Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
I can tell she wants to ask me more about the wedding. But the truth is, I loathe talking about it. There’s nothing I can do, no changes I can make, no words I can speak or actions I can take. All I have is waiting until the day I walk down the aisle to pledge myself to a man with a really good voice, an incredible smell, an obsessively neat house, and a high-tech security system.
Instead of going into all that, I quickly ask her about some guy she’s been seeing and swerve the conversation away.
Cass goes on for a few minutes, really warming up to the subject, until she glances over my shoulder and instantly stops talking. Her expression falls, and she leans away from me like I’ve suddenly started vomiting blood all over the place.
“Riles, your dad,” she warns.
I swivel around and spot my old man marching through the crowd with an all-too-familiar black duffel bag clutched in his white-knuckled hands.
“Well, hello there, father of mine,” I say cheerily.
He gives me a hard glare and slams the bag down onto the bar next to me. Without a word, he unzips it and tears it open, showing off a whole bunch of lovely thieving tools: pry bar, lock picks, bump key, glass and bolt cutters, wire splicer, flashlight, gloves, and other worthwhile sundries.
Cass looks horrified. I’m mostly just annoyed.
“I told you to stop,” Dad says with a hard stare.
I’m very aware of the people near us watching carefully. Lucky for me, though, most of them are in the McGrath organization in one way or another, so this probably isn’t the first time they’ve seen me get dressed down in public.
“I know you did, but—”
“No more excuses,” he growls, leaning in close. “You’re getting married to an important man in a few weeks. No more childish games. No more playacting like you’re some street thief like your brother. You’re my goddamn daughter. You went to private school. You won gymnastics competitions. You’re better than this.”
I open my mouth to snap out some sharp retort, but all my thoughts suddenly drain away under the pressure of his disapproval. His jaw works, and he looks truly disgusted in a way that makes my entire body itch. If this were anyone else, I’d sit up tall, insult them to their face, make jokey comments, do anything to deflect and act like I don’t give a shit what they think about me, except I can never keep it up with him. Not with my old man.
The only person in the world who seems determined to think I’m about as useful as gutter slime.
“I’ll get rid of it,” I say, shoulders slumping.
“No, Riley, I will get rid of it, because I don’t trust you worth a damn to do it yourself. Stop fucking up. Get yourself together, girl. You’re embarrassing me.” He zips the duffel shut and slings it over his shoulder before looking at Cass. “And you should be at school.”
“Good to see you again, Mr. McGrath,” Cass says quietly, looking away.
Dad glares at her. Then he turns that deeply disappointed frown on me again. “You are under no circumstances to burgle, pickpocket, or generally steal ever again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Good. Be home in an hour. Don’t embarrass me further by getting into trouble.”
With that, he slings the bag over his shoulder and storms back out.
I lean onto my elbows and stare into my glass. Shame floods my body. My face is bright red, and I’m absolutely mortified. I’ve been yelled at by my father in public before, but that was something else.
Everyone knows about my marriage. They’re aware of what it would mean for the whole family if I mess it up. The war with the Brotherhood will rage on, and more of our young men will end up dead in the streets.
Their blood will be on my hands.
“You okay?” Cass asks gently and rubs my back.
I lift my beer and tip it into my mouth. I drink it all down in several big gulps. Once the glass is empty, I place it primly back down on a coaster and give her my biggest smile.
“Never better. Why do you ask?”
She grins back.
While inwardly I’m mortified and crumbling, aware that I have only a few weeks of meager freedom left.
Chapter 4
Riley
Four weeks until the wedding.
I’ve been good. Well, relatively speaking, at least.
After Dad made me feel like an absolute idiot at the Rowdy Mule last week, I locked it down tight. No casual shoplifting, no casing any potential jaunty burglaries, nothing remotely untoward.
And I’m bored out of my mind.
All I’ve done is go for long runs and force myself through grueling gymnastics routines. If I can’t engage in my most favorite and cherished hobby, stealing worthless artifacts to add to my collection of random sundries, then I have to find something to burn off all this excess energy.