Unchained (Hogan Brothers 3)

Rolling her eyes, Sage turned her back on her busybody sisters, hoping they’d disappear as quickly as they appeared.

When her door slammed shut, her tense shoulders slumped forward with despair as the situation she found herself in smacked her in the gut.

“Oh Lord, what do I do?” Closing her eyes, she prayed for guidance, for mercy. She prayed for a savior.

“Sage!” Her father’s angry call forced her to rush up from the floor and out the door faster than anything could have. The man truly terrified her. She no longer recognized who he was and what he stood for. Surely the Lord wouldn’t encourage the abuse she suffered at his hands.

Before her foot touched the floor below the landing of the stairs, a hardened grip grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her into the family room.

“You,” her father seethed angrily, “will behave. No smart remarks. No insults. You will be the meek child I raised you to be, and so help me, if you are not eating out of the palm of Morgan’s hand and doing as he bids by the end of the evening, you will live to regret it. Am I clear?”

Meek?

“Sage!” he whisper-yelled at her.

Bowing her head, she did the only she could. “Yes, Father.” She transformed into the compliant darling he wanted but she would never honestly be.

Chapter One

When you’re at your lowest, look to the highest.

Present day.

Hearing Elianna and Asher fighting had become commonplace in the shop since Soph’s sister had shown up with her toolbox and attitude. To add fuel to that fire, Asher had been giving her nothing but dirty looks since then.

With Levi at home recuperating after being nearly beaten to death at an underground fight on the weekend—a secret he’d kept from the whole family—and Nox busy with phone calls to parts dealers, Loch had to be the one to find the couple and hose ‘em down or send ‘em home before a customer saw them.

Frustrated, he walked out to the front shocked to see Levi there giving them both hell. “Bro, what the hell are you doing out of the house? You drive here?”

“Stop fussing. I’m fine,” Levi insisted, but Loch could see little lines of pain surrounding his eyes.

“My ass,” Nox snapped, coming through his office door.

“Christ. Stop acting like a couple of mother hens. I’m getting enough of that from Hayes,” Levi complained, but anyone with vision could see he was happy as hell about it.

“So, what are you doing here?” Soph asked from behind the front counter.

The chiming over the door interrupted anything he was going to say. “Grand fucking central,” Levi muttered under his breath.

Loch didn’t pay attention to anything else as he watched Sage walk through the door with her parents and another man. Her gaze was locked on him as he scowled at the person behind her.

“Hi. Welcome!” Sophia’s chipper voice eased the scowl on the mother’s face. “How can we help you?”

Her father ignored everyone but Nox as he bee-lined straight for the oldest sibling. “The engine ticks. My wife says you’ve fixed her vehicle before.”

“Yes, sir, I have. So has Lochlan.” Nox nodded to him. “He can give you a hand. I’ve got a phone call on hold that, unfortunately, can’t wait.” His brother walked away before the man could protest.

Hating being put on the spot, he was thankful Levi stepped in. “Mr. Marlowe, how about you show my brother and I what you’re talking about, and we’ll try to get you out of here as soon as we can?”

“You work here?” Sage’s father’s disdain was crystal clear.

“I’m an owner, actually.” Loch could hear the bite in Levi’s tone.

?

??Father.” Sage’s delicate voice had him stiffening when it shook with fear. An emotion Loch had never noticed in her before. “He was kind last time.”

The man turned and walked out, his wife following closely behind. The other person that had come in with them gripped Sage’s arm with such force that Lochlan stepped forward, intent on removing his hand from her body. Levi stepping in was probably for the best since he wasn’t a fighter and wasn’t huge on confrontation.