AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The train finally strikes me and my chest caves in like a black hole. “That’s not okay,” I whimper.
“After this, Snake Eyes will be exposed,” he says. “That includes me.”
“No.” I shake my head. “There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t. And honestly, there shouldn’t be. I deserve to be put away, Dani.”
“If you really believed that, you never would have gone into hiding in the first place.”
“Dani—”
“No, Fox. I won’t let you leave me again.”
“Move away from the door.”
I stand still. “No.”
“You’re better off this way,” he says, rattled to the bone. “You have everything you need back home. You don’t need me.”
“That’s not true.”
“You have a good life, Dani. That’s what I’ve been fighting for this whole time. I want you to be happy.”
“You think this will make me happy?”
“I think you’ll be alive. That’s good enough for me.”
He tries to open the door again, but I push it back.
“Dani—”
I throw my arms around him and sink into his chest. The gun slips from my fingers and falls to the floor at our feet. He goes tense but his body quickly relaxes against mine.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “There’s no other way.”
I hold him tighter and he lays his nose against my hair, taking in my scent. A warm feeling rolls along my spine, covering me from head to toe. I can’t help it. Every sense I have bursts for him as much now as it did back then.
“Fox…” I look into his eyes. “If this is your last night as a free man, I want to spend it with you.”
He shakes his head as his dark eyes wander my face. He wants me, I can tell, but he doesn’t want to let himself go. He doesn’t want to relive the pain of losing me all over again. I sure as hell don’t want to either but if the alternative is watching him walk away, then…
“Please,” I whisper. I place my hands on his chest, careful not to press the bandages hidden beneath the loose shirt. “Let us have one night.”
He exhales, swallowing hard. “One night isn’t enough,” he says.
“I know.” I cup his face with my right hand, purposefully touching the scar hidden within his beard. “But if it’s that or nothing… I’d rather have it. Wouldn’t you?”
His eyes close as he turns his head to kiss my open palm. He holds it there against his lips and I trace my thumb along the edge of his mouth.
“Why?” he asks. “Why do you still want me after everything I’ve done?”
It’s a good question, one I’ve asked myself plenty over the last few days. When we first met, it was easy to love him. Love is simple when you’re sixteen and naïve. Loving a boy is easy.
Loving a man is different. A man has experience and baggage and, in this case, confirmed kills.
But somehow, loving Fox has always been easy.
“Because you saved me,” I say. “You’ve always saved me.”
