Page 9 of Sins He Taught Me (Bratva Crime Syndicate 3)

“I’m here to meet my dad, actually,” I say, stuffing my agenda into my backpack. “He’s probably going to ask me for some more money, because that’s the only reason he ever calls me in the first place. Money I don’t have, just so we’re clear. So, unless you’re prepared to empty your pockets and help me pay the man’s bar tab—which, judging by the fact that you haven’t brushed your teeth since Elvis was alive, I seriously doubt you can afford—I suggest you leave me the hell alone and go back to obliterating your liver with bottom shelf poison.”

God, that felt so good to say. I’m standing, I realize with surprise, fists balled up at my sides, blood running hot through my veins. I’m ready to fight if he so much as blinks at me the wrong way. He picked the wrong day to mess with Victoria Elwood.

But for some inexplicable reason, the man grins, and after a moment of silence, bursts into laughter.

“Damn, baby, you’re a feisty one, aren’t ya?” he teases, reaching forward to give my shoulder a nudge. “I like you. You should come around here more often.”

Oh, for crying out loud. Not even being a complete and total bitch to him is enough to send him back to his table.

I start to open my mouth to redouble my efforts when the door to the bar opens and the bell above it dings. Like some cheesy old-school spaghetti Western movie, we both turn our heads to see what kind of newcomer is about to stroll into Saint Booze this afternoon.

That’s when my dad stumbles through the door…

Beaten to a bloody pulp.

His eye is swollen shut, and his lip is split nearly in half. Blood streams from his mouth and down his shirt, staining his shirt a dark crimson. He takes two steps forward, stumbles, and crashes into the nearest table.

“Dad!” I scream, jumping up from the seat and rushing towards him. I get there just in time to make eye contact with him before his eyes flutter shut and his head slumps to the side.

I turn to the bartender, my hands slick with my father’s blood.

“Call an ambulance!”

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