When the neighborhoods changed from carefully maintained ones to ones that became unkempt and old, she wondered if this really had been a good idea. By the time Lake slowed the car to a crawl, she didn’t think it was.

“Adalyn …”

But she wasn’t going to let her friend know that, because her mind had been made up the second she had put the ring in her pocket.

“I’m going to do it, Lake. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“An axe murderer could open the door.” Her friend paused for a moment. “Or she could be prettier than you.”

She had told Lake on the way about Angel, about the ring, and the name she had been given that had put a sparkle in his eyes.

Swallowing painfully, she unbuckled her seatbelt. Then the nerves really started to hit her as she got out of the car. I would rather it be an axe murderer who opens the door.

Giving Lake a determined glance, Adalyn walked up to the porch of the tiny old house and opened the squeaky screen door to knock on the main door. She tried not to be so scared by the bars that were covering the windows, but it was easier said than done.

When no one answered, she tried one last time, knocking harder.

Hearing the door unlock several times, she backed up, preparing for the person behind it. But when the door was finally opened, revealing a beautiful young woman, her breath was almost knocked out of her.

“Hello?” The beautiful woman seemed frazzled.

“H-hi.” Nervous, Adalyn tried to catch her breath. “Are you Bella?”

She seemed to be a bit nervous herself, especially that Adalyn knew her name. “Yes. Who’s asking?”

“Um, my na—” When smoke started to pour out from behind Bella, she watched as the woman quickly left her.

Not knowing what to do, hearing frantic groaning coming from inside the house, she decided to go inside to see if Bella needed help.

When she walked in, her eyes scanned the tiny home that was meticulously clean and neat. She could even see the vacuum trails on the carpet that went in the same direction. The throw pillows on the couch were so evenly spaced apart that Adalyn wondered if she had used a ruler.

It was easy to find the path to the small kitchen that was consumed by smoke. Waving it away from her face, she saw Bella opening the kitchen window to release the heavy air, then pulling out a burnt casserole dish from the oven.

Watching Bella bow her head in frustration, she thought about how this was going very differently than she had thought it would. And the longer she stared at the woman, the more her heart dropped.

She could see why Angel had had that look in his eye when he had said her name. Her name did her justice because no man would be able to resist the exquisite beauty of this dainty woman. Her natural, dirty blonde curls tumbled to her shoulders with a glossy shine that perfectly matched her strong, dark brows. She was without a doubt gorgeous, not needing a stitch of makeup or fancy clothes to prove it.

Adalyn pulled the ring out of her pocket, giving it one last squeeze before heading toward to the frustrated beauty who seemed to be at the end of her rope.

“I think this is yours.”

She stared down at the ring; tears began to brim the blonde’s eyes as she took it, clenching it in a tight fist. “Where did you get this?”

Adalyn tried to open her mouth, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t find it within herself to get the words out.

Tears started to fall onto Bella’s high cheekbones. “It’s my father’s ring …”

That right there was exactly why Angel had tried so damn hard to get it for her, and now she finally understood everything.

If Lucca had been the one with the ring, the chances of her father being dead were certain. The ring, which was the last piece she had to remember Angel, was now Bella’s last piece to remember her father.

Life was funny that way, or twisted and fucked up, depending on how you looked at it.

Bella wiped at the tears. “Please tell me where you found it. I have to know.”

Looking at the beautiful woman for one more second, she wondered if she knew she had her very own guardian angel. An angel she would have killed to have.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” Adalyn backed up before running straight for the door and to the car. She was strong, but she wasn’t strong enough to keep looking at the girl who had stolen Angel’s heart long before she had even had a chance in hell.

With each mile Lake drove in silence, Adalyn felt her heart lighten more and more. The first four stages of goodbye were over, and the last had finally washed over her.

Acceptance. It was a ten-letter word that stood in front of you before you were finally … set free.

As she looked over at her friend, for the first time in a while, a smile appeared on her lips. “Can we make one last stop?”

“Of course.” Lake smiled back. “Where do you want to go?”

Smiling even wider, she could practically taste the nuggets already. “McDonalds.”

* * *

The door was flung open as he approached.

“Angel!”

Catching Bella when she jumped into his arms, he wrapped them around her, lifting her off the ground and holding her to him. For a split-second, he forgot everything as he smelled her blonde curls and the sweet vanilla scent that clung to them. He held her a little longer. It only ever lasted for just a moment …

… “Angel!” Bella gave him a big hug when he walked into school.

Wrapping his scrawny arms around her, he smiled, knowing that, even at eight years old, this moment right here was what would make living through his father’s hell worth it for the years to come.

“I missed you so much,” she whispered to him.

The horror he had spent in the closet seemed to all slip away. “I missed you, t—”

“Matthias …?” The little, curly blonde girl let him go, slowly walking up to the identical brother with sadness marking her face. “Are you okay?”

Matthias blankly stared, seeming to look straight past her. His dark gray eyes were traumatized, and if you looked close enough, you could see the horrors he held in them.

With water glistening her young eyes, Bella raised a hand, reaching out for the brother she would always reach out to for years to come. “Matthias?” …

…Holding out for a second longer, he felt Bella’s gaze go over his shoulder and sensed the disappointment that her gentle nature couldn’t hide.

See? Only ever lasted for just a moment.

Placing her back on the ground, he took a deep breath and let her go. “It’s just me. Mathias couldn’t get away.”

Her smile slightly faltered. “Oh …”

He hadn’t seen her in what seemed like forever, being trapped in that casino hotel room. Miserable from not being able to see her, he had asked Matthias to switch places with him again for just a few hours. Coming back to her now seemed different.

Reaching up, he smoothed his tattooed knuckles down her cheekbone like he usually did when he saw the sadness appear on her face. Every time he did, without fail, he wished it could soothe her the way it did when Matthias did it, wished he could soothe her the way Matthias did when she saw him. Never had he been able to achieve his goal, and not until this moment did he realize it was never going to be achieved.

Bella was and always would be in love with Matthias, regardless that he had shown her little interest. No matter how identical they were on the outside, they didn’t share the same soul, and Matthias was who her soul called to.

Only made beautiful by those two souls and those two souls alone … He remembered the words he had said to Adalyn the last time he had seen her, making him realize that he was just as blind. Angel hadn’t taken his own advice.

Trailing his knuckles across her skin for a second longer, he knew this would be the very last time he would do so. The joy and love he had felt for her while touching her was now gone. He wasn’t meant for her, and he could finally clearly see she wasn’t meant for him.

As he started to remove his hand, he stopped, seeing a ring dangling down from a chain around her neck. Angel trailed his hand down, picking it up. He recognized it immediately.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, rubbing it between his fingers, making sure it was real and not just a mirage.

“A girl came to me about a month ago.” Taking it from his hand, she stared down at it. “She didn’t tell me her name or where she found it, but when she gave it to me, it felt like she had been keeping it safe. And when I took it … she seemed upset.”

Angel gazed down at the ring that was now being twirled in Bella’s hand, a ring he had tried desperately to get back to her.

When he had walked out of Adalyn’s life, he had still wanted to get it back, but if he had seen the pretty brunette again, he wasn’t so sure he would have been able to walk away from her a second time.

Ultimately, deep down, he supposed he knew why he couldn’t see her again, but it wasn’t until right now that he could admit it to himself. I’ll be trapped forever.

It was time for Angel to make a decision, one that could change the course of his life forever. And once he made that decision, there was no going back.

Looking down at the girl he had been in love with his entire life, he said something he should have said over two months ago.

“Goodbye, Bella.”