One More Time_A Second Chance Romance

by Rye Hart

  His words said one thing, but the tone in his voice said something else altogether. His friendly smile and gentle voice were gone, replaced by a coldness I'd never seen in him before. He looked at me with eyes that were hard. Cold. Distant. No, he wasn't sorry in the least, despite what words came falling out of his mouth.

  “You asked too many questions. This is for your own good. Trust me,” he said. “You're only going to be held here until your dad finishes this deal, then –”

  “Fuck that,” Cal said, looming over me. “She's too much like her mom. She's going to rat us out either way. She knows way too fucking much and if she opens her mouth, we're all screwed. We need to do something about her. You know that as well as I do, man.”

  “Like what?” Stan asked. “You're really going to kill Roy's daughter? Yeah, you can count me out of that party, asshole.”

  My pulse shot up, going through the roof. The voice in the back of my mind spoke to me in calm, soothing tones, trying to get me to calm down. Come on, Hannah, keep this up. Not everyone here wants you dead. Your dad is alive, they're loyal to him. You just have to hold out a bit longer.

  Somewhere else in the building, a phone rang. Most of the guys walked off to take the call, leaving me with Cal. He stood there, looking down at me, a look of darkness and despair upon his fatures.

  “If I were Zoey, would you let them kill me for asking questions?” I asked.

  Cal's hard face softened a bit at the mention of his daughter, but only for a split second before he clenched his jaw tight.

  “I guess you haven't heard,” he said. “Zoey is dead.”

  I felt my stomach lurch and tears well in my eyes. “Oh God, I had no idea –”

  “The fuck you didn't,” he growled. “You playin' games with me or what, girl?”

  “No, Cal. Seriously. I had no idea – I haven't been around for a long while, remember? I never heard anything about her,” I pleaded. “I cared for Zoey a lot. She was a good friend of mine.”

  Maybe it was the tears in my eyes, or maybe something else entirely delayed the inevitable. Whatever it was though, Cal paused. He loomed above me with a contemplative look on his face.

  “Cal, come here,” Paul said.

  It left Chris standing there, watching over me. Any trace of the All-American, good boy I remembered was gone. His face was as hard, his eyes as jaded, as any of the rest of them.

  “Of all people, Chris, you shock me the most,” I said softly. “I actually thought I could date you. I thought you were one of the good ones.”

  “There's no such thing as good and bad, Hannah. Just those on top and those on bottom,” he said, shrugging. “I'm tired of always being on bottom. So, I'm going to fight my own damn way to the top. It's about goddamn time I get a taste of the serious action”

  “Nah, I don't believe you,” I said. “Good guys exist alright. As do bad guys. You just won't find any of the former here. From where I'm sitting, there's nothing but bad guys here tonight.”

  “Your dad is one of us, Hannah.”

  “Yeah, I know. And I'm slowly starting to realize he's not so good himself,” I said quietly. “Did he order you to kidnap me?”

  Chris shook his head. “He ordered us to protect you. Just wanted us to keep you here long enough to complete this deal,” he said. “But we all know that's not how it works. There's always more deals and more business to be had. And you, sweetheart, have become a liability.”

  “Then why not kill me already?”

  I pulled hard at my restraints even though I knew it was useless. I was tired of just sitting there, waiting to die, though. I was tired of being helpless while everyone talked about my future. About what they were going to do to me and deciding my fate for me. Fuck them. Fuck them all.

  “Because your dad is still in control,” Chris said. “He says when you die.”

  There was a twinkle in his eye when he spoke those words, however. Something said he knew more than he was letting on. A commotion in the other room caused him to look over his shoulder, and I swear, he grinned from ear-to-ear like the Joker. He looked absolutely malevolent. Absolutely insane. It sent a cold chill through me and I felt an icy fist of fear grab my heat and squeeze it tight.

  Chris seemed pleased as punch when Cal and Stan started screaming at each other. He even seemed to grow excited when one pushed the other down and out of the way. Cal won the battle of strength and came rushing over to me.

  “Looks like there's a new president in town,” Cal said, sharing a look with Chris. “And some things are going to change around here real fuckin' fast.”

  Cal pulled out a knife and held it to my throat. No one – not even Stan – tried to stop him this time. I swallowed and closed my eyes, thinking that was the end of things. I thought my last words were my final chance to stay alive. I only hoped I could appeal to their sense of humanity – that was, if they had any sense of humanity left.

  “My dad is going to kill you for this,” I spat, reminding them that my dad was somebody they should fear – and that I was his little girl.

  I wiggled my feet, and they were tied together, but not tied to anything. I suddenly realized that if I could just get my knees up, I might be able to push Cal off me. What good that would do, aside from giving me a few extra seconds of life, I wasn't sure. But, it beat sitting on my ass waiting to have my throat cut for me.

  “Hannah, your daddy dearest is dead,” Cal growled. “There ain't no one to save you now. The only thing I got to decide is whether to fuck you before I kill you. What do you think, sweetheart?”

  Voices came from a room nearby. Men were shouting at one another. The screaming though, was quickly followed by the booming echo of gunshots. Screams of bloody murder followed. Cal hesitated, turning his back, and in that one free moment, I pulled my knees to my chest and positioned them outward, slamming them into his stomach. He went flying, and the knife flew out of his hand, landing on the cold concrete floor with a metallic ring and a clatter. Chris and the others rushed from the room, leaving me alone with Cal, who looked even more pissed than before.

  “That's it,” he said, cracking his neck as he climbed back to his feet. “You were so close to my daughter, huh? Well, I guess you're going to see her again real quick here.”

  Cal picked up the knife and stalked back toward me. I scooted my body away until I hit a wall with my back. There was nowhere for me to go. I fought and struggled against the restraints, kicking and screaming like a wild, cornered beast. I was hoping that he'd lied about my dad and that it was my dad out there shooting his gun off. I found myself hoping that my dad was going to rush in and save me before Cal killed me. He had to.

  “No, Cal, please –” I cried. “You don't want to do this!”

  The crack of the gunshot in the room was impossibly loud. It echoed like thunder around the room, making me jump. My body had twitched and jerked so hard at the sound of the shot, I thought for a split second that I'd been hit. That I was dead. Or dying.

  Cal must have thought the same thing, because he jumped off me and was quickly looking around – and looking down at himself. An unfamiliar man stood in the doorway with long, jet black hair and nearly black eyes. He wasn't looking at me though. He was focused on Cal. With a growl, Cal lunged toward him with the knife, knocking the guy off his feet.

  Another man entered quickly behind the first. Paul. He had a gun.

  “Paul, please –” I screamed, just as Paul took aim at the stranger.

  He squeezed the trigger and shot but missed. He aimed again just as Cal got on top of the stranger with the knife to the man's throat.

  “Hannah?”

  It was Eli.

  “No, Eli!” I cried out, not wanting him to rush in.

  Paul turned toward the voice and I screamed again, but it was too late. A gunshot rang out. I closed my eyes, tears blinding me and the thunderous roar of the gunshots deafening me.

  “No!” I screamed over and over again.

  Hands grab
bed hold of me, shaking me until I opened my eyes. I stared up into the most gorgeous, chocolate brown eyes I'd ever seen.

  “You're alive,” I said, not sure if I believed it just yet.

  “For now,” Eli said, holding Cal's knife.

  He cut my hands free, then my feet, and helped me up to my feet. I visually searched Eli's body for a wound. Seeing the blood on his shirt that set my heart racing and my mind into a near panic. The very moment he had my hands were free, I was lifting at his shirt and searching for bullet holes. When my hand touched his shoulder, he flinched.

  “It grazed you,” I said, relief flooding through me.

  He was going to live, as long as we got out of here. The gunshots and shouts had died down, and I finally pulled my gaze away from Eli and at the carnage around us. Paul was dead. Eli had been faster. Cal was also dead, as far as I could tell. The strange man with the dark hair was lying in a pool of blood, and Eli stared down at him, a glint of remorse in his eyes.

  “You knew him?”

  “Briefly,” he said. “But he wasn't the man I thought he was either.”

  “It seems to be going around these days,” I muttered as I thought back to Chris.

  A few other guys, all seemingly friendly to Eli, cleared the way for us to leave. Eli shielded me from looking at the rest of the death around me, which was probably for the best since most of the dead were familiar faces from my childhood. He led me out through a side door and out into the lot. Sirens sounded in the distance and were drawing closer. As soon as we stepped out into the cool, night air, Eli slid down the side of the building and groaned in pain, clutching his wounded shoulder.

  I fell down onto my ass beside him, putting pressure on the wound.

  “Who were those guys?” I asked.

  “The Widows,” he said.

  I cocked an eyebrow. “You suddenly thinking about joining a motorcycle club, Eli?”

  He chuckled, then winced and grimaced as the pain tore through him. “Only if I get to be a good guy,” he said. “No more of this shit. I've killed one too many people in my life already.”

  “It was self-defense,” I said, pushing the hair from his face.

  His face fell. “Hannah, there's something I have to tell you – about your dad.”

  “That he's dead?” I whispered.

  “Yeah, Titus – the guy on the ground with Cal – killed him. I tried to stop it, but –”

  I pressed my lips to his and kissed him softly, chasing his words away with my tongue. He seemed surprised but didn't fight it. In that moment, he was all that I had left in the world. Without my dad, I would have died, but Eli had stepped up. He'd put someone else's life – my life – before his own. It wasn't something I ever would have expected when we were together the first time.

  When I pulled away, I leaned my face against his, relishing and taking comfort in his presence.

  “I know he wasn't a good guy, Eli. Whatever happened, I don't need to know,” I said. “I know you're a good man. You're not like him. I know you wouldn't have had anything to do with his death unless it was to save me.”

  He stroked my cheek as the sirens drew ever closer. Help had arrived. I knew Eli would be just fine, but it was still hard having him peeled away from me, even if I knew he was being taken to the hospital. I watched him being escorted to one of the waiting ambulances.

  One of the EMTs took a close look at me – especially my head – and suggested I get checked out as well. I still felt sick to my stomach and lightheaded. Maybe, the guys really had given me a concussion. I had too much riding on the future to not go, just in case. The last thing I wanted or needed was a permanent brain injury.

  I had a future with Eli to look forward to, after all.

  ***

  “It's a good thing you pay your babysitter well,” I teased.

  It took several hours, but Eli had gotten stitched up and released. His wound really did look worse than it was, and they didn't even have to keep him for very long. I, on the other hand, was still being looked over. Waiting for CT scans to come back and whatnot. I didn't think I was going anywhere anytime soon. No, I was laying in the hospital bed with the love of my life sitting beside me, and we were both alive. I felt entirely grateful and entirely happy.

  At times like that, I forgot that my dad had been killed. Not by Eli, but by Titus. The man lying dead on the ground with Cal. I wasn't sure what happened, but power struggles can be a dangerous thing. I'd probably never understand it, not fully. All I knew was that once my dad died, the fight between the rest of the club for his chair was on.

  It was a mentality I just didn't get. Right now though, it didn't even matter.

  “Yeah, there goes one night's salary, easily,” he laughed.

  Eli kissed my hand as he watched over me, his dark eyes hardly looking away. It was almost like he was afraid I might disappear if he looked away.

  “I'm sorry,” I said. “I'll help you with that.”

  “We'll figure it out, I'm just glad you're alive.”

  “Me too.”

  Eli leaned down and kissed my forehead gently. I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent, and relaxed my body into his. It felt nice to be free and open with him, to not have anything holding us back from being together. The future was unknown, but I already loved his little girl and one day, we could talk about having kids of our own. Once we figured our crap out, anyway.

  I already figured Eli and Aubree would move in with me sooner or later. Maybe, we'd even see about upgrading to a two-bedroom apartment in my complex. Something with more space for our suddenly growing little family.

  My reverie was broken by the sound of a knock on the door. Dr. Andrews stepped into the room, giving me a bright smile. I'd worked many nights with him in the ER, but it felt weird being the patient for a change, rather than standing by his side looking over somebody in my current position. He looked overly cheerful for it being the middle of the night.

  “Hannah, we have the results from your CT scan,” he said. “Good news, no concussion or brain damage. Everything looks normal.”

  I sighed. “Thank God,” I said. “I figured it was just that hamburger from Petey's messing with me. But, you never know.”

  “Well, the good news is that the baby is just fine too,” the doctor continued.

  Eli's hand squeezed mine tightly, but I froze. I literally froze, eyes wide, stomach churning, staring at the doctor as if he'd grown a third head.

  “Wait, what?” I said. “I'm not pregnant –”

  “According to the blood work, you are,” he said. “I just assumed you knew, I'm so sorry to blurt it out like that.”

  “I took a test this morning, it was negative.”

  “Blood or urine?”

  “Urine,” I muttered.

  I hadn't wanted to go through all the trouble of a blood test when I was pretty sure it was going to be negative. Sarah had agreed with me and ran the test.

  “False negatives are common with urine tests, as you know. But, blood tests are almost always accurate,” Dr. Andrews said. “So, I guess this is congratulations.”

  I blocked out everything else he said, panic taking hold. Eli was sitting right there. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, but there was a smile on his lips. He'd heard everything too, and he was talking to the doctor like everything was normal. Like things were fine.

  I knew he said he wanted to have kids with me one day, when things got settled and he had a new job and all. Right now, he could hardly take care of Aubree on his own. And to add another baby to the mix? Fear stole through me and I felt the adrenaline coursing through my body.

  “Oh God,” I muttered to myself.

  Eli's hand slipped down and rested on my belly as the doctor finished up with us. I stared down at his hand, feeling a calm wash over me. It was as if somehow, it was his way of telling me that everything was going to be okay.

  That we were going to be okay.

  When the doctor left, I turned to him, my e
yes wide, panic threatening to overwhelm me.

  “I'm so sorry, Eli.”

  “Hannah, stop. There's nothing to be sorry about,” he said, squeezing my hand as he helped me out of the bed. I felt like my knees were going to go weak underneath me.

  I was pregnant. I was carrying his child.

  He scooped me into his arms, pulling me to him tightly, and I was careful not to press against his wound. He held me there, hugging me close and kissing the top of my head. He was smiling, and I could feel his heart beating hard in his chest.

  “Aren't you scared?” I whispered.

  “Of course, I'm scared. I'm absolutely terrified,” he said, speaking against my hair. “But like I said before, I love you. I want a future with you. And I know we'll figure things out. It'll work out.”

  As I stood there in his arms, a small wave of uncertainly flooded through me and I started trembling. I was overcome with emotion and felt like I might start crying right then and there. Not tears of sadness or fear, but of joy. I was so freaking happy, I thought I might explode.

  Two babies. We were going from two single people, living separately, to a family of four. All in less than a year. Apparently, when we decided to do something, we did it big.

  “I love the idea of having a brother or sister for Aubree. Give her someone to play with,” he said. “They can grow up together. Look out for each other.”

  “I guess we're going to look for a three-bedroom apartment then, huh?”

  Eli laughed. “Guess it's a good thing the Widows asked me to work at their shop, huh? With Titus gone, they need someone to manage the place,” he said. “Figured I could do some good around here too.”

  “I know you can, Eli,” I said softly.

  We looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, the world around us suddenly feeling so surreal. But, as those waves of disbelief rolled through us, we clung to each other. We were each other's rocks in the turmoil and chaos of life. It felt perfect to me. It felt right.

  Our world was about to get a lot bigger and a lot scarier, but I knew that together, we could weather any storm. We could face down any monster and win the day.

  As long as we were together.