Stepbrother Broken (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 2) by Colleen Masters Read Free Book Online

with Danny ’ s attacker. I catch him in the ribs, knocking him off
balance. He rights himself as I plant my feet firmly on the sawdust-covered
ground, standing between Danny and this idiot that would do him harm.
    “ Look at that! ” the man crows, “ He ’ s
got himself a little guard-bitch! ”
    A
raucous laugh goes up around the circle at my expense, but I couldn ’ t care less.
    “ You think ten on one is a fair
fight? ” I snap at him, “ Needed all your buddies here to take on my friend? Why
don ’ t you just deal with me instead,
you prick? ”
    “ Step aside before you get hurt,
little girl, ” the bald man growls back at me,
taking a menacing step forward.
    “ Sophie, get back, ” Danny urges, grabbing hold of my arm.
    “ He won ’ t hurt me, ” I say, my voice raised so the
whole bar can hear, “ Will you, buddy? ”
    “ My beef ain ’ t with you, ” he snarls, coming to a stop
before me, “ It ’ s
with your queer little friend, here. ”
    “ Is that why you needed all this
backup? ” Danny laughs, looking at the men
looming around us, “ You ’ re
too afraid to deal with the Big Bad Queer yourself? You homophobic little
chicken shit —”
    With
a roar of outrage, the burly skinhead charges at Danny, ready to draw blood.
Adrenaline highjacks my body, and before I know what ’ s happening, I ’ m letting out a shrill scream and
driving the heel of my hand up against the man ’ s
nose. A sickening crunch sounds out as my hand makes contact, and the furious
man goes reeling away. Blood streams down his face as he clutches his broken
nose, staring at me incredulously. I stare back, amazed at what I ’ ve done. Guess those self-defense classes at Sheridan
really paid off.
    “ Oh, shit …” Danny whispers, staring at his attacker.
    Without
flinching, the man grabs hold of his busted nose and works it back into place
with a gut-wrenching pop, his eyes blazing with malice. A wild, deranged smile
spreads across his bloody face. Something tells me he wouldn ’ t object to hitting a woman now. He lowers his center
of gravity, every muscle coiled with irate energy. I brace myself for impact as
he bellows out a bloodthirsty wail, lunging toward us across the circle of men.
    The
skinhead ’ s head snaps back as a thickly
muscled arm clotheslines him across the throat. I swing my gaze around to see
Lukas Hawthorne ’ s broad back, rippling beneath his
charcoal tee shirt. Among all the people looking on, he ’ s the only one who ’ s
stepped forward to help Danny and me. His shoulders are raised as he settles
into a fighter ’ s stance, waiting for his opponent
to pull himself up from the floor. The disgusting man manages to come to
standing, eyes going wide as he takes in the sight of Luke standing before him.
    “ You wanna fight someone? ” Luke growls, towering over the bald man, “ Well, here I am. ”
    “ This has nothing to do with you,
Hawthorne, ” the bloodied man snarls. “ It ’ s these two I ’ ve got a problem with — Nancy
boy and his lipstick-wearing pit bull. ”
    The
circle of men edges back as Luke grabs the bald man by the front of his shirt
and hoists him off the ground. I gasp as Luke throws his opponent back to the
floor, standing over him with pure contempt blazing in his dark green eyes.
    “ You know I could beat the shit out
of you, right Thompson? ” Luke barks.
    “ All right, all right, ” the man at his feet moans, “ You ’ ve made your point. ”
    “ It ’ s
not all right, you fucker, ” Luke spits, rolling the man
onto his back with one steel-toed boot. “ How ’ s
it feel, getting the shit kicked out of you when you know you don ’ t stand a chance? ”
    “ Lay off already, ” the man goes on, blathering pathetically.
    “ Not ’ til
you apologize to my friends, ” Luke tells him, laying his
heavy boot on the man ’ s chest.
    “ They ’ re
the ones who should apologize! ” the skinhead roars, shooting
daggers at me and Danny, “