Page 114 of Riot

“Careful, young man, or we may find ourselves with a problem.”

Does this woman really think I’m scared of her? That her and her damn checkbook have any interest to me?

My eyes almost bug out of my head at her rudeness. And they say bikers have no manners. This woman takes the cake.

“With all due respect, Halo wasn’t treated very well in her past relationships — she’s shared some of that with me and under no circumstances should a man be makin’ a woman feel like a piece of shit, pardon my French.”

“Halo has always had a hang-up about her weight,” Genevieve continues, wafting over what I said with the flick of her hand. “So she likes to overcompensate for that by making uplies. Ian is one of the many suitors who would love nothing more than to be a part of this family. Halo just won’t give him a chance because she has this idea in her head.”

“What’s that, her own free will?

Her cold eyes meet mine. “I can see that you can’t take this seriously.”

I quirk a brow. “Oh, I’m keepin’ up. But why should Halo settle for someone she doesn’t love, like Ian for example? Why give him a chance when he won’t love or cherish your daughter? Or is it because people like the idea of old money, and bein’ stinkin’ rich outweighs everythin’ else?”

Her eyes narrow. “Two hundred thousand.”

“No.”

“Three hundred.”

This woman is insane. Literally insane. I have money, what I don’t have is Halo.

“You’d pay me three hundred grand to break up with her?”

“Yes. My daughter is everything to me, and while I feel this will fizzle out on its own accord, I can’t have Halo going around with a reputation that she’s been involved with a biker.” She scrunches her nose up again when she says it. “It’s a small place, you know how fast bad news travels. She won’t recover from news like this when she returns home.”

When she returns home?

Wow. She really is a stone-cold bitch.

“There is no amount of money that can persuade me to leave her. I know it’s early days, but we love each other. That’s not gonna change on my part.”

She almost chokes on her own spit. “You can’t be serious?”

I clear my throat. “Why not? Weloveeach other. We’re soulmates. I think she’s pretty amazin’, and she feels the same way about me. Everything about your daughter is perfect. She’s not only beautiful, which I’m sure you already know, but she’ssmart too. She always has a kind word for everyone, I’ve never heard her say one mean thing about anybody.”Even you when you clearly deserve it.

She pinches the bridge of her nose. If there was a prize for the rudest woman award, this lady would win a gold medal. “This isn’t happening.”

“What? That your daughter can’t possibly be happy?”

“How can she be? What will you provide for her? Lord only knows what prospects you even have or how you make your money.” She makes a face like she smelled something bad. “I don’t want to know, quite frankly.”

“Because I wear this?” I tug on the lapel of my jacket. “I didn’t want to wear it today, but Halo insisted. It’s part of who I am. My club is my family. We’re legit, we don’t do anythin’ illegal, we just like to ride motorcycles. I’m sorry if wearin’ it offends you, but when I was rock bottom, my club lifted me up…”

“Right, and I’m expected to believe all of that?”

“Believe what you want, but I’m not here to stir up any trouble, or to take Halo away. She’s her own woman and she can do what she wants.”

“Listen, I’m sure you're a nice enough man.” Oh, I know you don’t mean that, sweetheart. Still, at least she’s trying all ways to get rid of me. I’m still reeling at three hundred grand. Obviously money is her way of buying her way in or out of everything. Well, I’m really not money orientated, so she’s shit outta luck.

“I hear abutcomin’.”

She levels me with her icy stare. “You can’t possibly keep up with a woman like my daughter. She might think she wants a bit of rough for a little while, but girls like Halo don’t settle down with men like you, Riot. They have their fun and then they get out.”

Her words cut into me with every single lashing.

“She’s always had a wild streak. She wants to have her fun, but mark my words, you can’t give her what she needs. Not in the long run. She’s grown up around country clubs and the finer things in life. Halo may believe that she’s being rebellious by running off to New Orleans to find herself, but we both know that this will never work. You’re not who she needs.”

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