Page 5 of Demitri

I put the phone down and raise my head to find all the eyes on me.

“Give it twenty,” I tell them as quietly as I can. I scan the bar, taking note of the handful of other patrons, but they’re all sitting too far away to hear anything that might have been said.

Daniel mouths a ‘thank you’ and we go back to acting like the last ten minutes never happened.

And we wait.

CHAPTER TWO

DEMITRI

I tossthe phone onto the couch beside me and run my hands through my hair. What the fuck could the ANON guys want with me and what danger could I be in? I’ve been living under the radar for years now and have stayed out of the way. The shit with my family? Doesn’t involve me. The day I walked away and turned on everything I always knew was the last day I had anything to do with them.

“Fuck!” I yell into the empty room.

I stalk to the bedroom and drag on a pair of jeans, an old t-shirt, and grab my leather jacket before shoving my feet into my work boots and heading out of the front door. Plus side of having to leave? I’ll get to see Mia tonight. Wasn’t supposed to, but I’ll take it. I hop in my old work truck and make my way to the bar.

After parking at the back of the building, I slide in through the back door and pull a ball cap low on my head. Just because I haven’t been spotted before now, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be careful. I check the place before stepping from the back hallway, taking note of everyone in the place. I pause to appreciate Mia standing behind the bar, looking like her jeans have been painted on, her long, dark hair pulled back, showingthe perfection of her face. Wonder if I could talk her into a non-scheduled night of fun?

Shaking my head, knowing I’m a fool, I slip onto a barstool. I smile at Mia.

“Krasotka.”Gorgeous.

“Hey.” She eyes me warily. “They’re over there.” She tips her chin in the direction of the group.

“Big crowd.”

“Yep.”

Without a word she sits a shot of vodka in front of me and makes me a water. I slam the shot and pick up the water. “Thanks. I needed that.”

“Yell if you need anything,” she whispers, a smile playing on her lips as she eyes me up and down.

“I’ll do that.” Standing, I tap my knuckles on the bar and turn to face the music.

I slowly walk to the table and pull out the empty chair obviously waiting for me. No one speaks as I sit down and put my glass on the table. I finally look up at everyone, clocking the faces and names I know and the ones I don’t.

“What’s up? Wanna tell me why you dragged me out at ten at night on a Tuesday?” I might only be thirty-three years old, but six a.m. happens early.

“We got some news,” Daniel starts, and I notice he’s trying not to be his usual asshole self towards me. That’s new. Ever since he found out I knew his wife, he’s been about a fraction of a second from trying to kick my ass. The guy might be jacked, but I’m scrappy. Had to be in the life I grew up in.

“Okay.”

I sit and wait for them, not offering anything of my own until I know it’s needed.

“It appears you’ve got a sister.”

“Yeah, she’s in jail. Where I’m guessing she still is, since no one has notified me differently.”

“She’s still in jail,” he confirms. “But it looks like you have another sister.”

“What?”

“Do you remember a maid by the name of Polina? Would have been about twenty-five or thirty years ago.”

I close my eyes and think back. We had a lot of staff in and out of the house growing up, women from Russia moving through. Polina? That one rings a bell. She was my father’s personal maid. Beautiful. She was there one day and gone the next, and my father was on the warpath for months after. Yeah, that tracks.

“I remember a Polina.”

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