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My fingertips gently traced his cheeks, feeling the warmth of his skin as I listened to his slow, steady breaths. His heart beat rhythmically in his chest, a soothing sound that contrasted sharply with the problem that awaited us.
Careful not to wake him, I slipped out of bed, every movement deliberate and silent. I reached for the packed bag hidden beneath the dresser, my mind racing through the steps ahead. Transporting the Pogues and me to a safe place was our next critical move. From the moment we initiated our plan, we knew staying in the Outer Banks would be far too dangerous with Rafe relentlessly on our trail. The threat he posed was too great to ignore.
Fortunately, Rafe's had given me an unexpected advantage: access to all his private jets. A quick message was all it would take to have one fueled and ready for our escape. My fingers hovered over my phone, the weight of my decision pressing down on me. There was no turning back now.
Before I left, I paused, leaning over him. His face, serene in sleep, looking so peaceful. I placed a gentle kiss on his soft lips, lingering for a moment, memorizing the feel of them against mine. "I hope you won't try to kill me after this," I whispered, the words heavy with both hope and fear.
I straightened up, taking one last look at him. Then, with a deep breath, I turned and left.
: : : : : : :
I stepped out of the car, the cold wind tousling my hair. In the faint light of the moon, JJ's house appeared intermittently through the shifting shadows. Since it was the middle of the night, the lights were off, signalising that they were asleep.
I walked to the door and opened it with ease. Stepping inside, I immediately spotted JJ, still half asleep and likely on his way to the bathroom. His eyes were half-closed as he squinted at me in confusion.
"Are you real?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
A mischievous smile spread across my face as I held up the heavy bag. "Why don't you ask the gold I brought with me?" I teased, pushing the bag into his hands.
JJ's eyes widened as he felt the weight of the bag and heard the clinking of the bars. "How the fuck?"he asked, now fully awake and alert.
"That's a story for another time," I replied with a wink. "Right now, we have to leave,"
"Wake them up, JJ!"I then said louder when, seconds later, he still didn't move an inch and stayed in place, with his eyes wide.
Less than half an hour later, we were all set with our stuff packed, crammed into John B's small van, ready to leave Outer Banks. Everyone had tons of questions since I woke them up out of the blue in one random night after weeks of no contact, but we sorted them out pretty fast.
As I embraced the familiarity of my friends, an unsettling worry clawed at my heart, especially when it came to Rate.. His possessiveness over me always made things complicated, so it wouldn't make a difference this time. Deep down, I knew that even on the other side of the world, peace would elude me. Rafe's hold over me was strong, and a part of me would always be connected to him, making things tricky -making him travel across the world just to find me and make my life a living hell.
"We thought you were completely gone Kook, forgetting about us." I heard John B's voice behind me as I tried to show JJ, who was driving the van, the way to the airstrip. "Well, she's definitely not far from being a Kook," JJ said, quickly glancing over me.
I hadn't had time to change, so I was still wearing my pink pajamas, crafted in medium-weight silk satin, the material shining beautifully in the moonlight. Rafe had bought it for me a week before, along with the three Van Cleef & Arpels Vintage Alhambra bracelets adorning my wrist.
"Don't get on my nerves now," I retorted, rolling my eyes. "You'll soon start a Kook life too."
"And we're so grateful for that," Pope said, typing on his phone.
"I have to. They're my parents, so they should know where I am and that I'm okay. They would lose their minds otherwise, Kie," he explained. The good relationship between him and his parents was clearly visible, making him the only one of us with that kind of bond.
"Maybe you should text yours too," Sarah suggested, wrapping her arms around Kie.
Kie immediately shook her head, her eyes getting glossy."They would alert all the police in the Outer Banks. It would just create another problem for us."
She was right. Kie's parents were Kooks—not the richest, but still significantly different from the Pogues. They hated that Kiara hung out with us and always made a big deal about how her friends would destroy her slowly. But that wasn't the case with Kie. She felt more destroyed and uncomfortable in her own home than she ever did in John B's little hut.
She needed us, and we needed her.
"Do you have something to drink?" JJ asked me quietly, not wanting to ruin the emotional moment.
"Let me look," I replied, chuckling at his cute behavior.
I opened the bag in which I had transported the gold, remembering there was something to drink inside. Sure enough, after a quick search, I found a bottle of water and took it out. Fiji was written on it in bold, and I knew a comment would follow. I opened it and handed it to JJ, who was looking intently at the street.
"Fancy water," JJ remarked with a smirk as he took the bottle.
"Don't even start," I said, shaking my head with a smile.
JJ nodded the grin not leaving his face as he took a swig of the water before passing it back to me.
A silent overtook the moment. It felt like everyone was stuck in their own thoughts, trying to realize what they were doing. We needed to leave everything and everyone behind.
The seriousness of our situation settled over us heavy, but we knew we had each other, and that was enough to keep us moving forward...or was it?
