Page 32 of Demitri

“Yup. But she’s my trouble.”

“Take your trouble home, man. Keep her safe. And don’t smother her.” Joker grins. This is where I should point out that when that man grins in any form or fashion, it’s actually terrifying, right?

“Let’s get out of here,” Mia whispers when I’m close enough to her.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And Dem, we’re going to talk about whatever plan you and the big guys came up with without me, so I can tell you if it’s something I’m willing to go along with.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MIA

Hasanyone ever looked at their life and wondered how they got here? You know, the place where you’re living with the guy you like but can’t let touch you while he and his buddies are whispering about you behind your back thinking you won’t notice that you’re being followed? Yeah, me neither, but here we are.

The funniest part to me is that they think they’re being slick, that I don’t know they are there. I sure hope they’re better at this shit when it’s a paid job. Let’s take yesterday, for example. On my way to my therapist’s office, which I had to tell Demitri he wasn’t invited to, I noticed a black Range Rover behind me. Wouldn’t usually notice a car or SUV, but a jacked up, shiny, chromed out monster? You notice that kind of shit around here. And I’ve noticed it every day for two weeks.

Might have given it a pass, but when I came out of my appointment, it was still there, idling across the street and it immediately pulled out behind me. I could see Aiden behind the wheel, but he wasn’t with Grady or Joker. I couldn’t remember the guy’s name, so I guess this is big guy four. All of these guys are huge, overly tall, muscular, and look like they can kill you with their pinky.

On my way to the bar, my phone rings, and I answer it without looking at the caller ID. Driving safe and all.

“Hello?”

“Mia, it’s Aunt Linda. How’s the brute squad today?”

“Stupid,” I laugh. “If I know they’re following me, anyone watching would know it as well.”

“It’s a good thing they are all pretty. And I might know how to put an end to it.”

“How? Please, for the love of everything, tell me how.”

“Meeting tomorrow at the community center over here in Briar Mountain. Let’s pull them all together and tell them what’s going to happen from here on out.”

“Deal. I’ll see you then.”

“I’ll send you the details. And don’t tell lover-boy. I want to meet with you first.”

“Sure thing.”

I hang up and pull into the bar’s parking lot. No one will be here this early, but I have admin shit I have to get through if bills are going to be paid this month, so here I am. Besides, the woman who they think is Demitri’s sister hasn’t been back, and I haven’t seen anything suspicious going on around me, so this should be fine.

I look in the rearview mirror as the Range Rover drives by, not following me into the parking lot, and I pull around to the back of the building. I gather my bag and get out of my car, beep the lock, and make my way to the door. Unlocking it, I feel something is off, but I’m not sure what.

I close the door behind me, making sure it’s locked, and go into my office. Nothing looks touched, but there’s a scent in the air that’s not normal. At least not normal here. It’s musky, rich. Like men’s cologne, but the super expensive kind. Unless Brodie came in to some mystery money, someone was definitely here who shouldn’t have been.

I turn on the monitors, not willing to go into the big room until I check the cameras. I look at the open door and decide to close and lock it before sitting down behind my desk. I scan around the room and don’t see anyone, so I play back the overnight recording. It’s motion sensor unless you manually turn it on, and at four this morning, they clicked on.

I expect to see a beautiful woman with crystal blue eyes, but there’s no way that figure could be her. It’s a man. I’d bet my life on it. Yeah, bad pun. I’ll see myself out.

I pick up the phone and call Demitri. “You need to call the goons following me and tell them to get their asses back to the bar. You need to come, too. Someone was in here overnight,” I blurt out before he can even say hello.

“On my way.”

He hangs up on me while I watch the man on the screen go directly to the booth and pick up the bug we found a couple of weeks back. Fuck. This changes things.

It only takes about twenty minutes for everyone to gather in my office. No one said a word until Joker did his thing and determined it was safe to talk. Still, there have been very few words as I pull up the video.

Demitri, Aiden, Grady, and Joker all hover over me while we stare at the screen. Big guy number four, it turns out, is Nate, who I previously met in Briar Mountain. The picture hasn’t changed, no matter how much I wish it would. A burly man walks in from the back and goes straight to the booth to collect the disk, then turns to leave. He doesn’t show his face directlyto any one camera, so he obviously knows where they are, but I don’t think that matters. Demitri knows who it is if his sharp inhale of breath means anything.

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