Page 93 of Demitri

Demitri: Yes. It was pretty anti-war.

Nate: Is this where I make an inappropriate joke about you being Russian?

Demitri: You can try but doesn’t change that it was a good book.

Nate: You take all the fun out of things.

Demitri: I try.

MONDAY MORNING

Demitri: When will you all be back?

Joker: What’s wrong?

Demitri: She didn’t wait too long to retaliate. The bar’s been vandalized.

Daniel: How bad?

Demitri: Not sure yet. We haven’t gone inside. Window’s broken out though, and we can see damage on the inside.

Aiden: ETA is about an hour.

Joker: I called Sammy. He’s calling some of the guys he knows on Rock Hill PD.

Demitri: Do we have to involve the cops?

Joker: Yes. You need a report to file a claim on your insurance. At a minimum.

Demitri: She’s going to hate that.

Daniel: I know she’s not a fan of them with her history, but we’re calling in the good guys.

Demitri: I know. Thanks. I’ll try to keep her out until you get here.

Joker: Don’t touch anything.

Demitri: You got it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

DEMITRI

“At least shedidn’t burn it down, right?” Mia says, trying to justify what’s happened.

“Nobody got hurt, Mia. This could have been so much worse.”

I pull her into my arms, knowing my words are really helping right now, but also remembering all the times I was forced to join the crew as they did to others what has just happened to her. And I’ve seen so much worse. Someone let her off easy, and I don’t know why.

“Do you think the alarm scared them away before they could really do some damage? That they’ll come back to finish the job?”

“They did what they wanted to do. No alarm was going to scare them,Krasotka. They wanted to send a message, and they still need this place for whatever they have working, so they aren’t going to completely destroy it. Just make your life hell for a while.”

“Until I give in.”

“Or they run you off completely and they can step in and take over.”

“They want my place as a front to launder money, don’t they?”

---