SECRET BABY AT THE ALTAR

by Claire St. Rose

  “So tense!” she said. “Bet I can help you out with—”

  Moving past the girl, she stumbled in her clear heels and cried out. The sound of her tiny scream turned Kane’s head, and even as his stomach was churning in fury, he was relieved to see Ben catch her before she fell.

  “What the hell?” the girl asked.

  “Yeah, man,” Ben said. “What you got against Sandi?”

  Seeing that Sandi was fine as she lit a cigarette and paced the room, Kane returned all of his attention to the task at hand and started to move through walls of tape.

  “K Man! Hold up!”

  Ben was at his heels when Kane found Noel, on his ass as another girl sucked him off. For a split second, Kane saw his face fixed in a satisfied mask. In another life, Kane would have backed away. Or if he was in a joking mood, he would have whistled and pumped his fist at the sight of Noel getting his rocks off. But now, the only thing that he could see was Angeline’s violation. Had Noel worn that same face when he took her with a lie?

  “Noel!”

  Kane slammed his fist into the wall, and Noel’s eyes focused on him with a smile.

  “Not the best time, Kid,” Noel said as he tried to catch his breath. He pushed the kneeling girl’s mouth closer to his cock and lazily stroked her hair. Angeline hadn’t given him every detail; he didn’t stop to listen. But had he done this to her, too? Had he used her like a common whore? The girl’s red hair morphed into Angeline’s brown curls, and Kane felt as if he travelled back in time, that he was actually seeing his Angel forced into acts that she would never have agreed to were it not for the lie. Angeline had never used the word. Maybe she was too scared to speak it, think it. But there was no other term for what Noel had done.

  Rape.

  “Party’s over!” Kane bellowed. His harsh voice and harsher hands eased the girl away from Noel. Somehow still thinking that it was actually Angeline, Kane was stunned to see the sunken cheeks and dark eyes of a stranger. Twisting his head back to the present moment, Kane started to speak when Noel’s girl slapped his face.

  “You owe me fifty bucks!” she hissed.

  Furious and confused, Kane started to reach into his pocket when Noel’s laughter pierced his brain.

  “And someone owes me a hummer,” Noel smirked as he stood and hitched up his jeans. Waving a bill in the air, he nearly handed it to the redhead when he offered the bill to Kane.

  “Or did all that time in the joint turn you into some kind of a fag?” Noel asked.

  Seeing only Angeline, Kane formed a fist and smashed it into Noel’s smug face.

  “Yo! What the fuck?”

  As Noel fell back against his desk amidst the red head’s shrieks, Kane heard nothing, saw nothing as he rained blow after blow on Noel’s face. On the third strike, Noel’s lip split open, and Kane felt his former friend’s blood trickling though his fingers. Fighting past the slick warmth, Kane tried to land another punch when Noel sprang to sudden life.

  “Garbage eating piece of shit!” Noel screamed.

  Before Kane could spit out a comeback, Noel drove him through the filmy door, and Kane was on the ground.

  “Knock it off, Noel,” Ben said. “He’s just blowing off steam and—”

  “Is that right?” Noel asked. “Is that why you’re making like a bitch?”

  Kane struggled to catch his breath as Noel hovered over him. Lowering his eyes, Kane’s eyes went cold, ready for the kill.

  “I saw Angeline tonight,” Kane muttered.

  Through a narrow gaze, Kane watched the words sink in. Almost thinking that he saw worry on his mentor’s face, Kane lifted his body on his elbows and waited for Noel’s side of the story. Maybe Noel was right all along. Could he really trust her?

  “Yeah?” Noel challenged. “Well I saw her earlier. She came sniffing around here. For me.”

  Noel took his denim clad cock in his hands and laughed.

  “What kind of shit she spilling into your brain?”

  Noel held out his hand. Trembling, wishing that he wasn’t, Kane accepted the gesture and found himself back on his feet.

  “Well?” Noel asked.

  “Did you… Did you tell her that I was like dead?”

  Noel appeared to consider the question before shaking his head.

  “Kid,” he started. “Sure.”

  That was all Kane needed to hear.

  “You fucking asshole!”

  Sweeping his leg, Kane watched Noel fall to the ground. Again he was on top of him, pounding his fists into his sides. Kane spat in his face as he struck him.

  “Why would you do that—?”

  “Kane!”

  Ben was at his back, trying to pry Kane from Noel’s side. The redhead took off, and Kane wrapped his hands around Noel’s neck.

  “Why did you lie—?”

  Kane thought that he nearly had the air from his lungs when Noel surprised him with a swift knee to the groin. Doubling back, Ben trying to catch him. Kane was barely back on his feet when Noel grabbed his hair and dragged Kane towards his desk.

  “Don’t be fucking mad at me, Kid!”

  Kane tried to respond when Noel brought his head down. Spinning, Kane tasted stale ash. He started to go limp when Noel slammed him once more before bringing his mouth close to Kane’s ringing ear.

  “I’m not the one who sent you up North,” Noel said. “You’re little lady did that.”

  Moaning through the blood bubbling around his lip, Kane tried to tell him that it was his choice, his alone, when Noel grabbed his collar. Standing him up with a throbbing head, Noel’s eyes were unreadable as he spoke softly.

  “This was to show you that she’s a user,” Noel said. “Used you to get out of a jam. Used me when she was lonely. Now you gotta leave this girl alone and get your head back in the game.”

  As Noel pushed away, Ben took hold of his arms before he fell back to the ground. Noel was already lighting a fresh cigarette, and he seemed assured of his victory. Kane turned his eyes to Ben and spoke softly.

  “Did she come here looking for him?” Kane whispered.

  The man slightly shook his dreads, so Kane asked his question again. Noel was out of the room, probably in search of his aborted blow job when Ben lowered his voice.

  “Look, man,” Ben started. “She came here with some other chick. Real big girl.”

  Kane’s mind flashed to the pregnant lady.

  “Who was she looking for?” Kane asked again.

  A roar of laughter peeled through the tape, and Kane could see Noel confident that anything had happened was about to be forgotten. Just because he said so. Kane was a soldier, meant to fall in line and never second guess. But Angeline would have paused at his invitation. He had to have said something—

  “You, man,” Ben said. “But why would you want her now? She’s like, untrue, or whatever.”

  Ben offered him a smoke as Noel kept laughing from the other room.

  “K Man,” Ben said as he took a drag and offered him a puff. “Just let her go. Better for you. Probably better for her that all of us it never happened.”

  Kane let Ben’s words sink him. The guy had a point. Kane wanted nothing more than to forget the endless nights in the dark, dotted with other men’s screams. And as for Angeline?

  “Give me a drag,” Kane said.

  Drawing smoke into his lungs, Kane wondered if it as best to stay scarce.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Angie?”

  Sitting on her front porch, the night turning to day, Angeline held her arms to her chest and waited.

  Once he was gone, again, she had fallen to the ground, a sobbing heap wanting nothing more than for him to come back. It fell to Terri to pick her up and guide her back to the car.

  “At least you have closure,” she said.

  Not at all. She had nothing but questions. How was he still alive? What did he really think of her now?

  Would she ever see him again?

  “Angie?”

/>   Brent Wilkins, using his cane in earnest, shuffled to her side and sat.

  “Honey, you should get some sleep,” Brent said.

  Angeline smiled at her dad and groaned into the dawn.

  “How can I sleep when I don’t know where he is?” she asked. “When he was in prison, at least I knew…”

  Nothing had gone according to their script, and now he was probably lost to a man with whom she could never really compete. Noel had history on his side; Angeline only had, thought she had, his heart.

  “At least he’s alive,” Angeline managed as she twisted around her father’s warm hold.

  It was something. Not the future that she had imagined, not the dream that she couldn’t help but fall back into when she felt his strong hands on her skin, But she would take it. Try hard not to cry herself to sleep each and every night and remember the times when—

  “What the hell?”

  Brent’s voice stalled her thoughts. Lifting her head, Angeline heard familiar sounds, saw a familiar figure racing its way across the horizon.

  “Angie?” Brent said. “Hold up.”

  Ignoring her father, she stepped farther and farther away from her home and held her breath. Trying hard not to blink, she held her breath as Kane rode into view.

  “Hey,” he said, stalling his bike as he spoke.

  Angeline had no words as he finally climbed off and moved to her side. She swooned at the nearness of him, and her mind swirled with questions.

  “How…?”

  It was all she could get out as Kane stood before her. Battered and bruised.

  “Oh!” she cried. “What the hell happened—?”

  Angeline tried to touch his face as Kane flinched back.

  “Nothing,” he said. “It… it doesn’t matter.”

  This was what she had feared he had suffered in prison, because of her. But those were just dark dreams. This was real.

  “Noel,” Angeline stated plainly.

  Kane’s eyes fell with a mirthless laugh.

  “You should see the shape he’s in,” Kane said. “I—”

  He suddenly stopped, and Angeline turned as she felt a shadow falling over her back.

  “Dad!”

  Brent was shuffling, nearly at her side. Still using the cane, he was actually walking. And in spite of everything, a small smile formed on Angeline’s face. She took hold of his arm, her eyes filling with pride. But Brent was not looking at her.

  His stare was only for Kane.

  “Uh… hello, Mr. Wilkins,” he said.

  Kane tried to smooth away his stubble, wincing as his hands touched his face. Angeline felt his pain and wanted nothing more than to bring him inside, lay him down.

  Bathe his face with a cool, damp cloth.

  “So you’re back,” Brent said. “Bound to be trouble.”

  Kane tried to answer, but it came out as an unintelligible grunt. Not wanting anymore pain for him, not one more bruise on his face for his heart, Angeline pressed her hands to her hips and tilted her head to her father.

  “You know what he did for us… for me, Dad,” Angeline started. “He sacrificed everything. How can you be so—?”

  She stopped when Brent gripped his cane tighter. For a second, she wondered if he would use it on Kane, on his bike. But to her surprise, he simply limped closer to Kane.

  “Thing is,” Brent continued, “I’ve gotten used to her company. Night after night.”

  Brent sadly glanced back at his daughter.

  “But I guess… no.”

  He took Angeline’s shoulders and softly kissed her cheek.

  “Her sentence is over, too.”

  Angeline relaxed at the realization that he was not about to give their savior a hard time and stretched to tips of her toes to hug him, to whisper into his ear.

  “You were never a prison, Dad,” she said. “And I don’t even know why he’s here.”

  Brent pushed back with a laugh.

  “I do,” he said. Extending his hand, Kane took it slowly. After a single shake, he looked at the bike.

  “Just be careful,” Brent said. “Both of you.”

  They stood in silence as Brent limped back to the house. Once the door was closed, Angeline was hesitant to face him. What lies had Noel spun now? Would he hate her for coming between them? Still, this might be another chance to explain.

  “Kane, I—”

  “No.”

  That word felt like a death sentence.

  “Not here,” he said. “Let’s take a ride.”

  She recalled the first time on the back of his chopper, trembling as he hoisted her to the back. It was the night when he had brought her into his world, and she wanted to ride the air again, feel the wind in her face.

  And hold him.

  “You remember what to do?” Kane asked.

  Easy as riding a bike…

  Wrapping her arms around him, she felt the motor pulsing around her thighs and held on tighter as he sped off into the night for parts unknown.

  As they rode, Angeline dared to rest her head against his back. He wouldn’t be here if he didn’t believe her. Had Noel failed? She had to hope for that. If he would just give her the proper chance, she could make Kane believe everything.

  As the bike stopped, Angeline lifted her eyes. Trees swayed, and her heart swelled with new hope. Could he be after a new beginning? He had already done more for her than she had any right to ask.

  Could they really turn back time?

  “Here,” he said. “Let me…”

  Angeline sank into his strong arms and pressed her palms to his broad chest. When they were together, Kane had pulsed around her and groaned into her neck. She liked that. Liked the feel of him satisfied against, around her flesh. They didn’t need words when he lingered inside her and stroked her sides. It was a scene just for them, and Angeline felt it coming back.

  Then he broke character.

  “We should really talk,” Kane said.

  He eased her away from him and held her at arm’s length. It was the last place that she wanted to be, but she swallowed and resolved to meet him on this new playing field.

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “It’s what has to happen.”

  Taking her hand, Kane led her to a soft place below one of the many trees, and they sat. Her nails traced the surface of his palm, and she every curve of his flesh filled her mind. It was like he had never left, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Their reunion had seemed destined to be a promise of everything that they would finally share.

  This felt like her last chance to touch him. Fearing that she would remain trapped in memories, images and feelings that would intensify by way of their distance, Angeline gripped his hand tighter and held her breath.

  “What do want to talk about?” she asked, her voice knowing and sad.

  “You were at the clubhouse today?” he asked.

  Again, she couldn’t lie.

  “I… I was looking for—”

  “And you saw Noel?”

  She wished that she hadn’t, wished that she had never met him. Kane could have kept her safe if…

  If she hadn’t bent the rules for her father. Everything came back to her.

  So here they were, time fixed in the present, no way of going back.

  That was her fault, too.

  “He… he didn’t hurt you again?” Kane asked. “Did he?”

  Impossible as it was, Angeline silently prayed that that he had heard, that he believed her side of the story.

  “No,” she said, losing herself in his dark eyes. “Not again.”

  Kane grimaced and turned his bruised face away from hers.

  “But he did,” Kane said. “He…”

  When he couldn’t finish his thought, Angeline felt the agony in his touch and lost his eyes as they clenched shut .Even with his hand in hers, she felt like this was losing him. And vile as Noel was, Kane needed something to hold onto.

  “I… didn’t sa
y no,” Angeline said. “I couldn’t even speak. So if you have to be angry, you can be that with me.”