Pushing the Limits by Jennifer Snow Read Free Book Online Page B

concern me. That’s my brother you’ve got pinned,” the guy said, moving closer.
    Dane sighed as yet a third man approached from the other side.
    Small Guy laughed. “You’re fucked now, bouncer,” he said as he pulled free and moved aside, happy to let his brothers deal with what he started.
    Amazingly, the other patron who’d been initially involved in the argument had disappeared. Fantastic. Now this was
his
fight? No way.
    He walked toward the bar. “Jax, call Lee. Tell him he needs to deal with his cousins.”
    Jax nodded then pointed behind him. “Watch yourself.”
    He knew what to expect even before he turned. These guys always threw the right hook first. Blocking the guy’s punch before it could make contact with his jaw, Dane delivered his own blow to the guy’s stomach. His knuckles connected with almost pure, solid muscle. The impact left a sting, his scarred knuckles having had a year to soften.
    Thank God, reflexes didn’t desert as quickly.
    The guy buckled briefly, but came up swinging the left.
    Dane ducked, then countered with a staggering right of his own. He had no other choice. Either defend himself or get the shit kicked out of him in an unfair bar fight. Unfortunately for these guys, he’d quit letting bullies win a long time ago.
    Another attack came from the left and he turned in time to block a shot to the kidneys.
    Low blows, attempted head butts, and a kick to the groin coming from both directions should have left him exhausted and in a heap on the sticky barroom floor.
    Instead, adrenaline pumped through him. Operating on autopilot, he threw punches and blocked the incoming attack until finally both men staggered away, bloodied and defeated, through the gathered crowd.
    Hands on his hips, he took a deep breath as he heard Lee’s voice yelling his name from the office at the far end of the bar.
    Tasting copper, he wiped at a stream of blood trickling from his lip as he continued to catch his breath. Picking up the radio he’d dropped midfight, he pushed his way through the crowd, not noticing anyone as he made his way to Lee. He nodded for him to follow him into his office, where his cousin sat.
    Damn it.
    The smug look on the jerk’s face told him everything before Lee could even speak. He turned to his boss, squaring his shoulders. “Do you want me to at least finish out the shift?” His voice was hard. Years of being treated unfairly had taught him to keep emotions in check. They hadn’t gotten the best of him out on the floor; they wouldn’t break him in here either.
    â€œNo,” Lee said, looking torn and disappointed that he had to fire him.
    Dane nodded. “Okay.”
    â€œYou can pick up your final check in a few days,” Lee said behind him as he left the office.
    * * *
    â€œSo, what’s the story with this Dane Hardy guy?” Colby asked as she applied the bright red to her lips the following Friday evening. After surviving the scariest free climb from hell earlier that week, she was more determined than ever to get the story she couldn’t stop thinking about. She could feel this would be a great one, which was why she’d returned to Xtreme Fight for yet another humiliating night.
    This time she knew the story angle she was after and she was there to start collecting intel. Dane returning to the octagon to fight Mendez would be good, but if she could get the real story about what happened in the Consuelos fight, thatwould be the gold. After reviewing more news footage from the night of the incident, she was convinced there was more to it than had been reported. A brief image of Dane being brought into the police station that evening, looking distraught and terrified, had stuck with her, and the words he’d mumbled before being warned to remain silent—“Shouldn’t have been in there”—had her convinced this story went a lot deeper than just an