Page 4 of Ride Long
Chapter 2
Sloane
The president of Fortitude MC,my father, Anthony Marini, had never been a bundle of sunshine andrainbows.
As a child, I’d always been a little frightened of him. When I got into trouble, he was quick to anger, and if my mother wasn’t around to take the brunt of his foul temper, I copped the full force. I learned to duck and weave when his fists came out. I only ever escaped for now, neverforever.
I’d thought the family I grew up with was normal until the moment I saw my mother’s dead body lying on the pool table in the compound. In hindsight, my living situation had been toxic, but I was a kid. An innocent fucking kid who just thought she had a big family and a grumpy daddy who liked to buy her candy and toys after he wasangry.
Boy, was Iwrong.
I glared at the back of Harley’s head as he led me into the Fortitude compound. He looked like he’d had a fair whack with the ugly stick, and I wondered, besides working in the garage, how much whacking he did of hisown.
It had been a long couple of weeks, and I’d forgotten when I’d last slept. My eyes burned every time I blinked, my entire body felt like it was one large bruise, and I was running on fumes, but I still followed him without complaint. Thinking about Chaser, I knew he would fare better than I would. These were his people even though he wanted out as much as Idid.
Harley led me down a dark hallway, then into a common room. Glancing around, I was greeted with more of the same. What felt like a hundred carbon copies of Harley glanced up and stared at me, their eyes raking over my body and sizing me up. They saw tits and a vagina, not the president’s daughter. Scantily clad women glared my way as the men leered, making my skin crawl. Seemed like it was partynight.
I painted my face with a mask of nonchalance. No fear or emotion. Cold eyes. Hardmouth.
The room reeked of cigarette smoke, and the air was hazy with it. Music was playing in the background, some old rock ’n’ roll record, while the clack of balls flying across the pool table caught myattention.
I stopped in my tracks and stared at the table, my guts twisting and my lip curling. It was still there. The same position, the same table, the same green felt.Her lips were blue like the stupid lipstick we’d bought as a joke the day before.Her lips were blue, and her eyes were open andlifeless.
A hand grabbed my arm, and Harley wrenched me toward him. “Don’t stare,sweetheart.”
“Harley’s got himself a new whore,” someone said, their voice low. The volume was still too high. If I could hear, then so could the smelly tub of lard in front ofme.
“Her pussy’ll be bleedin’ by tomorrow,” another voicequipped.
“Like it rough, do you?” I asked, staring at the biker who had me in his grip. His touch made me want to puke. I was already missing Chaser’s assholeattitude.
“I’ve got a big cock,” Harley said with a snarl. “Think you can takeit?”
The room fell silent. All eyes were on us. This was my debut moment in front of the people I needed to win over. Weakness would notdo.
“Show us then,” I declared. “C’mon. Drop your pants right now, and show us all how big your cock is. Fifty bucks says it’s tinier than my little finger.” I lifted my hand up and wiggled my littlest digit at him. “A hundred says something’s crawling onit.”
Laughter erupted around us, and I smirked as Harley’s face turned red. His head was looking increasingly like a pressure cooker with every passing second. Any moment it would goboom.
“Drop ’em, Harley!” someoneshouted.
“Anyone got aruler?”
Even the women had sheathed their claws and were sniggering betweenthemselves.
“Fuck the ruler! Who’s got a magnifyingglass?”
Harley snarled and pulled me forward, dragging me through the common room and into another hallway I knew led to my father’s rooms. When we were out of sight, he pushed me against the wall and curled his big, greasy right hand around myneck.
“You’ve got a big mouth on you, Betty,” he murmured. “Around here, big fucking mouths get people into trouble. You don’t want to get off on the wrong foot. You might be Marini’s daughter, but that won’t save you from getting a cock up yourass.”
I shoved down a wave of fear that had welled up inside me when he’d grabbed my neck and smiled the sweetest smile I couldmanage.
“Up my ass you say? That tight little hole? I don’t think you could find it let alone fit your tiny, little pin dick inthere.”
He snarled and tightened his grip. “Bitch.”
“You need to learn how to respectwomen.”
