Page 29 of Ride Long

Page List

Font Size:

“As long as it takes.” He rubbed his hand over his beard and snorted. “You’re a real pain in my ass. A real fuckingpain.”

I shrugged. “I’m a Marini.It’s in myblood.”

He snorted again and picked up his beer. Looking at the food in front of me, I realized I’d lost my appetite and wondered how well it would fly if I asked to beexcused.

I stood and glared at him with all the hate I couldmuster.

“Sit.Down,” he said, the threatclear.

I swallowed hard as my ass hit thechair.

“If you want to live up to that mark on your thumb, you have to earn it,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Being my daughter is not a one-way ticket. People earn what they have around here through blood. You haven’t earned shit,Betty.”

I glanced at the steak, which was getting colder by the second like some kind of screwed-upmetaphor.

“Then what do I do?” I asked. “Just sit around and twiddle mythumbs?”

“Gasket said you showed interest in the garage. Why, I don’t know, but if you must do something, help him. What I don’t need is a vigilante getting herself beaten up or worse. If you have to take your PMS out on something, take it out there, not on Harley’sface.”

My heart took flight. Gasket was respected around here. If I fell in with him and the men in the garage, it was a good chance at a do-over. I’d come in guns blazing and cocky as hell. Obviously, that hadn’t gone so well with the enemies I’d already made, but getting myself a gig as a mechanic’s apprentice could be something. More people looked up to Gasket thanMarini.

“Eat your dinner, Betty,” Marini ordered. “Don’t let good food gowaste.”

Smirking, I picked up my knife and fork, the passive-aggressive insult hitting home. I’d been thrown a bone, but I knew the next time I overstepped the line, I wouldn’t get off so easy. No more beating up bikers or getting tattoos without earning them…or next time, it would be me writhing in pain on thefloor.

Message received loud andclear.