Page 30 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

“Miles? It’s Elyssa.”

“Yeah?”

I sigh. “You made a delivery to the shelter yesterday. We ordered ten pallets of canned meats. We only have eight.”

“Why didn’t you tell the driver this yesterday?” he whines.

I suppress another sigh. “I didn’t accept the delivery,” I explain. “One of my colleagues did and he clearly didn’t check.”

“You know you’re supposed to confirm receipt on delivery.”

“One could argue that you’re supposed to deliver the goods ordered and paid for,” I say as politely as possible. “But yes, my colleague should have checked, too.”

“Well… we’re not making deliveries out that way until next Thursday.”

“We’ll run out of supplies by then. I’ve got women I need to feed.”

“Tell them to share.”

“They already do!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. When do you want the extra pallet?” he sighs.

“Two pallets,” I remind him. “And they’re not extras; they were part of our original order.”

“I get it,” he says impatiently. “When?”

“We can make it with what we’ve got until tomorrow.”

“I’m gonna charge you extra for the delivery,” he huffs.

I grit my teeth, but I’ve never been much of a fighter.Don’t rock the boat. That’s my motto. It’s a credo that pisses Charity off to no end.

“That’s ridiculous!”

“I dunno what to tell you, hon. Time is money.”

I grit my teeth and close my eyes for a moment. “Fine,” I reply. “That’s fine.”

He hangs up without so much as a goodbye. I’m left standing there, irritated and wanting to fling the phone across the room.

The shelter has a small stash of cash for little expenses like this. But it’s dwindled fast as of late. I decide to pull the money for the extortion fee from my own cash.

Charity would tell me to stop being a bleeding heart, but when it comes to the shelter, I don’t mind doing extra. This place gave me a home, a job, and a support system when I had nothing. I’m not going to forget that anytime soon.

I go back to inventory, ticking off items on my list, feeling slightly better about our situation. It looks like our supplies will hold for at least a week. If we don’t have too many new walk-ins, that is.

Although, with the way things have been going lately, that’s far from guaranteed.

I’m almost done with inventory when I hear a battering from the front entrance. I stiffen instantly, very aware that it’s late at night and I’m currently manning the fort all alone. Everyone else is dead asleep.

I wait and hope whoever it is leaves. God only knows what kind of monsters are wandering the streets of outer Las Vegas this far past midnight. But the battering only gets more intense.

Reluctantly, I sidle up to get a vantage point of the door. The moment I get to the front, though, I see Charity’s face pressed up against one of the side windows.

I smile, but the smile slips off my face when she doesn’t return it. As I move closer to the stained glass, I realize that she doesn’t look good at all.

I rush forward to unlock the door for her. When I throw it open, Charity all but jumps into my arms.

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