Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tanner
To say the past hour and a half had been rough would have been the understatement of the century.
After our talk, Holly had texted her family, asking them to meet us at the cabin.
Once they arrived she dove right in, confessing everything she’d been keeping to herself for the better part of a year.
How their mother had reached out to demand money.
How she’d continued to pay, even going so far as to drain her savings to keep that vile woman satisfied so she wouldn’t go after her siblings.
As hard as it was, I had to sit back and let her handle it, offering my silent support as Holly admitted her mistakes to the people she loved most in the world.
As much as I wanted to take on the weight that had been loaded onto her shoulders, that was the part she had to take care of herself.
And she was. Despite everything, she showed a strength that left me in awe of her.
I’d never met someone as resilient as Holiday Bradbury, and witnessing it first-hand only made me love her more.
The emotions that filled the cabin like dense fog ran the gamut from anger—her brothers—all the way to sadness—from her sisters, Sunny and Gypsy.
At one point, I nearly lost my grip on the self-control I was struggling to hold on to.
It had taken everything in me to keep from jumping in and punching Raylan in the face when he let his anger fly, snapping at Holly in a tone that had me curling my hands into fists so tight I thought the skin around my knuckles would split open.
The man in question paced the room like a caged lion.
“Just when I think those fuckers are gone from our lives for good, they pop up like fucking cockroaches.” He pinned Holly in place with a furious glare.
“I can’t believe you’ve been keeping this to yourself.
I can’t believe you gave that bitch money! What were you thinking?”
That was the last straw.
“That’s enough.” The room went silent at the bass of my voice, seven sets of eyes landing on and following me as I moved to Holly, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her into my side.
She sniffled and tried to be discreet as she wiped her eyes, but I didn’t miss the dampness that clung to her lashes.
This was costing her. And she was done paying the price alone.
“I understand you’re angry.” I looked directly at Raylan. “All of you have every right to be. But you need to direct that anger at the correct target, and that’s not your sister.”
I felt eyes on me coming from the corner of the room near the fireplace, and when I looked over I found Marco, standing sentry, ready to jump in and protect at any moment.
He’s been quiet the whole time, observing.
But as his hazel eyes locked on me, I saw appreciation in them.
He dipped his chin, and something that felt a hell of a lot like pride made my chest swell.
That man had been the first line of defense for the Bradbury siblings for years, and I got the sense he was accepting that I was now there to stand beside him, offering even more protection.
Raylan’s expression shifted from anger to remorse. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said softly. “I hate the thought that you’ve been alone in this.”
“I wanted to protect you,” Holly replied, her voice wavering slightly.
“The way you guys have always protected me.” Her eyes landed on each of her brothers and sisters.
“You guys fought to find your happiness. You’ve found your partners and started families of your own, and I didn’t want her to take that away. ”
“We’re stronger together.”
That came from Gypsy. She was the closest thing their family had to a matriarch, and when she talked everyone listened. She’d sacrificed everything for her siblings without a second thought, and from the look on her face, I knew she’d have gladly done it over and over again.
“That’s the one thing about this family that’s always been true.
We’re stronger together. We’re a team.” She stood from the couch and walked over to her youngest sister.
“I love you, and I appreciate you wanting to protect us all by yourself, but that’s not how we work.
We take on the worst as a whole. That’s how we win. You understand me?”
Holly’s throat bobbed on a swallow as she nodded. “I understand.”
Gypsy inhaled, resoluteness steeling her spine, and as I watched her put herself back together, I finally understood where Holly got her strength. “All right, then. Now that that’s settled we need to figure out what we’re going to do.”
I gave Holly a squeeze, looking down at her and silently communicating to make sure we were on the same page. When she nodded, I spoke up. “If you guys agree, I’m pretty sure I know how to take care of this situation once and for all.”
Gypsy’s head twisted in my direction, and when her eyes met mine, I saw acceptance, clear as day. “What do you have in mind?”
“I want Holly to text her back. Tell her you have the money and that you want to meet up.”
“You think that’s a good idea?” Sunny asked, her expression fierce. “I don’t want Holly to have to face that woman.”
“She won’t be. Holly’s staying here, I’m the one who’s going to face her.”
“I’m going with you,” Raylan declared.
Holly’s youngest brother Lee pushed out of the chair he’d been sitting in. “Me too.”
“Oh, there’s no way in hell I’m missing this,” Rhodes added.
I nodded in agreement. If they wanted to watch as I made sure Peggy Bradbury never darkened their doorsteps again, that was fine with me.
The roadside motel thirty minutes outside of Hope Valley where Holly’s mother was staying looked like it should have been condemned years ago.
We drove past a drug deal in progress as I guided my Range Rover into a parking spot, and a few yards away, a woman I was fairly certain was a prostitute was leading a man into one of the other rooms.
“Christ, this place is a goddamn dump,” Rhodes grunted from the passenger seat. “Could probably get hepatitis just by touching any surface.”
As I killed the engine, the door to the room directly in front of us opened and a woman who looked at least a decade and a half older than she actually was stepped outside. She tucked a cigarette between her lips and lit it up, staring at us through the windshield.
“That’s her.” I looked over at Rhodes as he glared at the woman, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he clenched his teeth together.
“Jesus.” Lee’s lip curled up in disgust. “I can’t believe that’s the woman we came from.”
“Neither can I,” Raylan muttered, letting out a resigned sigh. “We’ve already been here longer than I want to be. Let’s get this shit over with.”
We climbed out of the car, and as I rounded the hood, I kept my eyes locked on the woman who looked like life had chewed her up and spit her out.
I couldn’t help but wonder what was so tempting about the way she was living that she’d choose it over her own children.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Holly and her siblings were better off without her.
As her gaze bounced over her sons, I wondered if she realized that she’d have been better off if she stayed. In the end, it didn’t matter, though. Because they had managed to thrive without her.
“That’s one fancy-ass ride you got there,” she said to me, blowing out a puff of noxious smoke through her stained teeth. “You obviously got some money to throw around.”
I didn’t bother denying it. “That I do. A whole lot of it, actually.”
She looked over my shoulder, and for a brief moment I thought I caught a flash of sorrow in her eyes as she looked at her sons, but it was there and gone before I could be sure.
“And I see you brought my sons with you.” She sneered, turning her attention back to me.
“What? You afraid you needed backup or somethin’? ”
“We aren’t your sons,” Rhodes stated definitively. “You don’t have any sons or daughters. You’re all alone, Peggy.”
That flash returned, and I watched as she shook it off, taking another puff of her cigarette.
She was trying to play it off that she didn’t care, but it didn’t work.
That blow from Rhodes had landed, and it did some real damage.
“I didn’t agree to no family reunion. I got shit to do, so just give me my money, and you can be on your way. ”
My lips curled up in a smile that felt downright feral as I pulled the check out of my pocket and handed it over.
She snatched it out of my had, greed carved into every line on her face. At least until she unfolded it and saw the amount.
“The fuck is this?” she demanded, waving the check in the air.
“That’s a thousand dollars,” I stated simply.
Her cheeks grew red with anger. “This some kind of fuckin’ joke? You tryin’ to play me? I said two hundred grand.”
I took a step closer. I wasn’t above using my size to intimidate when the situation called for it. And in this case, it was definitely called for. Whatever she saw on my face made her step back. Her bravado fell away, replaced with uncertainty and a little bit of fear.
“That’s all you’re going to get. Ever. I came here to tell you that your well’s dried up.”
Her face pinched up in a glare. She was trying to come off as threatening, but she only looked pathetic. “That’s not how this works. You give me what I want, or I’ll make your life miserable. You hear me?”
I wasn’t sure I’d ever hated anyone before, but looking at Peggy Bradbury, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I hated this woman.
“That thousand dollars is the last you’ll ever see from any person with the last name Bradbury,” I gritted through clenched teeth.
“I came here today to tell you that you just played your last card. And you lost. You fucked up when you decided to threaten my woman.”
I moved closer, the blood in my veins reaching a full boil.
“I protect the people I care about. That check you have in your hand right now is barely a drop in the bucket for me. I have millions. More than you could ever dream of having, and if you come anywhere near Holly or her siblings ever again, if you reach out in any way, I will use every goddamn dime I have to my name to destroy what little you have left of your pathetic life.”
I curled my lips, baring my teeth. “I will make sure every single day of your sad existence is a misery. The difference between me and you, I have the means to back up my threats. You want to test me on that? Fuck around and find out. I actually think I’d enjoy ruining you.”
Her body was shaking so bad I thought her knees were going to give out, but somehow she managed to stay standing.
“What happens now is you’re going to disappear.
You’re going to get as far away from Hope Valley as that thousand will take you, and you’re going to forget any of these people exist. Do you hear me?
” I hissed, throwing her own words back at her.
She swallowed thickly as her head moved in a jerky nod.
“Good.” I started to turn but stopped to issue one more warning. “Lose Holly’s number. If you don’t there isn’t a corner of this planet you could hide in that I wouldn’t find you.”
With that, I turned on my heel and stomped back toward the car. Rhodes was standing stoic but there was no missing the respect in his eyes. Lee gaped at me before letting out a full-blown laugh. Finally, I looked at Raylan to find him grinning at me, ear to ear.
He reached out and clapped me on the shoulder. “That was something, man. All I can say after witnessing that is, welcome to the family, brother.”
The only sweeter words I’d ever heard was when Holly told me she loved me. “Glad to hear it. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”