One Chance (Hogan Brothers 1)

And tonight, I’ll fall asleep with you in my heart.

Nox and Levi were sitting in the kitchen after he’d gotten Soph settled and asleep. He hated what had happened to her. That he wasn’t there to protect her when she needed it most. As she’d nodded off, he made a promise to her that he would be there from now on. He wouldn’t let harm come to her again.

“You think she’ll pull out of this?” Levi asked, breaking the silence they’d been surrounded in.

Blowing out a deep breath, he told the man, “Yeah. I do.”

“She’s so vulnerable. Her entire demeanor screams it. How can you be so sure?”

Lennox understood his brother’s worry. If he didn’t know Soph so well, he’d have the same doubts. “You guys don’t see her, the real Sophia. At home, she’s got fire. I think she’s even surprised herself a time or two.” He laughed thinking of a couple days before the accident when she’d tossed a plate after he got her fired up and left her hanging because they had to get to work. “There’s no doubt she’s shy, man, but that girl is stronger than anyone else knows.”

“If you say so.” Levi’s doubt was still clear.

“You’ll see.”

The front door opening had him straightening up and Levi cowering a bit, trying to hide the fading bruises on his face as their mother walked into the room.

“Hey, Ma,” Nox greeted, kissing her cheek as she walked past him and straight to Levi.

“Hi, baby,” she said to him. Her hard gaze zeroed in on his brother’s face. “Care to explain?” she asked him.

“And that’s my cue.” Nox got up to leave when her hand whipped back to grab his arm.

“Not so fast, Lennox.” Her voice was pure steel. “Lochlan will be here soon. Sit.” She pointed back to his chair. “We’re gonna have a little pow-wow.”

Well, shit. The last time they’d done that was when his father was sick.

“You sick, Ma?” Worry bled through his voice.

She looked genuinely shocked by his question as she met his gaze. “No. Of course not. Why would you ask that?”

“Last time we had a pow-wow was when Pop was diagnosed,” Levi answered.

“No, I promise I’m healthy.”

Nox searched her eyes for any kind of deception. As much as she could get on his nerves and be slightly over-bearing, he loved the woman to death and couldn’t imagine a world without her in it.

Nodding, he sat down as they waited for Loch to show up. She puttered around, making sweet tea and sandwiches. A task she only did when something was weighing on her mind.

A knock followed by, “I’m here,” announced their baby brother’s presence. He came into the kitchen, took in their mother’s actions as they sat quietly, and blurted out, “You sick, Ma?”

Her motions stopped as she turned to face them. “For crying out loud, I’m fine. I just had this dance with them.” Her hand waved to him and Levi. “Sit,” she instructed Loch.

They all remained quiet and vigilant as the woman continued to move about the kitchen. Bringing things to the table, going back to the fridge for more. He knew she had to be upset about more than Sophia and what was happening with that if she were so quiet.

When she did finally sit down across from the three of them, he braced for the worst as she opened her mouth. “I went and seen Sophia’s father today.” Not what he was expecting. “He’s been staying cold and clear of her because of Re

becca. Braxton is looking into Sophia’s biological mother and her life before the Bennett’s found her.”

He was torn between anger at his mother for going there when things were unsteady and pride that she was so set on helping his woman. His mother was a formidable presence, and with his experience, he knew Anthony would have tried to hide things from the woman. She most likely forced the truth from him.

“What did you find out that we don’t already know?” Nox asked her.

“Not a lot. I mostly wanted to find out his thoughts about everything that was happening. Why he felt the need to distance himself from his only child. She shouldn’t feel like she has no one to love her.” When he went to speak, to dissuade that notion, she talked right over him. “No matter that we have a significant other that loves us, Lennox, it’s not the same as a parent. Having one who makes you feel like you’re nothing and the other reinforcing it by not fighting for you? It weighs on a person. I know Sophia is strong. I know she will get past this, but she needs to understand everything that’s happened to make her life the hell it has been.”

He nodded, understanding what she meant. He couldn’t fathom feeling the way she did. He would help her however he could to move forward, but a huge part of that was going to have to be on her father. Anthony had to be the one to make amends.

“Anthony has a meeting today with the police detectives that Sophia had already spoken to after the accident. He’s going to tell them everything that has been going on. All about Rebecca and what she’s been up to, as well. It’s time for things to end, and I think he realizes he can’t make this go away quietly.”