben’s throat, and he pushed him into the far wall.
“What did you say?” Kane demanded.
Ben writhed and kicked under his hands, but Kane wanted to know. This was his friend, his brother, but if Ben had spilled the secret when he had worked like a mad man to make the baby his…
All Kane could think was, “It is mine. She’s mine. Not Noel’s.”
“Kane! This is for you, man!” Waldo yelled.
His strength returned, and Waldo dragged Kane away. Ben’s hand went to his throat, and he struggled to catch his breath as Waldo kept pushing Kane back.
“Get the hell off of—”
Fighting Waldo, Kane thought of Angeline again. He had left her all alone. Sure, her dad was there. But what would he do? Bash their brains in with his cane? Watch lamely as Angeline was brought back to Noel? The thought of him hurting her again brought Kane to his feet, and he was nearly out the door when a familiar voice hit the air.
“Boys, chill!”
All eyes turned to Noel stepping through the tape.
His eyes dug into Kane’s soul, and Kane quaked in his boots as Noel moved closer. When they were toe-to-toe, Noel’s face was like steel, his hand like lead, as he grabbed Kane’s shoulder. “What?” Noel challenged. “You knocked her up, right? What?” Noel leaned in for the kill and hissed into Kane’s eyes. “Or is there something else going on?”