One Chance (Hogan Brothers 1)

“I didn’t know I was.” Fear had been her companion since her father’s revelation, and she still didn’t understand what was going on. Braxton wasn’t budging. Her father hadn’t been home since dropping his bombshell and leaving. And she’d been avoiding her mother by staying in her room.

“I don’t understand, catch me up.”

“When I got home yesterday, mother and father had a fight,” she began, still confused about the entire exchange.

“And you’re in danger because of that?”

She couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips from his own confusion. He got these cute wrinkles in his forehead that she wanted to smooth out.

“No. Because of father’s work,” she said. “I think.”

“What do you mean, you think?”

“Lennox?” Sophia cringed at hearing her mother’s nasally voice, not realizing the woman had come home. “How nice of you to come by.” His face went from confused to annoyed to angry in a flash.

“Not here for you, ma’am,” he told her mother without even turning to face the wretched woman.

Her mother, however, was not swayed. “Well, who else would you be here for?” She obviously didn’t know or care that her daughter was being blocked by his body.

Looking over his shoulder, Sophia shuddered at the anger in his eyes. “Sophia,” he responded to the older woman.

Rebecca’s entire demeanor changed with that one word. She didn’t have to see the woman to know she was in for a ton of trouble when he left. “Why would you want her?” Pain sliced through Sophia’s chest.

Lennox turned to fully face the woman, and Sophia decided she didn’t want or need to hear any more, so she began to slowly slither her way down the hall to her room. Closing her door with a quiet snick, she could hear her mother’s raised and frantic voice as Lennox tried to back out of whatever it was she wanted.

Leaning against her door, taking deep breaths, she tried to force the tears back. She would not cry over something that was never hers. She always knew she would be stuck in her family home. Why had never even been a thought. It just was what it was.

When she met Lorraine Hogan, she experienced hope for the first time. Hope for more, for a life. For something. Sophia had never been encouraged by her parents when she was in school; she was never a straight A student. She was lucky that she had a C average.

Her mother had always been more concerned about appearances than grades or school. Sophia became a pretty little doll for her to dress up. Never a real daughter. Now, as an adult, she felt less than useless. While she had attended some of the finest schools in the state, she was never given the choice of going to college and becoming something. Real fear coursed through her body as she thought about how worthless of a person she was to society. With nothing to offer the world, she was a waste of space.

Pounding on her door had her thoughts disappearing and her heart rate skyrocketing. Turning slowly, she pulled the door open an inch to see an infuriated looking Lennox on the other side.

Pushing the door open, he forced his way in before shutting it with his foot and reaching back to lock it. All of this without taking his eyes off of her. When his hands came up to hold her face in a gentle grip, she was shocked to feel him wiping tears from her cheeks. She hadn’t even realized she was crying.

“What’s this?” he asked quietly.

Looking at the tear sitting on his thumb, she had no answer. “I don’t know.”

“You know I despise that woman, right?” His voice demanded she know the truth.

“I do,” she murmured. Now, she silently added.

“Good,” he mumbled just before drawing her face closer to his and capturing her lips in another searing kiss of passion. She’d never been touched by a man before, let alone experience the scalding hot desire he awoke inside of her.

It was over almost as quick as it started. “Damn,” Lennox whispered against her lips. She was still frozen in place, unsure of what she should or shouldn’t be doing.

“Go out with me.” His quiet command startled her eyes into opening. The eagerness in his stare had her nodding her head without thought. His smile was reward enough for her.

“I’ve got some work to do tonight, so I’ll pick you up at six tomorrow, yeah?”

“Okay.” She found herself easily agreeing if only to see the happiness on his face. When he went to leave, she found the courage to ask the second person in as many days as to why.

His eyes fixed on the door for a full minute before he answered. “Because I need you.” His answer was so simple, yet so unexplained. He clearly understood her question. The pain behind it. “You’ll see, Soph. Real soon you’ll see.” Confused by his answer, she watched him walk away before throwing herself on her bed.

She’d never done anything like what Lennox wanted before. Her mother had never given her that chance, let alone the choice to be around boys. With more than twenty years separating them, Sophia always felt like her mother was competing with her for the affections of boys she didn’t even have any interest in.

When Lennox had asked if she were her mother’s daughter, she’d felt sick to her stomach imagining the first man she was attracted to being in any kind of relationship with the older woman. The thought had nearly sent her running for the hills.