She’d quickly become one of the only things in the world that mattered to me, outside of my family, outside of these four men that stood by my side as we approached the doors of the VIP lounges.
For the first time in my life, I was glad I wasn’t alone. Solace had been my companion for so long, I’d forgotten how comforting it was to have people standing behind you.
“Guys, I got a really bad fuckin’ feeling about this,” I said.
“So do I,” Beau said.
“We’ll find her. Everything’s going to be okay, Lee,” Crit said, putting his hand on my arm. “This is my room, Brock’s is right next door.”
I walked over to the door with his name on it and took a deep breath. I was just about to turn the doorknob when I heard Lily’s cry.
“Help!” her voice pierced my heart like a barbed arrow.
“Oh, fuck!” I said, as my hand reached for the doorknob. It was locked.
“Lily!” I yelled, banging on the door. “Lily!”
I pushed against the heavy metal door, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Lily!” I yelled again.
“Lee! Help!” she cried, then I heard a sharp slapping sound followed by the sound of her sobs.
“I’m breaking this fucker down!” I growled, taking a few steps back and running towards the door, hitting it with the full force of my body. It didn’t move an inch. “Mother fucker!”
“Lee, stop!” Crit said, putting a hand up in front of me. “Listen,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “my room has a door that leads into Brock’s room. Stay here and try to get him to come to the door, talk to him, distract him somehow and I’ll come up from behind.”
“A fucker like him surely has a gun,” I said. My hands were shaking, my voice was shaking, hell my whole body was shaking. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to Lily.
“And you think I don’t?” he grinned, patting his boot, which only made me more nervous.
“Crit, you don’t have to do this,” I said. “This is my battle.”
“Fucking stop it!” Crit said. “We’re family, brother. We’re in this together. He won’t talk to me, but he’s so mad at you, he won’t be able to resist talking to you. Just distract him, if you can. Get him out here. I’ll do the rest.”
He was right.
“Fine,” I replied. “Be careful.”
“Don’t know any other way to be,” he said. “Besides, I owe you one…or two…or three. I’ve lost count by now.”
“I’m coming with you, Crit. I owe Lee, too,” Jesse said. “You saved my life.”
“That don’t matter none,” I shook my head. “I’d do it all over again. Just help me get Lily out of there.”
They nodded and walked into Crit’s room, leaving me there with Beau and Seth.
I knocked on the door, adrenaline racing through my veins.
“Tyler! I know you’re in there!” I hollered through the door. “It’s me you want. Come on out and get me!”
I paused, waiting for some sound, some indication of movement, but was greeted by nothing but silence and the soft sound of Lily crying.
“Tyler! Get your cowardly ass out here and face me like a fucking man!” I yelled.
A moment passed and then I heard shuffling and the sound of the lock turning in the door. I gestured for Beau and Seth to move around the corner. I wanted this prick to think I was alone. He was such a coward, I knew he’d never face all of us together.
Slowly, the door opened and he peeked out, then opened it all the way. My stomach dropped when I saw the gun in his hand and Lily tied up behind him.
I swallowed hard, reminding myself to stay calm, and took a deep breath.
“It’s me you’re pissed at,” I said, speaking slowly. “Why don’t you come out here and settle things with me?”
“I got nothing to say to you, Haggard. You best be on your way. Lily’s mine now. She’s coming with me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I replied. “I can’t let you leave with Lily, and you know that.”
“Fuck off. I can do whatever the fuck I want. I’m the one holding the gun,” he snarled.
“You don’t want to hurt her,” I said. I avoided Lily’s eyes, because I knew if I glanced into them for even a second, I’d fall apart. I couldn’t bear to see the pain and fear I knew was simmering there. “It’s me you want to hurt. How about we make an exchange, huh? You let Lily go, and you take me?”
“This isn’t a fucking negotiation, asshole,” Brock screamed. He was losing it. His eyes were wild and frantic. He poked his head out of the door, looking left, then right, down the hallway. Beau and Seth were still hiding around the corner out of view.
“It’s just us here, Brock. How about you let me come in and we’ll talk about it, okay?” I took a step forward.
“There’s nothing to talk about. What’s done is done. We can’t change the past,” he said.
Truer words were never spoken, I thought. Indeed, we cannot change the past. I’d lived my life trying to do that, and I’d finally learned that lesson myself.
“No, you can’t, you’re right,” I held my hands up, taking another step towards him. “But you can change this. What are you going to do, run away with Lily? You’ll be found in a New York minute.” I put a foot in the door frame and took another step towards him. He stepped backwards into the room, then ran behind Lily, keeping the gun pointed in my direction.
“Just shut the fuck up and get out of our way, Haggard!”
I stood my ground, shaking my head.
“That’s not going to happen,” I said, my voice sounding much calmer than I felt inside.
He cocked the gun pointed at Lily’s head.
“Get the fuck out of my way. I’ll shoot her,” he warned.
“You will not,” I replied, calmly, confidently.
“How do you fucking know?” he snarled, his face twisted and ugly.
“Because I’ll shoot your fucking head off,” Crit said from behind him, cocking his gun, and pushing it into the back of Brock’s neck. The look of shock on Brock’s face was priceless.
“I beat you once today, Tyler,” Crit’s voice was icy steel. “Don’t make me fucking kill you, too. Drop the fucking gun. Now!”
“Fuck!” Brock growled, dropping the gun and putting his hands up behind his head. Crit kicked the gun away, knocking Brock to his knees.
I ran over to Lily, freeing her from her restraints. She threw her arms around my neck and I pulled her away quickly.
“Lee!” she cried, as I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close, vowing to never, ever let her out of my sight again.
“I got you, babe, shh…” I said, stroking her hair as she sobbed against me. “You’re okay now. I got you.”
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
LEE
I sat in my Mama’s kitchen as the sun set over the farm, watching her, Lily, Ruby and George make a peach cobbler. They fiddled around the kitchen, covered in flour and eating more peaches than they were putting in the cobbler. They giggled together like a bunch of school girls, and I couldn’t help but smile at them as I mused about the insane journey we all took to get here.
Life has a funny way of working out. There’s heartache and pain, joy and love, all mixed up in one big, messed-up life, and somehow you find a way to live through it, no matter what.
And sometimes, just when you think none of it makes any sense whatsoever, things come together in such a way that makes you question if the chaos was in the cards all along.
Fate. It’s a funny concept. It’s baffling to think that if one didn’t go through the pain, they’d never know the pleasure waiting on the other side.
If someone had told me six months ago that I’d be glad my folks had told me the truth, I’d have punched their face in. If someone had told me that I’d be settled down with the sweetest little strawberry blonde in the whole world that made me not want to even look at another woman, I’d have
told you you were crazy. If you told me that I’d be happy to call Crit, Seth and Jesse Hope my brothers, I’d have laughed in your face.
But like fate, time is funny, too. It has a way of soothing wounds, healing the past, and clarifying your future.
The six months since I’d met Lily had been the hardest I’d ever endured, but I’d found a way to endure it with dignity, with integrity, and with love and forgiveness in my heart.
It was all because of Lily. She’d opened my long closed-off heart and allowed me to see that I could care about people and it wouldn’t actually kill me.
If it wasn’t for that, if it wasn’t for Lily’s arrival and her constant presence, if she hadn’t stood strong by my side, I’d never have made it. I’d have gone back to my old ways of dulling the pain with booze and turning my back on my family.
I couldn’t have done it without her. I owed so much to her.
Daddy died in his bed on a warm, breezy June evening, with all of his family surrounding him. That included the Hopes. Crit, Seth, Jesse, George and Ruby had rallied around our family, holding it up in hope and faith until the very last breath he’d drawn.
And in that last moment, I was sure my father found peace.
The tumor had ravaged him, taking away his strength and his voice, but with the immense amount of love we’d all wrapped around him - well, death could never take that away. I was so thankful I hadn’t spent the last few months of his life away from him. I’d gone home to take care of him, and we all did it together.
I’d never been more grateful in my life.
My father was gone, but my family had grown. We’d gained so much by welcoming the Hopes with open arms. Ruby and George were over helping Mama out every day around the house, and all of us men had banned together and combined our two farms, working together to make our family businesses more successful than either of them had ever been. We had big dreams for our future.
Turns out, even Hopes and Haggards can work together, and damned well, if I do say so myself. We got along like we’d been born together, as if we’d been one family all our lives. It was the most natural thing in the world and I wished we’d done it sooner.
And I had Lily. She was starting veterinary school in two weeks and I’d never been more proud of anyone in my life. She was special, like a rare diamond I’d somehow been blessed to find. Our relationship had blossomed into a love like nothing I’d ever known, and I found myself finding new things to love about her everyday.
Brock Tyler had gotten off easy, if you ask me, but I guess everyone deserves a second chance. Or a third, or a fourth. The rodeo got their money back, so they didn’t press charges, and Lily just wanted him to go away. He hadn’t really hurt her, and I went along with it. If this had happened a long time ago, I’d have beat the ever loving hell out of him.
But I didn’t. I guess that part of me has changed too. Mainly, I just felt bad for the guy. I never told anyone his secret, either. I figured that was really his story to tell, and having to live your life as a lie was probably punishment enough for him.
If he wasn’t such an asshole, I’d almost feel bad for him. We all reached our low points, sooner or later. I’d been there. So many times.
But even when I’d given up, even when I thought I was at the lowest point in my life, I always knew that hope lived deep inside of me, residing in a place that I couldn’t always touch, but I was always aware of. I’d tried to push it away, tried to deny it was still there, but it kept on shining, a bright light pulsing in my heart, never giving up on me, never fading.
They say hope springs eternal, and I guess I’m a living example of that, even if my last name is Haggard and not Hope.
Sometimes, all you have is hope.
But if you have that, you have everything.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Honey Palomino is a true romantic at heart!.
She loves reading and writing
about dangerously sexy bad boys
and the women that love them!
OTHER TITLES BY HONEY PALOMINO
MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE
Gods of Chaos Motorcycle Club
Outlaws Motorcycle Club
Dirty Crow Motorcycle Club
Captured
Old Ghosts
Saving Rebel
Jett
My Brother’s Keeper
BAD BOY BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE
The Crown Jewels
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THE HOPE BROTHERS: The Bad Boys of Sugar Hill Page 42