Bad Fighter Stepbrother (Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

splayed on his chest, and she felt his heat beckoning to her. His eyes searched hers. “You feel it, too. Don’t lie and say that you don’t feel it.” He lowered his lips to her mouth, and she forced herself not give in like her body wanted her to.
    He pulled away roughly and glared into her eyes. Her mouth felt bruised from the force of his kiss. It was like he was staking claim to her shattered heart. “You don’t get to walk away from this, Emma. We are going to talk now or when I get back in two weeks.”
    He searched her eyes as she shook her head, “Please, I can’t,” she pleaded. “This has to end tonight for everyone.”
    Shaking her gently, he placed another soul-searing kiss to her lips before letting her go. She stumbled slightly as he did. “Two weeks. I will give you two weeks to work through your guilt and then we will talk, Em.”
    He turned on his heel and stormed away from her. Emma felt her heart give a final lurch and she almost called out to him to stop. Sinking to the ground, she stared at the riot of color in the forgotten bouquet of flowers.

Chapter Four
    Emma stared out the window at the rainy landscape and sighed. The house felt empty and devoid of life. It was definitely devoid of laughter since her mom and Tony had left with Aiden. She’d promised to invite Julia to stay in the main house, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask her. She’d wanted to be alone, and her mood did not make her good company.
    She spent the last week working and drifting through the house like a ghost. She’d been overwhelmed with sadness and the guilt of what she’d done with Aiden still ate at her. But what was worse was that she wanted to see his face. She wanted to head into her gym and find him moving around the equipment.
    What she wanted was to hear him tell her about all the things he wanted to do with his life. Talk to him about his passion for healing injured fighters. It was inevitable that a fighter would obtain a serious injury, and he wanted to help them overcome the inability to enter the ring again. Despite everything, she liked having him for company.
    The shrill sound of the phone filled the room, and she jumped at the noise. She moved towards the handset and picked it up. “Hello?”
    “Emma? It’s Mom.”
    Emma felt her heart dance into her throat. She sounded upset, like she’d been crying and her mom rarely cried. Emma said, “Is everything okay? Are you okay? Tony?” Aiden, she added silently.
    “Yes, yes. I’m okay and so is Tony, but Aiden was injured in the ring last night.”
    Tears stung at Emma’s eyes as she asked, “How bad? Is he okay?”
    She turned and stared out at the rain-soaked world behind the glass, but all she could see was Aiden’s sad eyes the night he had left her near the paddock. “He suffered a pectoral tear last night. The dumb man decided to keep fighting and won his match despite being in pain. He is in surgery right now.”
    A pectoral tear! The surgery could fix it, but it would be six weeks in a sling and then several weeks of physio to strengthen the area. Plus, it could mean that he never went into the ring again, depending on how bad it was. He was looking at at least three months off, maybe even half a year. “How bad is it?” she asked.
    “The doctors said it was a small tear, not a full one, so with surgery and proper exercise and physio, he shouldn’t suffer any long-term repercussions. The doctor has mentioned retirement though because it only opens him up for more injuries in the future,” her mom explained.
    “I know. I have worked with this type of injury before,” Emma said. She glanced at the time, it was just past noon and she could see about catching a late flight. “Where are you? Should I fly out?”
    “No, Aiden didn’t want you to know, but I have phoned everyone else, including your brother. I thought you should know. We are going to stay in LA with him for the next few weeks and then he is going to come to our