“Fine.”
Noel released Kane, and he fell back to Angeline’s waiting body. Keeping Theo close in one arm, she dared to wrap her free limb around his back. Her body could not help but buzz at the feel of him under her hold, and when she found his eyes, Angeline slowly shook her head. “You don’t… you don’t have to do this,” she whispered.
“For you? Honey, I’d do anything and more for you.”
Kane was pulled away from her, and she watched with sad eyes as he was hauled from the house. Could she really just let him go? Just like that? The thought of him suffering, again, for her crimes, gave her heart pause, and she started to stumble towards the door.
“Angie?” Her father was up on his elbows. Gripping her ankle, he shook his head weakly. “Let it go,” he said. “Let him go. We’re all better off.”
Her father was right, but she had to see him again. Just one last time.
Finding his cane, Brent was back on his feet, and as a new set of headlights blazed through the broken window, Angeline settled her father in his chair and placed Theo in his arms. If she was going to keep her baby safe, this had to be the end.
But one last kiss…
“Angie!” her Dad yelled after her.
She moved to the porch and saw Kane face-to-face with his true brother. Jeremy was firing off a million questions. “Going with them?” Jeremy asked. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do, Jem. Now I want you to take her—”
“And leave you behind. How is that—”
“Such a tool,” Noel said, as he pummeled Jeremy and sent him into the dirt.
“No!” Kane cried. “Get your hands off him!”
Falling on his brother, Kane held him tight, and Angeline heard him promise, over and over again, that there would be no trouble if Jem could just get them away. At the sound of him selling his soul for her sake, Angeline rushed to hold him again.
When Noel saw Angeline running across the lawn, he barreled towards her and grabbed her arms. “So she came to say fare thee well!” Noel taunted. “I said that she was sweet.”
Abandoning his brother, Kane raced to Noel and tried to bash him away. However, Noel brought his knife to Angeline’s throat and glared over her shoulder. “Might be fun to gut her right here,” he said. “I think I’d like to see that.”
Angeline was ready for the blade, hopeful that her father could just get Theo away. At the moment when Noel was about to slice, he pressed her back to Kane’s chest and smirked. “Say goodbye now,” he said. “Nice of me to give you even that.”
Moving closer to him, her fingers shook as she grazed his cheeks. She started to tell him no, that he didn’t have to give up his future, his life for her. But Kane smiled into her kiss. His tongue twirled around her teeth, and her soul dropped at the thought that he was trying to remember her before she was truly gone.
“Kane…”
“I’ll always love you,” he said. “And I’m doing this for you.”
Overwhelmed by his words, Angeline wrapped her arms around his neck. If she could hold him close, close enough, maybe he would never leave. As her lips melted into his, she hated even thinking of abandoning him to this fate of her doing.
It didn’t matter when they kissed. When they held each other.
Until Noel laughed and said, “She never kissed me like that.”
And she never would.
Angeline saw Brent and Theo emerged from the house and ran to them. “Dad? It’s okay. I have you.”
She brought her father to Jeremy’s side. Her hands searched for Theo’s head. He was so quiet that she feared that he had taken a turn for the absolute worst and stopped breathing. But when his blue eyes, slowly, suddenly turning green, seemed to smile up at her, she found the strength to settle them into Jeremy’s car. She kissed her baby, and Jeremy tried to lower her into the passenger’s seat. However, something inside her would not let her forget her last kiss with Kane.
Kane had made Jeremy promise that she would be safe. Then, he left her alone, as he sat on the back of Noel’s bike, shooting her a sad glance as they sped off into the night. When she lost his eyes, Angeline raced forward. She started to reach into the air for him, but then her mind turned back to Theo. She had to keep him safe. No matter what. Even if it meant that her heart would be broken beyond repair. She watched with watering eyes until he was gone. As she started to fall into the dirt, Jeremy lifted her up.
“Jeremy?” she asked. “Will you help us?”
“Like I have a choice.” With sagging shoulders, he opened the back door to his car. “Don’t let him down,” Jeremy said.