Page 47 of Torch

“Sup,” I replied dryly.

That made my sisters laugh quietly among themselves. Mariana examined her nails before looking at Brit from head to toe. “Who’s your friend?”

Before I could answer, Brittney spoke up. “I’m sorry. Who are you?” Her voice was filled with hostility.

Cara’s head jerked back in surprise. I saw a grin spread across her face before she drank from her glass. All the girls were watching intently. I knew they wanted to see how Brit would handle Mariana.

She stretched out her hand to Brit with a cunning smile. “I’m Mariana. Christian’s first love.”

I scoffed at her audacity. Yes, at one time I had a love for her, but I was never in love with her. Any love I had for her died when I caught her poking holes in my condoms. I dropped her like a bad habit and didn’t look back.

Brit turned around to face me. “Is this the trap queen you told me about?”

My eyes widened before I doubled over with laughter. My siblings were right there with me. Brit called her out and didn’t give one single fuck about it.

Mariana appeared stunned and then offended. “Wow. She’s a real charmer. But I didn’t know you liked your women so… dark these days, Christian.”

That killed the energy immediately. My sisters looked ready to take turns stomping a mud hole in Mariana. The only thing that had spared her over the years was that our parents were still friends to this day. I had never revealed what she had done to me. I knew my mother. If I told her what Mariana tried to do, she would have slapped the taste out of her mouth. Our fathers had business dealings, and I didn’t want to cause issues, so I just ended things and left it at that.

Brit giggled, shaking her head. I knew right then my baby had some fire in her. “And apparently he liked them botched, plastic, and full of silicone at some point.”

Mariana had gotten loads of work done over the years. Sometimes you couldn’t even recognize her. There was nothing wrong with getting work done, but at least make sure it looks right.

Before Mariana could speak, Brit beat her to it. “Word of advice, sweetheart. Stay away from the needles, kay? Your lips are actually supposed to move when you’re talking.”

Cara was hysterical as she leaned against Viper, laughing. “That’s my sister-in-law. She’s quick on her feet.” Mariana turned her attention to Cara, and she raised a brow. “Don’t even think about playing with me, Marinara.”

She turned red with embarrassment. “My name is Mariana, and you know that, Cara,” she growled.

Just then her brother, Juan, walked over. His brows bunched together when he saw his sister upset. We were all still somewhat cordial with him, but we kept him at arm’s length. He liked to defend his sister’s actions too much for my taste, so I only spoke to him in passing.

“You alright, Mariana?” he asked her.

Cara looked at Mariana from head to toe. “She is for now. But I’m telling you, Juan, the safest thing you can do is take your facially challenged sister back to your table.”

“Facially challenged?!” Blade held his stomach as he chortled.

“Hell yeah. Ninety percent of her face doesn’t even move. This bitch is doing the mannequin challenge and she ain’t even trying,” Cara jested.

This time we roared with laughter. All Juan could do was grab his sister’s hand and lead her away. I couldn’t care less about the hurt look she was sending my way. Maybe now she would get it through her thick skull that I didn’t want anything to do with her.

As the laughter around the group died down, I heard a voice I wasn’t expecting from behind us.

“Brittney, is that you?” We turned around and saw her parents and Morgan. She was sending an icy glare at Brittney. Once her mother’s eyes lifted to me, she scowled. “What are you doing here with him?” She pointed at me.

Brit interlocked our fingers, holding her mother’s stare. “Well, this is his parents’ event.”

Her family gasped in shock. Her mother was staring at me as if she had seen a ghost. “You m-mean he’s a…”

“I guess I’m not a no-good criminal now, huh?” I smirked at her. People like her always judged me because of my cut. It would always be the woes of being a part of an MC, but I lived for moments like this. I loved to see the egg on someone’s face when they realized I wasn’t who they pegged me to be.

Regina appeared flabbergasted. “That was just a misunderstanding. I was a little under the weather, and I hadn’t eaten. So, I acted a bit out of character that day.” She tried to backpedal, but the damage was done as far as I was concerned. I had no desire to have any form of a relationship with Brit’s parents, especially after witnessing how they’ve treated her.

“That’s totally understandable,” Cara said while staring blankly at Regina.

She sighed in relief. “I’m glad you can understand.”

“That was sarcasm. Lots of it.” I gave Cara a look to calm down. Although I loved that she was so protective of me, I needed her to back down. This was still Brittney’s parents at the end of the day. Cara threw her hands up in surrender. “I’ma just gonna go back to the table because you already know how my mouth is.” She walked away without a backward glance, and all my siblings followed.