THE HOPE BROTHERS: The Bad Boys of Sugar Hill

by Honey Palomino

  “No!” he screamed. I jumped, fear ripping through my heart as his roar echoed in the empty room. “That’s bullshit, Lily. I need you, or I’ll never be able to rebuild my career. We belong together!”

  “No, Brock, we don’t. I used to think we did, but it turns out that’s not true. Look, it was nice while it lasted,” I said, lying through my teeth. In fact, in this moment, I couldn’t remember one good thing about being with him, “but I’m with someone else now. And I’m happy. You’ll find someone else and you’ll be happy again, too.”

  “Someone else? Who? Haggard? That prick is a giant loser, Lily! What the hell do you see in him?” Anger raged in his eyes, and I struggled to remain calm.

  “He’s a complete gentleman, Brock. He treats me like a queen.” Something you never did, I thought.

  “You stupid fucking bitch!” he roared. “He’s just going to use you up and spit you out as soon as he grows tired of you! That’s what men like him do. You think he cares about you? You think he can do anything for you? What a fucking idiot you turned out to be, Lily. I thought you were smarter than this.”

  “Even if he treats me half as well as you did, Brock, then I’m happy. You treated me like shit, you’re just describing yourself.”

  “I know, Lily! That’s what I’m saying! I’ve changed. We could go places, we could own the world. I just can’t do it without you by my side. But you’ll never know, now, will you?” he grabbed my hand and roughly pushed it up against the front of his jeans. “And you’ll never get this cock again, bitch! You’re going to regret this for as long as you live!”

  I shouldn’t have. I know. But something inside of me snapped and anger rushed through me like a hurricane. I felt the bulge of his cock in my hand and slowly I squeezed. His eyes lit up with arousal for a split second, but as I continued to squeeze, it changed to worry and then, finally, sweet sweet pain registered in his eyes. I kept squeezing, harder, harder, until he fell to his knees in front of me.

  “You fucking cunt!” he squealed as I stood up and looked down at him. He was a pathetic mess. And I was so done with him.

  “I’m out of here,” I said, moving towards the door while he was still on the ground. I made it three steps before he reached out and grabbed my ankle, pulling me to the floor with him.

  I struggled to slide out of his grasp, but he was holding on to my boot too tightly. I kicked and screamed, but he made it to his knees and then sat on top of me, straddling my hips as I tried to wiggle away from him.

  He grabbed my arms and pinned them over my head, bringing his face inches from mine.

  “How could you hurt me like that, Lily?” he whispered, his breathe stinging my face. “I’d never hurt you.” I lifted my hips to buck him off of me, knocking him off balance just enough to lift my knee and slam it up between his legs.

  “Fuuuuuuck!” he yelled, letting go of my hands and rolling off of me as he grabbed his cock. “You bitch!”

  I scrambled to my knees, crawling towards the door again. My hand was on the doorknob and I was pulling myself up when I heard the distinctive sound of a gun cocking.

  “Don’t fucking move, Lily!”

  I froze and put my hands up, turning my head slowly to see him standing over me with a pistol pointed right at my head.

  “Enough of this bullshit! Get up! Now!”

  I rose to my feet, my hands in the air, as I watched him grab a backpack behind him. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but on the table in the corner was a huge metal box that I instantly recognized as the box that was on the raffle table the other day.

  Keeping one eye on me, Brock carried the backpack over to the table and opened the box, pulling out fistfuls of cash and shoving it in his bag. My eyes widened in shock. There had to be thousands of dollars in there.

  “Brock, you can’t steal that money! What are you doing?”

  “Shut up!” he barked, pointing the gun at me. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. It’s their own fucking fault for not having better security.”

  “You’ll never get away with this! Don’t be so stupid!” I pleaded.

  He zipped up the backpack and walked back over to me, bringing the gun inches from my face as he peered into my eyes.

  “What’s my name, Lily?” he sneered.

  “What?” I asked, my voice quivering in fear. He’d lost it. He’d completely lost it.

  “Tell me my fucking name!” he ordered.

  “Brock!” I said.

  “Brock what?” he asked, a sick smile spreading across his face.

  “B-Brock Tyler.”

  “That’s right. I’m Brock Fucking Tyler and I get whatever the hell I want. Right now, what I want is this money,” he snarled. He slid the tip of the pistol down my cheek, trailed it down my neck and along the curve of my collarbone, raking it down to the top curves of my breast. “Truth is, I never really wanted you. You were just what my image needed. And honestly, I don’t really have a use for you anymore. Not once I get out of here.

  “Brock, please stop, you’re scaring me,” I pleaded.

  “Oh, Lily, relax,” he said, bringing his face next to mine, his hot breath on my cheek. I shuddered in disgust. “We’re just getting started, darlin’.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  LEE

  “Mama, stop apologizing!” I said into the phone. She sounded so sad and so far away and I was stricken with a massive pang of guilt. “I love you, Mama. Nothing will ever change that.”

  “Lee, honey, that means so much to me. I wish everything had been handled differently. I went about it all wrong. It’s just that after a while, it didn’t seem to make a difference, really. We were all just family, the rest of it didn’t seem to matter so much. But now, with your Daddy being so sick, I just couldn’t let him go without telling you. I just couldn’t do this alone, after…” her voice trailed off before she could say the words that neither of us wanted to hear.

  “Mama, I understand. You were young. We all make mistakes,” I said, trying to keep my voice as gentle as possible to try to calm her down. I really was on the road to forgiving her and the last thing I wanted was my sweet Mama feeling so badly because of me and my stubbornness. She was right, it didn’t really matter at all.

  “Your Daddy isn’t doing well at all, Lee. I so wish you’d come home, son,” her voice was shaking. “Finn’s here, and he’s a big help. But it would do your Daddy good to see you, Lee. And me, too.”

  “Okay, Mama. I’ll come home. Just please promise me you’ll stop crying, okay? I love you.” I wished I could crawl through the phone to comfort her. But I couldn’t. Because I’d left her behind, her and my father, and the rest of Sugar Hill. I’d left them all behind because I wasn’t strong enough to handle them.

  But something had changed in me the last few days. Something big. Maybe it was because of Lily. Maybe the hope she’d given me for the future had come along with a big helping of strength, too.

  The pain I’d felt before didn’t seem so big anymore, the disappointment didn’t seem like such a huge betrayal. At least now I knew. At least now I understood why I’d never fit in, why I’d always felt like such an outsider. And that in itself was a gift. The knowledge had allowed me to finally accept myself, instead of beating myself up for not falling into line with everyone else.

  Everything made sense now. I wasn’t crazy, I wasn’t delusional. I wasn’t a square peg trying to fit into a round hole anymore, and there was something incredibly freeing about that.

  It was time for me to go home and face my reality, face my folks, face my past and find a way to reconcile it with my future.

  The first thing I needed to do was tell Lily. I felt an overwhelming urge to share this with her before anyone else. I knew she’d understand, I knew she’d tell me to go, I knew she’d tell me I was doing the right thing, and I knew she’d be right by my side throughout it all.

  Because she was the most beautiful woman in the world, inside and out.

  And I couldn’t wait t
o spend the rest of my life with her.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  LILY

  All I could think about was Lee.

  Lee’s hair, the way it hung softly around his face when he was kissing me.

  Lee’s eyes, the way they flashed with gentle tenderness when he looked at me.

  Lee’s lips, their soft warmth caressing my skin.

  I kept thinking about him, because I was terrified I’d never get to see him again. And it was that fear that made me stop fighting Brock. He tied me to a chair by the table, and my mind raced as I tried to think of what to say to him to make him stop.

  If I resisted, he’d shoot me.

  And if he shot me, I’d never see Lee again.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Taking what’s mine,” he replied, his voice eerily calm.

  This isn’t happening, I told myself. Just think of Lee.

  Lee, Lee, Lee…

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  LEE

  “Hey, Vivian,” I said. She was standing in the concessions line and I walked over to her.

  “Howdy, Lee,” she drawled. “Nice to see you again.”

  “You too,” I replied.

  “You know what else was nice to see?” she asked, with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

  “What’s that?”

  “It was nice to see Brock lose his ass out there. I’m so glad Crit won. He’s such a nice guy.”

  “Well, I gotta agree with you on all points there, ma’am,” I said.

  “Don’t call me ‘ma’am’, Lee. We’re the same age, practically,” she said, laughing.

  “Sorry, it’s a habit. Something my Daddy instilled in me years ago,” I said, a lump forming in my throat when I thought about him.

  “Well, that’s a sign that you were brought up properly,” she said. “Your Daddy sounds like a good man.”

  “He is,” I whispered. I didn’t know how much she knew, how much Lily had told her, but I didn’t want to go into it now. I had a break for a few hours before the next big competition and I wanted to run over to Lily’s folks place to talk to her. “Listen, I gotta run. I’m going to go check on Lily for a bit. I’ll be back.”

  “Actually, Lily was supposed to meet me here.”

  “She was?”

  “Yeah, she texted me and said she was bored out of her mind at home with her Mama. Told me she was on her way, but it’s been over an hour and I ain’t seen hide nor hair of her,” she replied, looking over my shoulder. “I guess you ain’t seen her either?”

  “Nope, not at all. An hour ago, you say?”

  “Yep. I tried calling her five minutes ago, but she’s not picking up.”

  “That’s strange,” I said, as something deep inside began gnawing at me. Something wasn’t right. “Maybe she’s with Jimmy.”

  “Nope, I saw Jimmy, too. He walked past about fifteen minutes ago, said he hadn’t seen her either. He was going looking for her.”

  “Well, shit.”

  “I’m sure she’ll show up any minute now, don’t worry,” she replied, patting my arm.

  “I’m sure she will, Vivian. Let me know when you find her, okay? I want to talk to her about something.”

  “Will do, Lee. You do the same.”

  “You got it,” I said, turning on my heel and walking away, my eyes frantically scanning the crowd for Lily.

  I knew this feeling. I’d felt it so many times before. I’d felt it right before I saved Jesse Hope from that damned barn fire. I felt it when Eva’s husband pulled up in the driveway while I was buried somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be. I felt it when I first laid eyes on Lincoln LaCroix. I’d felt it that night I’d overheard my folk’s talking.

  And I’d hoped like hell I’d never feel this shit again, but if I’d learned anything at all in everything I’d been through, it was to listen to it.

  I barreled through the swaying crowd, trying to figure out where to start looking for Lily. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about this, what this feeling was trying to tell me, but as soon as I saw her truck in the parking lot, I felt just a little better. She’d made it this far. But still, that feeling in my gut was screaming at me. Something was wrong.

  And I had a sinking feeling I knew who was behind it.

  I found Seth, Beau and Jesse standing in a circle around Crit, I couldn’t help but sigh with relief.

  They all looked so happy as they stood there admiring Crit’s newly won trophy.

  I’d never been one to ask for help, but today, I didn’t hesitate. They were just the people I needed. My family.

  “I need some help, guys.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  LILY

  “Brock, please…” I pleaded. “Don’t. Please, just let me go.”

  He pulled away, peering into my eyes, ignoring my tears as he smirked at me.

  He’d broken me down. I couldn’t think of Lee and pretend this wasn’t happening.

  “We used to be so close, why are you doing this? Why now?”

  “Why now?” he asked, as if the question had just dawned on him. “Because of you! Because you chose Lee over me. Because I can!”

  He reached over and wrapped his fingers around my throat and squeezed, just a little, just enough to make me gasp for breath.

  “I can do anything I want, Lily,” he said, his voice a low, seething whisper. “I could rape you, if I wanted to. I could kill you,” he squeezed my throat tighter.

  Tears streamed down my face as I looked up at him. I couldn’t believe he was doing this, I couldn’t believe this was actually happening. I never thought in a million years Brock would do something like this.

  “But I won’t!” he suddenly let go, and I gasped, trying to suck in as much air as I could as he stood up and laughed at me. “Not yet, anyway. I need you, Lily. I need your help getting out of here.”

  “I’ll never help you!” I spat, my voice shaking like a leaf.

  He brought the gun up, pointing it at my face again.

  “You’ll do whatever I say if you ever want to see your precious Lee again!”

  “Brock! Please! It doesn’t have to be this way, really! Just take the money back, let me leave, and we’ll pretend this never happened. Please, Brock?”

  “Nothing will ever be the same, Lily, don’t you understand? My life is over. I have no more sponsorships, I lost the competition - to fucking Crit Hope, no less - and now I’ve lost you. The best I can hope for is to take this cash and start over somewhere else. Be someone else. Or, maybe just be me this time. ”

  “You can’t run, Brock! Hell, everyone in Texas knows your face by now! You’re a household name. You’ll never get away.”

  “So, I’ll leave Texas. Maybe I’ll leave the country. Either way, I won’t waste away here!”

  “Brock, you can have a good life. There’s always another competition. So you lost one, no big deal.”

  “I lost the biggest one. There’s nowhere to go from here.”

  “Brock…”

  “Shut up,” he said, slapping me across my face. I recoiled in pain and shock, looking up at him in fear. “I’m tired of hearing your nagging. That’s all you ever did anyway, nag nag nag. I can’t believe the shit I put up with from you, all for nothing.”

  “Brock!”

  “I said, shut the fuck up! I need to think!” he raised the gun over his head, threatening me again. I clamped my mouth shut, ending my attempts at talking my way out of this. Words weren’t going to work. Everything I said just pissed him off more. I’d have to find another way.

  I stared up at him silently, biting my quivering lip, wishing like hell I wasn’t so fucking afraid, that I wasn’t shaking so badly.

  But I was terrified. I wasn’t in control. He was the one with the gun, he was the one with the power, he was the one in charge.

  “After the next competition starts, we’ll sneak out while everyone is watching,” he said, my heart sinking when I realized he planned to take me with hi
m.

  “In the meantime,” he said, that sickly snarl spreading across his face. “I need a drink.”

  He stumbled over to the bar and drank from a bottle of whiskey. I’d never felt such hatred for someone in my life, and it startled me as all the things I wanted to do to him raced through my mind.

  They weren’t pretty. And for once in his privileged life, neither was Brock.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  LEE

  Once I explained to my brother’s what was going on, they were as worried as I was.

  “I wouldn’t be so concerned, if that asshole Brock hadn’t threatened such violent revenge. Seems to me Lily is the easiest target to use to get back at you,” Beau said.

  “Yeah, I thought of that, too. There’s so many fucking people here, I don’t know where to start looking.”

  “Well, I’d bet my last nickel that Brock is in his room downstairs licking his wounds. That’s the first place I’d look, just to make sure he didn’t get a wild hair up his ass to harm Lily.”

  “I’ll fucking kill that motherfucker,” I growled.

  “Well, hopefully you won’t have to,” Crit replied. “And if you do, then we’ll help you. Let’s go. My room is right next to his.”

  “Girls,” Beau said, turning to George and Ruby. “Y’all wait here. Keep your phones close. I’ll call you if we hear anything. Walk around and see if you can find Lily.”

  “Okay, babe,” George said, kissing Beau on the lips. “Be careful!”

  “Yeah, y’all keep your heads about ya! We don’t need anyone getting hurt,” Ruby drawled.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Crit replied, kissing her on the cheek.

  We walked away, leaving the girls staring after us. The five us streamed through the crowd, making our way to the stairwell that led down below the arena.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket, dialing Lily’s number once more. As I listened to the sound of the unanswered ringing, that feeling in the pit of my stomach grew to a churning, roaring sickness.

  I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to Lily. She’d given me a glimpse of my future, and there was no way in hell I’d accept a scenario that didn’t include her.