Page 93 of Break Me
“Second,” Mark continued, “who she dates is nobody’s business but hers. She’s an adult, trying to raise a child on her own, is a good person and deserves happiness.”
“I’ll say this as kindly and slowly as I can so maybe your pea brain will manage to get it, but from what I’ve read about the entire Dmitriyev family, they are highly respected and upstanding members of this city. Insinuating otherwise highlights why Channel 9 has been losing viewers right and left.” Camden could barely keep a grin off his face.
What they’d just said stunned me.
When Steve inched closer, I was even more shocked. He would tell it like it was. Now was his moment to tell the world how horrible I was. “And lastly, buddy. Our captain was there in the crossfire. She was a victim as well as her date for the evening. Try and remember that. She has a child to take care of and is doing so on her own, so why don’t you back the fuck up and leave her alone?” He snatched the photographs from the reporter’s hand and I was certain he’d pocket them or at minimum take a long gaze so he could use them to make fun of me at a later time.
When he ripped them into tiny pieces, the reporter acted like he was going to stop him.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Mark snarled at him.
A second and more debilitating warm flush swept across my cheeks. I was both embarrassed they’d taken up for me and furious with myself for not doing so.
The reporter initially seemed exasperated then took a couple of steps back. That allowed me to move closer. He turned toward me, laughing. “Just one more question, Captain O’Leary. What would your dead husband think of you putting his daughter in harm’s way?”
That was it. Whatever moment of uncertainty I’d felt before was long gone. I simply snapped, taking two long strides forward and without thinking about the consequences, I reacted.
With throwing a hard right punch to his nose.
CHAPTER 21
Alexsey
“Would you stop worrying, for God’s sake!” Sasha growled. “We can afford a price increase and I don’t need to reflect it on any of the menus. Let’s face it. You managed to find even better quality and my two chefs will be happy. Go bug someone else. You’re driving me crazy and I need to head over to Revelation for yet another meeting with Lainey Rose’s attorney. Damn red tape. Plus, you always do this when you’re unhappy about something and don’t try and tell me otherwise. I grew up with your sorry ass. Remember?”
Still grumbling, he jerked up from his chair, immediately grabbing his suit jacket.
I chuckled and closed my laptop lid. Sasha never had enjoyed me going over the financials in intricate detail. He was a hands-on kind of man. Leaning back in the chair, I knew he was right. I was absorbed on fixing something since I couldn’t fix all the problems in my world.
“And go buy a fucking house. Maybe that will make you happy. Screw the insurance company.”
He was on a roll.
“Maybe I’ll do just that. One with a front porch with real grass and a huge fenced-in back yard where a kid and dog could play.”
He stopped adjusting his cuffs long enough to glance in my direction, lifting an eyebrow. “You’re one hardheaded man. But why the hell not? Maybe that will change your personality for the better.”
I took one of the many balled-up pieces of paper meant for the trash, tossing it at him. He playfully ducked as his phone chirped. As he headed for the door, he yanked it from his pocket. Then he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the screen as if whatever news he was seeing was horrible.
“Do you get local news bulletins?” he asked, slowly tilting his head toward me.
“I’m bothered enough by emails and texts from family members insisting they know how to run my life better than I do. Hell, no. Why?”
He half laughed and headed toward me. “Maybe you should. Wow. A low blow with the pictures. Who the hell managed to photograph the two of you? I will say this. Your girl has a mean right hook.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I was instantly on edge. When he handed me his phone, it took me a few seconds and replaying the video to realize what he was alluding to. Halle had been confronted at her firehouse. Even worse, the bastard reporterhad accosted her with some very lewd pictures taken inside the goddamn restaurant.
Fury tore through me like never before. I jerked up, almost breaking his phone given my rage. “I’m going to kill the son of a bitch owner.”
“Hold on now. Don’t do anything rash,” Sasha cautioned.
“Rash? You have no idea. Stay tuned for more local news updates on your phone because I’m going to bust some heads wide open.”
It took me no time to head to View of the World. Even though the girl at the front tried to keep me from going further inside the restaurant, I pushed my way through.
“Sir. Sir! We’re not open yet!” she called.
“You are for me.” I’d made a phone call to ensure Kirk Youngkin was in his office. He was.
