He took the seat beside me without so much as a ‘hello’ to anyone else, then leaned back and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“We’re supposed to start soon,” Father said to the table—or, more importantly, Lynn.

William, obviously perturbed by no greeting, turned to Lynn with a sneer on his face.

I pulled out a flask from my purse and twisted off the top.

It didn’t have liquor in it, though. It had grape Kool-Aid. I was fairly sure that the bullshit they were going to try to serve me would suck.

And I’d be right.

There was a glass of water on the table, and the wine that I’d gotten from the server earlier had tasted too dry for my liking.

I was more of a sweet and get you drunk fast kind of girl. The wine that my father had circulating was probably some expensive crap that other people would love—me, not so much.

When I looked up from taking a second swig, it was to find the table looking at me.

Even my father.

“Must you embarrass me?” he asked with a grumble.

I frowned. “How did I do that?”

I followed that question up with a healthy swig of my flask.

He gestured toward it with a flick of his wrist. “That. You’re drinking from a flask at my event.”

“I’m drinking from a flask because you serve shitty wine and you know I don’t really do water,” I countered.

I was a sweet tea, coffee, Dr. Pepper kind of girl. Water was only for when I was sick, hungover, or working out.

“You could at least appear to be normal,” he growled.

I took another swig of my flask, causing someone across the table to snort.

The date.

Shit.

I tucked it back into my purse for the time being and glanced at the brownie that was there in case desperation hit later.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us this evening!” someone said from the front of the room.

I started to unwrap the brownie from its plastic.

“Have you ever been called Woody before?” the jerk that’d spilled his wine down my back asked.

I broke off a small piece of the delicacy.

“Have you ever been called Dick before, William?” Lynn countered.

I paused with a bite of brownie halfway to my lips.

Dick. Oh my God. That would fit him perfectly.

“Now, now.” A newcomer entered the table, a wave of perfume following her. “Be nice to my boy, Lynnwood.”

William’s mother.

“Natalia.” Lynn nodded his head. “How are you this evening?”

Ivan snorted. “Probably pissed because I heard her reaming her assistant out for something when I was on the way to the table.”

“I swear, she’s incompetent.” Natalia groaned. “I have to tell her, time after time, that she’s not to send me to these types of events with a rental car. Yet, she continues to do so.”

“She continues to do so, from what I’d heard, because you like to drink,” Lynn said, making my brows rise. “And there’s no other way to get you home.”

“I bring my son for a reason.” Natalia patted the ‘boy’ at her side.

He was busy downing his third glass of wine.

Lynn made a disbelieving sound in his throat, then threw his arm around Mina’s chair and leaned back.

It was as if the move was absent, as if he would do that whether his date was there or not, but when she leaned forward and whispered something into his ear, a jealous ball of anger filled my belly.

I looked away, wishing that I’d brought my phone in from the car.

But it’d been dead because I’d forgotten to plug it in last night, and on my drive here, I hadn’t realized it wasn’t charging until much too late.

I popped a bite of brownie into my mouth, then pulled out the sudoku puzzle that I’d hidden in there, along with my pen.

Absently as I munched on my brownie, I played the puzzle, very unaware of whatever was going on at the table until my father snatched my pen out of my hand.

“For the love of God,” he growled, throwing the pen down to the middle of the table. “Can you at least act like you’re not a child?”

I glanced up at him while trying to calm my nerves.

“I would, yes,” I said. “If there was something to do that didn’t include me sitting here, bored out of my mind, while I listened to you old motherfuckers talk about stuff that I don’t want to talk about.”

There was another giggle from Lynn’s date, but this time, I didn’t find it nearly as cute.

It annoyed me.

“Ines…” My father leaned in.

“Father,” I said. “And don’t call me that. My name is Six.”

“I don’t care what your name is or isn’t,” he hissed, voice low. “You’re embarrassing me.”

“You’re embarrassing yourself,” I countered as I stood up.

Or I would have but just as I did, a waiter appeared with a bowl of some bullshit broth or something, causing me to pause halfway out of my chair.

Tags: Lani Lynn Vale Souls Chapel Revenants MC Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net