Page 65 of Iron Princess
As quickly as he arrived, Mount leaves, although in a completely different vehicle this time.
As soon as the door is closed, I pop out from behind the wall and my questions are rapid-fire. “What’s going on? Why is there a jet? Who’s leaving? Rafe? Where’s he going?”
Kane releases the control box, and his expression is totally blank.
“Kane ... Please, you have to tell me something.”
He stops in front of me. “Rafe’s leaving the country—”
I feel like someone grabbed my heart and squeezed. Then he drops the next bomb.
“And so are you.”
39
Kane
All the blood drains from Temperance’s face, and I want to shoot myself for not prepping her when I had the chance. I should have warned her.
That’s on me. Because I wasn’t ready to let her go.
I should be shot.
I take her in—from the bandana holding her brown hair in a knot on the top of her head, to the oldYou Better Belize ItT-shirt she stole out of my drawer, to her ripped jeans and battered work boots. This incredible woman put her trust in me, and I have no choice but to let her go.
“What do you meanso am I? I’m not leaving. I have a life. I can’t—” She chokes on whatever she’s going to say next, and I step closer.
“It’s the only way, Temperance.”
She looks up at me. “The only way? But what if ... what if I see Rafe and he leaves? Can’t I stay—”
I grip both her shoulders and squeeze, keeping her gaze on mine. “They will hunt you forever if they can’t find him. You’ll never be safe. You both have to disappear. There’s no other choice. No other way.” I squeeze her tighter, wishing I could drag her against me and wrap my arms around her. “It’s the only way you’ll be safe.”
Her dark gaze carries intense emotion, and it stabs me in the gut. “You’re sending me away. Just like he did. Being noble.”
That’s where she’s wrong. There’s nothing noble about this. It’s a result of me being backed into a corner and not having another way out.
“It’s the only way,” I repeat.
Something dawns in her expression, and it looks a lot like hope. “You can find the bad guys and kill them all. Or you can come with us. Start over. Be somebody else.”
She doesn’t realize that I’ve already done that before, and a man can only die so many times.
When I open my mouth to respond, she presses a finger to my lips.
“Don’t say no. I refuse to let you say no. I—” She pauses. “Kane, I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you.”
40
Temperance
Kane’s jaw clenches like I just stabbed him through the heart. When he winces and his fingers flex, digging into my shoulders, I can almost feel his agony.
Or maybe I’m telling myself that’s what it is because I want so badly for it to be the truth.
“Please don’t be noble, Kane. I can’t give you up. I won’t. Don’t ask me to.” It’s strange how threatening to take something away from someone will cement their attachment to it faster than anything else.
Before Mount came here to deliver the verdict, I was telling myself that if Kane didn’t want me, I could let him walk away. Now, I refuse to let anyone steal that chance from us, including Kane himself.
