“Yes, Doctor,” she said. “Something you need?”
Lillian Palmer cocked her head from one side to the other as she focused her stare on Angeline’s beaming face. Of course she seemed confused. Lillian had never seen her this happy, so the sight must seem strange.
“Are you feeling alright?” Lillian asked, her voice full of concern.
Angeline laughed as she nodded.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “The best thing has happened. I’m so…”
The room suddenly started to spin, and Lillian’s image grew blurry under her eyes. Angeline tried to brush it off and finish her thought, but her eyes grew heavy and she felt her legs growing weaker.
“I’m so…”
She pictured Kane, almost felt his arms around her as Lillian tried to stop her fall.
Then everything went black.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Angeline awoke on an exam table. It was a room into which she had ushered many patients while she stood off to the side. Lifting her lids, she almost thought that she saw a former version of herself, waiting. Just as quickly, it evaporated into the air, and Angeline knew nothing but the plush leather pressing into her back as Lillian scanned a printout and handed it off to another nurse. She closed the door tightly and pulled a stool to Angeline’s side.
“You’re up,” Lillian said. “Glad to see it.”
Running a hand across her flushed face, Angeline smiled.
“Guess I’m just tired,” Angeline said. “Long night.”
But well worth it. She had him back. He would be here at five. After so many years without, she wanted to have, to hold him again. He believed her, and Noel had failed. Even the rape faded away when she realized that she had won.
“I thought it best to draw blood,” Lillian said.
Angeline turned her head and saw the gauze taped to her arm. A part of her wanted to assure Lillian that she was just fine. Yet she was curious as Lillian flipped through the pages in her hands.
“Can your tests measure happiness?” Angeline asked, her voice full of joy.
Lillian seemed taken aback, confused. She only knew the sad girl that had shuffled towards her office as she marked off days on a calendar. And when the marks stopped, Lillian surprised her with a hug and tried to assure her that everything would somehow still be okay.
“So you’ve found someone else?” Lillian asked.
Angeline sat up and laughed.
“No,” she said. “Kane is alive. We… we were together. Just last night.”
Running her hands through her hair, Angeline remembered the ways in which he had kissed her after taking her again. She forgot doubt when he rested his lips to her eyes.
***
“I’ll keep you safe,” Kane promised. “Just trust me.”
***
And she did then. She did now. It was nothing to tell Lillian the truth. Angeline expected her smile, and her teeth chattered when Lillian returned her gaze to the printout.
“Just last night?” Lillian asked.
Angeline nodded and brought her body to the edge of the exam table. Her eyes found Lillian’s, and she gave her a confident nod.
“I have him back,” she said. “Guess that’s why I’m a little shaky. Kane—”
“But there was someone before him,” Lillian said.
Angeline flashed back to Noel. He had taken her, but it was nothing compared to Kane. Noel only crept close on the back of a cruel lie. Kane was the truth, and she was not about to apologize.
“His friend,” Angeline started. “He… hurt me.”
Lillian seemed startled. Give her the chance, and she would turn this into something that it no longer was.
She had to put her mind at ease.
“It wasn’t real. Kane gets it. So we’re going to forget. I—”
“Not sure that you can.”
Lillian turned the page to her with a sad sigh. Angeline blinked around the figures.
“hCG?”Angeline said. “Why is it so—?”
“Last period?” Lillian asked.
Angeline searched her mind, and she suddenly realized that it had been two months, the space between Noel’s assault and this moment. She had given no thought to the lack of blood flowing between her legs. She was tense. It was nothing more than that.
Unless…
“Angeline,” Lillian said as she scrunched her small nose and took the page back. She scanned the document and finally, knowingly, glanced over the edge of the page.
“How long?” Lillian asked again.
“A month,” Angeline whispered. “Maybe two.”
Lillian nodded with utter certainty as she took her hand.
“Makes sense,” she said. “You’re that far along.”
Angeline’s blood ran cold. No. Kane had sworn that Noel would be kept at a distance now that he was back in her arms.
And now…
“What if…?”
Angeline knew that she was grasping at straws, but she still hoped.
“I was with Kane,” she said. “Maybe that’s it. Maybe…”
In her frantic mind, it made sense. Kane was strong enough to plant his seed with one sure stroke.
It had to be his child. It just had—
“Angeline” Lillian started as she sadly shook her head. “You’re too far along. It had to be someone else.”
And she died inside as she touched her stomach.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kane waited with flowers. The girl at the counter had told him to stop while he was ahead, but he wanted to go all out. He had promised her that much and hoped to offer more. It was nice to feel this normal, just a guy waiting to take his girl out. He clung to that as cars pulled from the lot, leaving his lonely bike in a single space. He wondered if she might be inviting him to find her as the lights darkened, and he straightened up the length of his back.
When the door finally creaked open, Kane saw a slight red head passing through the door. As he clutched the bouquet , the woman stepped towards him. He could feel her breath on his neck, and Kane was nearly shocked when she patted his cheek.
“Stay with her,” the woman said. “She’s going to need you now. More than ever, I think.”
As the woman wandered into the twilight, Kane tried to make sense of her words. When he last seen his Angel, she was smiling, happy. If something had changed that…
His mind turned to Noel. The idea that he had hurt her again filled him with rage, and he raced to the door, thinking of nothing but holding her close.
“Oh!”
She was there. Here. Kane dropped the flowers and took her into his arms. Angeline calmed for a single second, but then her hot tears spilled across his chest.
It wasn’t like her.
“Angel? Don’t cry,” he said.
Kane brought her closer and kissed her temples.
“I’m back,” he reminded her. “It’s all good and—”
“No it’s not!”
Angeline pushed him away. As she struggled to catch her breath, she slunk down the brick façade of building. Kane watched her crumple and swiftly fell to her side.
“Come on,” he said. “It’s—”
“It’s no good!”
The force of her cry sent him back, and he watched as she tried to stand.
“Angel?”
She was hardly on her feet, still seeming to slip to the asphalt, when Kane gathered her in his arms. Even as she struggled, Kane held her close and whispered into her ear.
“We’re home,” he said. “So no tears. Okay?”
Angeline lingered in his arms. Kane held her, stroked her arms. As he nodded into her hair, Kane felt sure that he had stilled her sorrow.
“Okay?”
Kane took her face in his hands with a small smile. He thought that she was more beautiful than ever. His Angel, under his hands, and they had nothing to fear if they had each other.
“Kane?”
Angeline cuddled close and kissed his ches
t. He smiled and imagined taking her back to the grass. Better yet, a proper bed. He longed to curl her into soft sheets and make more promises. All she had to do was believe in him and –
“I’m carrying his child,” Angeline said.
Kane drew back but did not let her go. What was she saying? Why would she…?
“We can’t forget,” she said. “He... Noel has me now.”
Shaking his head, Kane’s eyes filled with tears. She was supposed to be his again. All his. But Noel’s mark had trumped his tattoo, and his first though was to push her away and jump back on his bike. He would speed off and forget. What other choice…?
“I’m sorry,” Angeline said as dared to rest in his arms. Kane held her as she sobbed against his chest. He hated the idea of Noel putting her in this position, and he nearly ran when she sadly looked into his eyes.
“You can hate me now,” she said.
Kane saw the way in which Noel had taken her, felt the lie, and now there was the consequence of all of their actions. Noel would think nothing of claiming the child and starting to set it on his path, a path that Kane knew was dangerous.
“A kid?” he said. “His kid?
Angeline’s tears bathed his hands. She wouldn’t want any baby in danger, and now Noel’s child demanded his protection.
Kane took her into his arms.
“Okay,” Kane said. “We’ll handle this. I’ll handle it.”
She cried closer to him, and Kane touched her hair.
“You’re safe,” he promised. “And…”
When he hesitated, she lifted her eyes to his. He didn’t know if he could keep them safe.
But he would try.
Kane was stuck by her soft beauty. With her curls swirling around her cheeks, Kane felt that he could never love anyone but her. She had Noel’s child inside her. It was his chance to run and forget.
“Am I?” Angeline asked.
He folded her closer and felt her breath on his skin. She needed him. And he had to keep holding her. Even as she shook under his arms, Kane dared to bring her face closer to his.
“I love you.” He touched her belly with a sigh. “And this is our child,” Kane continued. “So no more tears.”
Falling into him, Angeline was still.
“Can you just trust me?” he asked.
Kane waited for her to calm. And when she did, Angeline sighed into him and faintly nodded.
“I think so,” she said.
In time, she would be sure.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When she had finally caught her breath, Kane picked her up in his massive arms and carried her towards his bike. The thought of riding with him on the wind was always a thrill, something that she had missed in the years without him. But now, she hesitated.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Her hand went to her belly, and while the child growing inside her was most definitely the devil’s spawn, half of the baby, the better half, was hers. Kane always knew his way up every street and down every dark alley. But even as he held out his hand and managed a smile, Angeline could see the rage boiling in his eyes. What if he lost his focus and missed a turnoff or failed to see an oncoming truck? Even with Kane back, a small part of Angeline wouldn’t mind a knock out from which she might never recover.
But now she had two lives to look after.
“Kane,” she started, “why don’t we…why don’t we just walk it off? I mean… I need…”
A gasp left her lips when he seized her by the shoulders. His hands were tender yet firm, and his face was like steel, as he stared into her wide green eyes.
“We do need to talk,” he said. “But not here. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
He nearly had her on the bike when Angeline drew back. Kane’s face contorted into a mask of frustration, but he still moved towards her with a sure step.
“What?” he challenged. “You scared or something?”
Before she could stop herself, Angeline felt her head nod. She was scared, but not of him—of what he might do.
“A little,” she confessed. “Are you…I mean are you even thinking straight right now, Kane?”
She knew that sooner or later, he would see Noel again. What then? It seemed to her that the code between the so-called Blood Brothers was shattered beyond repair. Would Kane be able to control himself and just grit his teeth, or would he push him to the ground, rip her rapist’s head off, and find his hands covered in blood until metal cuffs returned to his wrists? Punishment for such a crime would mean more than five years without him. It would be forever.
Fear raced around her heart, and she held up her hands as he tried to grab her again. “Just tell me,” she said.
Kane tilted his head to the side and avoided her gaze. “Tell you what?” he challenged.
“Tell me…tell me that you won’t do anything stupid.”
A ragged laugh left his lips, and Angeline flinched. He had sworn to her that she was safe and that he could get past the fact that the child was Noel’s. As much as she wanted to believe him, her mind was still flooded with doubts.
“Only dumb thing I ever did was leave you alone,” he said. The sweetness in his voice pulled her back to his arms, but as his embrace began to enclose her, Kane muttered into her hair,“And look what happened.”
Pushing away from him, Angeline sucked in a deep breath and fought the urge to smack his stubbled face. “I never asked you to take the fall for me,” she spat.
“I got that,” he said. “But no one tells me what to do, Angel. Kind of thought that you had that figured out.”
“And I never told you to sic your buddy on me,” she continued. “Look what happened? Figured it out? I could say the same thing to you.”
He had always sworn that he would never hold his sacrifice against her, but now she wasn’t so sure. She felt that the piece of his heart that he struggled to keep buried did blame her for the ruination of everything that he had ever believed him. No way back to the club, no way to be with her without Noel’s face coming between them whenever they lay side by side. Plus, when the baby—the small, innocent life that she was already growing attached to—finally appeared, what then?
Everything had changed, and there was no pretending or going back.
“Just forget it,” she said. “It’s a mistake. We’re a mistake.”
Turning on her heel, Angeline did not look back, and she was stunned when she did not feel him following her. When he called it their child, Kane must have been lost in the heat of the moment and the feel of her flushed flesh pressing against his. But now, as the night grew colder, he had to want to take it back. Angeline didn’t blame him for any of it; he had paid the ultimate price for her crime. As she kept walking away from him, it seemed that so had she.
“Hey!” Charging forward, Kane collected her in his arms and forced her around to face him. She squirmed in his embrace, but Kane’s hold was too strong to resist. When he clutched her face, she had no choice but to look into his eyes, as his hot breath encircled her anguished body. “Mistake?” he said. “No way. I don’t make mistakes.”
Raising his hand, a single finger brushed against her lips, and she fought the urge to taste his flesh on her tongue. She thought back to all the lonely nights without him and longed to take a chance now that he was so close. But who was she kidding? This wasn’t going to work, and she straightened, as she prepared to explain the things that only she understood and that he would have to accept in time.
“Kane, just listen—”
“Just stop talking, Angel.”
He surprised her with the force of his kiss, hungry and powerful, as his lips parted around hers. She struggled at first, her hands trying to push his broad chest away. However, as she fell deeper into his mouth, she felt his heart pounding through his shirt, and Angeline was powerless to do anything but melt into his arms. Kane’s hand spun up her back, and as his fingers hit her neck, she moaned at the feel of him kneading her skin. He lost his hands in her
hair and took her curls into his touch. He had this way of making her feel like he might crush her in the space of his hard hands, but just as quickly, his hold became soft, and she knew that he would do anything for her, would do anything but hurt her.
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