Broken Lion (38 page)

The elevator dinged and we all stepped inside. When the doors closed, Hackett said, “Brigid, I hope you don’t think I was the one who brought your relationship with Lion to the attention of human resources.”

“Did you?” Lion asked bluntly.

“I did not,” he said confidently.

I believed him. “Do you know who did? I thought I was supposed to know who my accuser was.”

He put his hands on his waist and craned his neck. “That I do not. Would you believe someone called HR and left an anonymous tip?”

Lion looked at me and we both said at the same time, “Donald.”

“Asshole,” I muttered.

“Fuckin-A right,” Lion grumbled.

“Your ex?” Hackett asked. He had met Donald before the divorce more than once.

“Yes. But it doesn’t matter. I already knew my ex-husband was worthless.”

Lion said, “You could always sue Donald for defamation of character. Send him a message not to try anything like this again.”

“But everything the committee said we did, we did. There was no defamation.”

“She’s right,” Vikki said. “For defamation to apply, Donald would’ve had to make a false statement about Brigid. But he didn’t. And we don’t have any proof it was actually him who said something to the hospital.”

Lion sighed, “I guess you’re right. I just don’t want him getting away with anything.”

I smiled, “He didn’t. So forget about him. I got what I wanted.” I wrapped my arm around Lion’s elbow and we smiled at each other.

“Me too,” he said.

“Right,” Hackett grinned at both of us. “I’m so very sorry you had to go through all that, Brigid.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, Doc,” Lion said to Hackett, “Since it wasn’t you who told, why were you asking me all those questions about Brigid when I saw you at your office?”

Hackett smiled. “Simple. I had my suspicions from the beginning about you two, and I merely wanted to warn you, Mr. Maxwell, that dating one’s doctor is against the rules, as you so eloquently pointed out. But most male patients aren’t aware of this fact, and not all doctors are quick to tell them. For Brigid’s sake, I thought it best you know, Mr. Maxwell. But you were so adamant about your disinterest in her, I decided against it. No reason for me to tempt fate.”

Dr. Hackett may have had pompous tendencies, but he was a good man.

“So,” he grinned, “do you two need a proper chauffeur to drive you to the courthouse? It’s the least I can do under the circumstances.”

“I can handle it,” Lion chuckled. “Irish, did you mean what you said? Do you really want to drive to the courthouse right now?” He smiled his boyish grin once again.

I looked into his eyes.

His darted nervously. “Well?”

“Yes. I would love nothing more.”

Lion leaned down and kissed me passionately.

Vikki cooed, “I think I’m going to cry.”

Hackett clapped softly. “Bravo, you two.”

The elevator dinged when we arrived on the first floor.

The doors opened and sunshine poured inside.

Hand in hand, Lion and I both turned and walked out into our bright new future together.

Epilogue

LION

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER

“Knock him out!” The shrill scream came from Daniel, who sat ringside with Brigid. I could barely hear him over the roar of the crowd, but I was right up against the cage fence as I rained elbows on the head of my opponent Carey Bennett. We were well into the fifth and last round. I was running out of gas but Bennett wasn’t giving up. He was a professional badass. The kind of man who the proverbial mugger you wouldn’t wanna meet in a dark alley wouldn’t wanna meet either.

But Carey Bennett didn’t scare me.

He tried to buck me off his chest, but I wouldn’t let him and finally landed an elbow on his nose. Like that, his arms dropped.

He was out.

I was still swinging, but the ref pushed me off Bennett before I did any serious damage. I rolled backward onto my ass. The ref called the fight, scissoring his arms in front of me, keeping himself between me and Bennett. I jumped up and ran around the cage, my arms in the air. My corner team poured inside and everyone started grabbing me.

“I knew you could do it, son!” Dean Jackson said, slapping my back and hugging me.

“Couldn’t’ve done it without you, old man!”

Cahill was jumping up and down, giggling like a girl. “The come back kid! You did it, brother!”

Two minutes later, Carey Bennett stumbled up to me, still wobbly after getting his ticket punched. His nose was pulped and dripping blood. I threw my arms around him in a bear hug. I talked in his ear, “You were a beast out there, Bennett. You almost had me in round four.”

Bennett was still groggy, but he hugged me back. “I can’t believe you knocked me out.”

“Me neither, brother. Me neither.”

“Nobody has ever knocked me out.”

“You’re still a total badass in my book. You had me on points and would’ve won if I hadn’t.”

“Lucky you knocked me out, Maxwell,” he chuckled and slapped my back with his gloves. “You owe me a rematch.”

“Name the time and place. But give me at least six months to recover.”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Me too.”

Cameras were flashing and the ring filled up with people. The ref stood between me and Bennett and held our wrists at our sides as the announcer read the official decision over the PA.

“Winner by knockout, the undefeated and undisputed reigning WMAA cruiserweight champion of the woooorld, the King of the Ring, Lion Maaaaaaaax-weeeeeellllll!”

The ref threw my arm in the air and the crowd went nuts, filling the arena with a collective roar as loud as a thousand lions. A chant started up, everyone joining in. “LI-ON! LI-ON! LI-ON!”

It was overwhelming. I almost cried. Almost.

It was damn good to be back.

I waved at them for two minutes straight while the chanting continued.

“LI-ON! LI-ON! LI-ON!”

Okay, I did cry. But only a little.

When the chanting faded to a dull roar, the guy from ESPN held a mic in front of my mouth and his cameraman pointed a lens at my face. I was still hot from the fight and pouring sweat.

“Lion, how does it feel to be back on top?” His amplified words echoed around the arena on the PA system while the crowd continued cheering.

I leaned down to the mic. “Like I never left.”
Which was true.
People had talked smack about me being washed up for the past year. I was plenty sick of it.

The ESPN guy chuckled at that. “Everyone wants to know, how is your knee?”

“Solid. Didn’t give me any trouble.”

He asked me more questions and I answered everything, giving the fans what they wanted. When he was finishing up, I grabbed the mic. “Hey! Everybody! I want you all to know that I couldn’t have done any of this without my family. Brigid? Daniel? Where are you guys? Come on up here!” I searched for them in the crowd.

Brigid waved back and made her way to the ring with Daniel. He was starry eyed being inside the cage for the first time. In the past year, he and I had watched a lot of MMA fights on TV, YouTube, and even live. Now that Brigid and I were officially married, I saw him all the time. She had sold the condo and moved in with me not long after the wedding. We did get hitched at city hall the day of the investigation hearing, but we also had a fancy ceremony a few months later. Brigid said we didn’t have to, but I’d never been married and she deserved some pampering after all the bullshit she’d been through.

To my surprise, Donald Wright had learned to like me. I didn’t care if he was the one who told the hospital about me and Brigid. In the end, I got what I wanted and he did too. I think the only thing he was worried about was losing his son. Daniel still spent every other week with his dad. I wasn’t going to take Daniel away from him. He loved him, and I respected that.

When Brigid stepped into the cage, she was as beautiful as ever. She looked slightly unsure of herself as she carried our son Panther over to me. She didn’t want to bring him to the fight, but I insisted. I think she was afraid I might get killed out here tonight, but I knew that wouldn’t happen. I wasn’t about to let my family down, especially not while they were watching. They gave me strength.

“Come here, guys.” I put my arms around Daniel and Brigid. “Say hi to the world.” Daniel waved shyly at the camera. Brigid lifted Panther’s arm and waved for him. “Would you look at this kid of mine? Show him to the camera, Brigid.”

She bounced little Panther in her arms. He wore a plush black panther jumpsuit. It had a little hood with ears and a panther face with whiskers on top. Even had a long tail. Brigid said it was ridiculous, I said that was why he had to wear it.

I was so proud of my son and my family.

They meant the world to me. Having them with me for this victory made everything perfect.

It didn’t get any better than this.

No, that wasn’t true.

After the excitement of winning faded, after we left the Staples Center where the fight was held and drove home to our house, after we put Panther in his crib in his bedroom, Daniel, Brigid and I sat and talked quietly in the sitting room just across the hall. Eventually, Gwen made her way into the room and jumped in my lap. Aslan climbed into Brigid’s. Tigger sat outside the door and watched. Daniel went and picked him up and Tigger melted into his arms and started purring instantly. Tigg was definitely Daniel’s cat and missed the heck out of him whenever he was at Donald’s.

While we sat with the cats, we talked about the future and the past. We talked about our hopes and our dreams. We talked about what mattered and what didn’t, and we all agreed it was right there in our house.

That was when I knew everything in my life was absolutely perfect.

Yes, I had won my fight tonight, and my record was now 29-0.

But the biggest victory was the love in this room.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

BRIGID

I took a leave of absence after Panther was born. I got to be with him every single day, all day. Lion was also there with me every step of the way. To my pleasant surprise, despite his busy rehab schedule, followed by his busy training schedule, he always made time for us. In one year of marriage to Lion, I felt like I spent more time with my husband and my infant son than I had in eight years with Donald and Daniel.

Did I regret all the time I’d missed with Daniel when he was an infant? Of course I did. But I couldn’t take back the past.

Thanks to Lion, I now spent more time with Daniel than I ever had. Daniel loved his role as big brother to Panther. He even knew how to change diapers because Lion showed him how.

Whenever I saw my three men together, I knew that my future would be the one I had always dreamed of but never thought I’d get. That is, not until Lion Maxwell barged his way into my life.

I had finally found love, true love, and a happy family, all because a broken man had refused to follow the rules.

Sometimes, the rules needed a little breaking too.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

.

End

.

Want to find out about my next book before everyone else and get free novellas not available anywhere else? Then sign up for my newsletter!

Sign up here and get a FREE novella now:

http://eepurl.com/B7crf

Personal thanks from Devon Hartford:

Thank you so much for taking the time to live with Lion and Brigid and their families for a while. If you enjoyed
Broken Lion
, please leave a review wherever you purchased this ebook, on Goodreads, or any book blogs you frequent. Be sure to tell your friends about it!

Connect with me on my Facebook fan group:

Devon Hartford’s Heartbreakers

If you’re not on Facebook, visit me at:

devonhartford.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Devon Hartford spent most of his life in Southern California frequenting many of the locations in Cover Model. Devon is an artist and musician, and drew upon his experiences with both while writing his previous romance series The Story of Samantha Smith and The Story of Victory Payne.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

CONTINUE READING!!

Devon’s #1 Best Selling romantic comedy and fan-favorite novel:

COVER MODEL

A Steamy Standalone Romantic Comedy

BY DEVON HARTFORD

They called him Connor HUGE.

Connor Hughes f**ked his way through every girl in my high school.

Except me.

We
hated
each other.

That arrogant a**hole insulted me, tormented me, and
ruined
me without ever laying a finger on me.

After graduating near the top of my class, I escaped to UCLA, got my degree, and threw myself into a career as a serious journalist. But I never forgot the damage Connor did.

At least I’ll never have to see him again.

Until my editor at
Trending Magazine
tasks me with writing a tell-all article about Connor. Turns out my insufferable bad boy nemesis grew into the ultra-gorgeous model whose perfect body steams up the covers of half the romance novels on the bestseller lists.