Walking outside into the cold air the next day, Adalyn felt sick. Not until the Escalade pulled up and no Angel could be found did she realize her fear had come true.

All night she had been in denial, crying and promising herself that not until he didn’t show the next morning would she believe that Angel had said his final goodbye.

Goodbye, Adalyn.

Now she knew with finality he had.

* * *

Before Adalyn’s knuckles could meet the door, it was flung open and Lucca appeared, letting her inside his office.

As he took a seat behind the desk, she decided to stand, too anxious to sit. It had been a week since Angel had told her goodbye and disappeared. Even the hotel room he had stayed in was empty of him.

“Where is he?” she asked, getting right to it. She was angry at herself for asking, but even angrier that he would disappear the way he had without even giving her a chance to speak.

Lucca leaned back in his chair. “I can’t tell you that, Adalyn.”

“Why?” She almost screamed the word, knowing it was wrong to be so angry, but it was inexplicable.

He was silent for a few moments before he told her the truth. “He told me he doesn’t want to see or speak to you.”

When the tears finally fell, they changed her vision. For the first time, she saw the man she had been in love with, with different eyes, realizing she hadn’t actually been in love with him at all. She had been infatuated with him, with the idea of him, of loving the underboss, of loving the boogieman.

How did she finally know that after all this time? Because right up to this moment, she hadn’t felt what it felt like to really, truly love someone.

This time when Lucca spoke, there was a slight tenderness to his voice. “I’m sorry, Adalyn.”

Wiping away her tears, she looked at him, not knowing if he was sorry for Angel disappearing out of her life or for making me fall in love with Angel.

* * *

Sitting on her bed, she couldn’t keep from looking out of the corner of her eye at the ring that sat on her nightstand. It had haunted her every day for a month now, as it was the only thing she had left of him. The only thing that let her know it had all been real and not just a dream.

Adalyn picked up the horse shoe ring, twirling it between her fingers. She had hoped, even expected, that he would come back into her life, even for just a moment, to get the ring back. She had been keeping it, planning on using it to bargain with him when he did, but he hadn’t. And that only made the hurt so much worse, considering it was so important to him. It showed her that he would rather she keep it until the end of time than to see her again.

It was so cruel and so hurtful that it shattered every part of her to the point where she didn’t know if she could ever trust herself to love again.

There were some wounds that cut deep, but others just killed you.

* * *

“How much do you love me?” Adalyn gripped the ring that she had hidden in her jacket pocket.

Lake eyed her warily as they sat at the counter, pretending to be interested in their homework. “Depends on what you want me to do. If you want to copy my homework, I love you enough to share it. But if you want me to do something that’s going to get me in trouble with Vincent, it’s debatable.”

“Wow, that hurts. So, you’re picking my brother over me again? I thought it was chicks before dicks?”

“Adalyn!” her friend grumbled, knowing it was hard for her to say no when she pulled that card. “I can’t get in trouble with Vincent right now. He finally loves me again.”

“When’s the last time we got in trouble? We never have any fun anymore …” Adalyn’s voice trailed off, too depressed to continue.

“Uh … Are you trying to make me feel guilty?”

Looking over at her, there was at last, after one month and one week, hope in her eyes. “Is it working?”

“Goddammit.” Lake shut her book with a hard thud. “How much trouble am I about to get into?”

Adalyn smiled, hoping there was still some adventure left in Lake. “The kind where we steal Vincent’s keys and get the hell out of here.”

Regret was already written on her best friend’s face. “Well, fuck me.”

Standing up, Adalyn was more than ready, having thought about him enough. The first four stages of goodbye were hard; it was time for her to meet the last one.