Page 52 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

Sucking in a deep breath, we moved down the hall, and I tried to shake the residual feelings off my shoulders.

Before we could hit the staircase, a loud pop rang out through the warehouse, signaling the captive was dead.

Continuing through the massive building, I didn’t even flinch.

Chapter 20 - Yaro

Just as we didn’t want, everything had been in shambles since the explosion at the club. The incident drew unwanted attention from the public since it had the potential to wipe out a significant amount of life. With whatever luck we had left, nobody died, and that was the one thing we clung to.

The media attention made me wonder if that had been part of the plan. To get more eyes on us with the hope of uncovering some of our hidden dealings and leading to some sort of charges.

While the Brunos seemed to work quickly, we worked even faster.

I had been working around the clock as a means of damage control alongside Dimitri and Alexei. With the cops in and out of the establishment, along with the persistent news coverage, everything fell into pure, chaotic hell.

Anything in the club had to be transported behind the scenes before anyone could find it or link that product to any of our other warehouses. Swaps also had to be made within the warehouses to protect our most valuable stock. Everything had to be neat and tidy, and impossible to be tracked by any government body.

Damage control was the last thing I wanted to be doing, but after everything, my cousins were beyond furious.

Something that started as bold hits and potential retaliation from Dominic snowballed into a major issue with the potential of landing us in trouble. From affecting just the warehouses to nearly all aspects of the company as a whole, it wasn’t just my problem anymore.

It was exactly what Dimitri didn’t want to happen, but at the very least, the problem was now on the whole family’s radar, which meant the concern was split evenly. It wasn’t only my issue to shoulder or fix anymore.

Since the interrogation, Grace had been quiet around the condo. I found her lost in thought or looking out the window each time a police cruiser went by with their lights on. She had a fitful sleep afterward, but when I prompted her about it, she didn’t say much.

When a meeting was called at the casino, I expected her to want to sit it out. I thought she was starting to second-guess her desire to be involved. But to my surprise, she demanded to sit in on the meeting.

That previous moping and pensiveness fell away, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Thus, she followed in tow as we moved through the main floor of Isidor’s casino, both exhausted from everything going on yet alert out of necessity.

We hardly spoke any words to each other after I gave in and let her come with me. Not because anything was wrong between us but because the pressure of it all was palpable. Even while I was at home, I could only think about work and what needed to be done next. Between coordinating shipments, making sure deals went down without interruption, and trying to find any deserters in our ranks, it was impossible to think about anything else.

Despite it all, Grace was incredibly patient, and her presence was enough to keep my head straight. Her acceptance of my work and what needed to be done to keep us all safe and prosperous helped.

Before long, we were all sat around the big table in the conference room. All of my cousins were there, along with Vik to take notes and Grace by my side. Unlike the usual meeting etiquette, nobody poured any whiskey. There was too much at stake to get buzzed at that hour.

“The media frenzy has been haywire since the explosion, and as we know, the coverage hasn’t exactly worked in our favor,” Andrei said, sifting through the papers in front of him. “The public has been hesitant to visit any of our locations, which has been devastating for revenue. Even the casino regulars have slowed to some degree.”

“What about after your media tour?” Alexei asked, zeroed in on the topic since he often handled the public image side of things.

Andrei sighed. “I played the part of devastated CEO to as many stations as I could, and while some members of the public have been swayed, others haven’t been. Our numbers went up slightly after, but not by enough. We can’t have this permanent stain, not if we hope to get things back to normal again.”

“Surprisingly, whiskey sales have been up,” Isidor commented, sounding somewhat hopeful about that part.

Dimitri snickered. “Probably from the sympathy drinkers.”

“Regardless,” Andrei continued, keeping the meeting on track. “The cops have been sniffing around wherever they can, hoping to link the hit with organized crime. There have been some public inquiries into it, but with the help of some associates, things are moving as they should be. This is good for now, but we can’t risk drawing more attention to us.”

Alexei nodded. “We dished out a considerable amount of hush money to some of our crooked cop friends to keep their knowledge of us under wraps. It was a big financial hit, but fortunately, none of them have squealed. They’re working to direct that attention elsewhere.”

Andrei nodded. “Yes, but handing the cops hush money isn’t enough. We need something to help change how the public sees us as a business entity. After the attack, they’ve already begun to question how safe our establishments are, wondering if something of the same nature might happen in those places, too. We need to find something that will change that opinion in our favor, which is why I called this meeting.”

That was a good thing, but paying off the cops was only ever a bandage for the situation. If we didn’t get to the bottom of the Bruno catastrophe, then the same issue would continue to arise, and that meant more negative attention on us.

Everyone sat in silence as we thought about ways to change that public opinion, and with every minute that went by, Andrei looked more strained.

“You could try and point out that it was a targeted attack to garner sympathy. Maybe then people will empathize with us,” Isidor suggested, grasping at straws.

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