Rayne broke into a run as the biggest boy pulled back a booted foot.
“Stop!” he yelled, wondering why his stomach had given out.
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Chapter Four
Julia widened her stance, transferring a steady gaze between each of the three boys.She’dstared down society matrons. Who didtheythink they could scare?
“I said, come with me.” Again, Jack grabbed for—and this time caught—her elbow. “Iknewyou weren’t no footman.”
Awry.The plan had definitely gone awry. She glanced between Jack’s grimy claw and his face. “Unhand me.Now.”
“Unhand me,” Goliath mimicked. “Who does he think he is, King George?”
The trio snickered.
She narrowed her eyes. “If you are going to insult me, Colossus, insult me to my face.”
“Who are you calling Cole-sis-sis?” the big boy growled.
She shrugged out of Jack’s grasp, picked Goliath, half-turned as if she were about to walk away, and, instead, lowered her shoulder and rammed his stomach.
Perhapsshe had been just a wee bit overconfident.
Goliath was a brick wall. Still, heoomphed. She took pleasure in the sound for a hair’s breadth of a second. Then, all three were on her at once.
At least she’d had audible satisfaction before they set to pummeling her to death. And, heaven help her, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
She forgot the cold. She forgot her aching, jittering joints.
Using all the strength she had, she jumped back onto her feet. With one arm, she protected her face, and with the other, she landed any blow she could. She could barely see, but she kept striking.
She hadn’t had an older brother for nothing.
“Stop!Stop!”
Her neck snapped back as Jack’s fist landed on her jaw. With a growl, she hurled herself at him, landing a knee where it would hurt him most. Jack bent, and then she swung around to face the third boy, fist raised.
“When Isaidstop.” An unseen arm lifted her from the ground by the back of Markham’s oversized coat. “I meant you, too,footman.”
She struggled in his grasp, trying to keep her face hidden.
“Stanley,” Jack cut in. “Yourfootman’sname is Stanley.”
Her feet instantly returned to gravel. Then, Rayne clamped her against his chest and brushed his forearm across her bound breasts. He sucked in a breath, making a sound she could only describe asuntamed.
The sound lingered, hot and sloppy in her stomach. By the time she regained her wits, Rayne had fastened her arms behind her back.
Good thing Markham hadn’t known that particular move, else he would have won every time.
Rayne sniffed the hair that had fallen from her cap and then uttered the most unrepeatable, beautiful oath Julia had ever heard—all teeth and hard-tongued consonants. By far the most invigorating word she’d collected yet.
Well, at least she’d gainedsomething.
“He’s a thief,” Goliath said.
“She’sa runaway,” Rayne replied.
