The King Brothers- The Complete Series

by G. Bailey

  “Harley, calm down,” Luke says, stepping in front of me.

  “The baby has been kidnapped. Surely you have watched the news? The baby called Hope King who is missing?” he asks her, and she nods, pulling out the folder. She flips it open.

  “Room eight, that’s on the top floor. I haven’t seen the baby as I only clocked in this morning and they checked in last night. But they’re the only ones staying here who asked for a travel cot,” she says, and I turn away to find the stairs. The hotel has four floors, which I run up as fast as I can, and I find room eight at the top.

  “We should knock; he wouldn’t expect that. You don’t want to scare Hope,” Luke says, putting a hand on my chest and stopping me.

  I nod, lifting my hand and knocking on the door three times. There’s a tense silence as I hear footsteps, and then the door is opened. The man standing in front of me is Daniel. I know from the research I did on him when Tilly told me she ran away from him. He is shorter than me, with blond hair, a scar near his eyebrow, and blue eyes. That’s all there is to him; he looks like a regular guy, a guy you would never expect to steal a baby.

  “Daniel?” I ask him, stepping closer and lifting him off the ground by his shirt. He wrestles with me, but he isn’t strong enough as I slam him into the wall. I press my face close to his.

  “If I didn’t have a family, girlfriend, and a baby to bring up. I would kill you for this,” I tell him, and he tries to pull my hands away from his shirt as it chokes him.

  “She is mine, mine. You can’t take my girlfriend and my baby.”

  “You don’t force yourself on your girlfriend. You lost her and Hope when you tried to do that,” I spit out.

  “She wanted it. She always did.” Daniel laughs, and I bang his head into the wall as he keeps laughing. The sick fucker.

  “Harley?” Luke says. I barely hear him through the haze of wanting to kill the man in my hands. Then I hear Hope crying, and everything slows down. The sound of her crying makes me step back a little, but I keep my hands on him.

  “I’ve got him,” Luke tells me, and I drop Daniel to the floor. I know Luke will sort him.

  I walk into the bedroom, seeing the empty bottles on the sides, the car seat, and Hope in the travel cot. I lift her out, holding her close to me. She instantly stops crying, like she always does. I jump when I hear a male scream and then a gunshot.

  “Luke?” I cry out as I run around the bed toward the hallway where Luke is standing, holding one hand to his side, where a knife is sticking out of his stomach, while his other hand holds a gun. On the floor is Daniel, with blood pouring from his neck. Luke shot him, and he won’t be surviving that.

  I turn Hope’s face away so she can’t see as I pause, not knowing what to do.

  “Did you bring a gun?” I ask Luke, who nods, resting against the door.

  “POLICE!” I hear shouted up the stairs, just before three police officers run up the stairs, take in the scene, and Luke falls to the ground.

  111

  Tilly

  “Hope is okay? You have her?” I repeat again to Harley, who just told me he has Hope in his arms right now. I hear her cry a little and sink to the floor of the lounge, holding my hand over my mouth as I hold in my own cry. I feel Izzy wrap an arm around me, but everything is blurry. My baby is safe.

  “She is safe and healthy. Tilly . . . you need to come to the local hospital and bring all of my brothers, and Izzy. I will text you the postcode,” he tells me.

  “What? Why? What’s wrong with Hope?” I ask quickly.

  “Nothing, Tilly. But I need you here,” he tells me, his voice cracking a little.

  “On our way now,” I tell him.

  “I love you,” Harley replies.

  “I love you, too,” I respond before the line cuts off.

  “They found Hope?” Izzy asks me.

  “Yes. They are at the hospital, and Harley wanted me to get you and all your brothers there as quick as possible,” I say, and she frowns, wondering what is going on as well.

  The police officer who stayed with us comes running into the room. “They have found the baby,” she says, and I nod, holding up my phone and standing up.

  I grab my changing bag off the side, which is packed with anything Hope will need, and throw it over my shoulder. “Harley just called. He said we need to get to the hospital, so excuse us,” I comment.

  “Yes. Can I take you?” she asks.

  “That’s a good idea; we have both been awake for a long time now, and driving wouldn’t be safe. We can call around and tell everyone on the way,” Izzy replies before me, and I nod. She has a point. I haven’t slept since Daniel took Hope.

  I pick up the pink blanket I know she loves and my phone as we follow the officer to the car. Izzy gets through to Sebastian, who is with Elliot, and I call my mum, who tells all my family. It takes twenty minutes to get to the hospital as we hit some traffic on the way. I jump out of the car when she parks and run toward the hospital, with Izzy calling me as she runs to follow me.

  “Harley,” I say, my words only a whisper when I see him sitting in the waiting room with Hope sleeping in his arms.

  I don’t see the officers in the room, or anyone really, as I run over and fall to my knees in front of him. He instantly hands me Hope, and I hold her to my chest as I feel Harley wrap his arms around me and pull me onto his lap. I silently cry as I hold her close, knowing I’m never letting her out of my sight again. I wrap the pink blanket around her, and she snuggles into it.

  “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” I mutter out in a whisper, and Harley kisses my forehead.

  “We need to talk, siren,” he tells me gently, and I look up at him just as Sebastian and Elliot come into the room.

  Izzy is standing by the door, and I see the two police officers sitting on the other side of the room as well.

  “Why are we here? Where is Luke?” Elliot asks Harley.

  “Luke was stabbed by Daniel, and he shot Daniel in response,” Harley says, and there’s silence following his words.

  “Is Luke alive?” Sebastian asks, his voice cracking.

  “Yes. He is in surgery now, but the police are pressing charges against him for carrying a firearm.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Elliot spits out.

  “Daniel is dead. This is serious, Elliot. I’ve called our lawyer, but Luke will face charges for this,” Harley tells them.

  I feel such a sense of relief that Daniel is dead, and some small part of me shouldn’t feel that way, but I do. I look down at Hope, knowing she is better off without him in her life. He was an evil man, but I hate that Luke is going to pay the price for killing him.

  “He’s alive, that’s all that matters,” Izzy tells them all.

  “Alive, but going to jail,” Sebastian comments.

  “There’s more we need to talk about,” Harley tells them and then turns to the police officers. “Can we have a moment?” he asks them.

  “We cannot leave you alone until you give us a statement, Mr. King.”

  “I’m not giving you one until my lawyer is here, but this is personal, and none of them were there. I can’t see how a moment alone with my family is going to hurt anyone. You can wait outside the room.” Harley waves a hand at the door and gives them a look, which would scare anyone.

  The police officers quickly nod and walk out of the room, with Elliot shutting the door behind them. I try to get off Harley’s lap, but he tightens his hands on my hips, telling me all I need to know . . . that he wants me here.

  “What else could you tell us?” Elliot says with a groan, sitting in one of the seats opposite him. Sebastian doesn’t say a word as he sits next to Elliot and Izzy sits on his other side.

  “When I finished the last fight, Arthur gave me a note. He said it was a gift for me,” Harley starts off.

  “What was on the note?” Izzy asks.

  “An address, a time, and a date. When Hope was taken, we were at the address. I know Arthur likely
helped Daniel,” he tells them all and then looks up at me. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. This wasn’t your fault. And you got her back to me, to us. Our daughter is safe,” I tell him, gently kissing his cheek before looking down at Hope who sleeps quietly, completely unaware of the things going on around her. I know she will never remember being stolen, her uncle being stabbed, or her biological father dying. I hate that he died before he could be arrested, before he could pay for everything he has done. Death was an easy escape for him.

  “What was at the address?” Elliot asks Harley, who only tenses a little before he replies quickly.

  “Our mother.”

  “What?” Elliot shouts, waking Hope up. She starts grumbling a little, and I slide off Harley’s lap, gently rocking her.

  “She isn’t well. I don’t think she ever walked out on us,” Harley tells them. Sebastian looks at the floor, and Elliot just shakes his head.

  “You can’t believe that, Harley,” Elliot says.

  “Tell us everything,” Sebastian says, placing a hand on Elliot’s shoulder.

  “I’m going to find her some milk,” I tell Harley, who gives me a nod. I walk out of the room and shut the door behind me, just as Allie and Emilia come running down the corridor.

  “I heard something happened to Luke,” Emilia says, panic all over her face.

  “Is Elliot in there? I’m so happy you have Hope back,” Allie says, giving me a small smile.

  “Luke has been stabbed and is in surgery. I don’t know anything else. Elliot, Sebastian, Izzy, and Harley are having a talk in there. I would leave them for a little bit,” I respond, answering all their questions. Emilia runs around me and straight toward the reception desk.

  “Do you need anything?” Allie asks me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

  I look back at the door, giving her the only answer I can. “I want everyone to be okay.”

  “Me, too,” Allie whispers.

  112

  Harley

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Arthur laughs as I walk into the office at the back of The Cage.

  I slam the door shut and walk across the room. Arthur tries to pull the drawer to his desk open, to, no doubt, get a weapon out, but I get to him first. I slam my fist into his face, sending him flying from his chair, and I lean down, picking him up and slamming him onto the desk. I wrap my hands around his neck and start squeezing. He struggles against me, trying to move my hands and mouthing words I’m not listening to. I loosen my hands a little and move closer.

  “You may think you’re indestructible in here, but this is proof you are not. I know what you did, I know you helped that shit-head, Daniel. That my brother is in court tomorrow because of you. That my girlfriend went through hell because of you.” I lean closer. “Why shouldn’t I kill you? Get rid of your pathetic existence?” I say then let go, and he slides off the desk. I stand, looking down at him as he gasps for breath.

  “I . . . I will leave you alone. Nothing more from me,” he gasps out, and I laugh as I pull the gun out of my jacket. I unlock the safety and point the gun at his head.

  “You spent years trying to make my brothers like our father and me, but you never realised that if you succeeded, it was likely I would kill you. My father tried to kill you because he was stupid, and you’re lucky I’m not.”

  “Thank . . . y-you,” he says, and I lean down, placing the gun next to his head. He goes very still.

  “But, Arthur, I’m not fucking around. Now, you mess with my family once more, in any way, and I’m going to kill you.” I push the gun into his head, making him lean his head to the side. “And, it won’t be quick.”

  “I get it,” he says, and I stand up.

  “One more thing, I want you to leave this town. If I see you around, you’re dead. That’s your price for everything. I know you have other businesses,” I say, and he nods, rubbing his swollen neck.

  I walk out of the office, slamming the door behind me and looking down at the four, knocked-out guards outside the room. Sebastian and Elliot are leaning against the entrance to The Cage. I slide my gun back into my pocket as I step over one of the men and walk toward my brothers.

  “Alive?” Elliot asks.

  “Yes, but he gets it. We won’t be seeing Arthur again,” I tell them both.

  We walk out of The Cage and get into my car before making the ten-minute trip to the nursing home I’ve put our mother into.

  “You sure you both want to do this?” I ask them as I turn the car off.

  “I am,” Sebastian says, getting out of the car.

  “Elliot?” I ask him as he stares at the building.

  “I’m staying in the car. I just can’t see her. I know what you told me. I know she didn’t leave me, but I need Allie here. I just can't,” he says, shaking his head. I place my hand on his shoulder.

  “I get it. No matter what, she will be here for a long time, and you can meet her when you want to,” I tell him.

  “Go.” He nods his head toward where Sebastian is waiting outside the nursing home.

  The nursing home is a brick building, which only has twenty people living here and twenty-four-seven care for my mother. The outside is lined with flowers, the windows don’t have horrible bars on them, and overall, it’s nice.

  “Elliot isn’t coming in?” Sebastian asks, and I give him a nod for an answer. I don’t have to say anything else, this is hard enough for all of us.

  “Mr. King, she is waiting for you,” Susan, a middle-aged nurse, says as she stands up from behind the counter in the entrance hall.

  “Lovely to see you, Susan.”

  “You must be one of the other sons she tells me about; Sebastian, Elliot, or Luke?”

  “Sebastian,” he answers.

  “What has she said?” I ask Susan.

  “Well, since we have weaned her off that high amount of drugs she was on, she never stops talking. She tells me stories of you as babies, what you liked to play with.”

  “So she is normal?”

  “Normal is a complicated word. You mother still has episodes where she gets petrified, and we have to sedate her. I hope, with time, there will be less and less,” she tells Sebastian, who gives her a tight nod. We all have an idea of what happened to frighten her so much and cause these episodes. It must have been something our father did.

  “How are your lovely girlfriend and baby doing?” she asks me. We brought Hope here last week to see my mother, Tilly and I.

  “What normal three-month-olds do, chew everything and never stop eating,” I chuckle, loving how Hope is far more settled at home with Tilly and me.

  Following the weeks after she was taken, she was not sleeping and seemed unsettled, but I think it was because Tilly was so on edge and watching her all the time. When Tilly started to relax, so did Hope.

  “He means the baby, I’m sure that’s not what Tilly does but who knows what goes on behind closed doors,” Sebastian says, making her laugh, and I glare at him. “Lighten up, bro,” he says, hitting my arm.

  Susan opens a door for us. “She is in here and having a good day.”

  “You ready for this?” I ask Sebastian, who nods.

  “I’m a King, and you taught me how to be ready for anything,” he says with a smirk, walking in.

  Epilogue

  Luke- 5 years later.

  I get out of my car, slamming the door shut and looking up at the house I haven’t seen in five long years. Everything has changed, but the house still looks the same. The same brick walls and large windows, the same front door. I pull my suit jacket on and walk up to the door. I lift my hand, knocking on the door of my old home. I don’t think I’ve ever knocked before.

  “Luke?” Maisy asks as she opens the door, shock all over her face.

  Maisy doesn’t look older, she is still beautiful with long, black hair and big, blue eyes. She holds the door open as I walk in, and she stands, keeping it open and not saying a word. The last time I saw her was w
ith all my family when I was charged and went to prison for two years. Not that I spent the whole two years there; I never did. Only, the price of being out of jail early was never seeing my family. Pretending I hated them all. Pretending for five years to be someone I’m not.

  “Who is it?” I hear my sister shout just before she walks out of the living room in her wedding dress. Her long, blond hair is up in a complicated bun, and her long, white dress looks amazing on her. I’ve seen photos of them all over the years, but it’s still strange to see her so grown up.

  “Luke?” she whispers, dropping the flowers she was holding to the ground before running over to me and wrapping her arms around my neck. I let her hug me for a second before stepping away. “Where the hell have you been? It’s been five years since . . .” she says, her green eyes locked onto mine.

  “Izzzzzyyy!” I hear a male child’s voice, and then I look up to see a small, dark-haired boy running down the stairs, with a little red haired girl next to him. They look the same age, but I don’t know who he is. I recognise the five-year-old girl as Hope, but the boy isn’t Jake, the only boy in the family. I’ve kept my eye on them all enough to know what they look like. The boy and Hope run over to Izzy, both of them dressed for the wedding.

  “Luke . . . what the hell?” Harley asks, walking down the stairs and stopping on the last step as we stare at each other. Harley has cut his hair, it's shorter and stops around his ears now and shorter at the front. All the years of being married and having Hope to look after has made him look happy. I saw photos of their wedding in Spain. It was just him, Tilly, and Hope.

  “I know I have a lot to explain, but I wouldn’t miss my sister’s wedding,” I reply with a small smile.

  Description

  Revenge is something I’ve been planning for five years.

  Finally, it is time.