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With that, he and his buddies turned and started out of the room. They hadn’t gotten far when Sergei realized they were leaving. He rushed after them, and after speaking to them for only a moment, he made his way back over to me. “What are you doing here so late?”

“It’s not even eight o’clock, Sergei.”

“You have no business being here at this hour!” He threw his hands in the air with frustration. “That guy could’ve killed you.”

“He could’ve killed you, too,” I scoffed. “And he would have if your friend hadn’t stopped him.”

“I would’ve handled it.”

“You sound like your father.” Before he could snap back, I raised my hand, stopping him. “We were both lucky. Now, you and your brothers need to do something about the security around here. These men should’ve never been able to get in here.”

“We’ll take care of it.”

“I’m sure you will.” I reached over and gave him a quick hug. “I’m going home.”

“I’ll take you.”

“No, I can take myself.” I motioned my head over to Marissa. “Besides, I need to make sure we still have a decorator.”

“I’m sorry about all this, Mother.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just fix it, Sergei. Fix all of it, or this whole thing could come crashing down on all of us.”

Without saying anything more, I went over and smoothed things over with Marissa. As we talked, I glanced over at Sergei and his brothers. I had no doubt that they were forging some grand plan to make sure this kind of thing never happened again.

I loved my boys more than anything. I knew how much this casino meant to them. Sergei wanted it to be their mark on this world, and I wanted them to have it.

But dreams like theirs came at a cost.

They were going to face some hard days. I just hoped they had the mindset to face those days therightway.

Not with arrogance.

Not with their father’s brutality.

Because they were in a situation where they could either build an empire or destroy one. Only time would tell.

7

PREACHER

“What do we know about Larry Branson’s kid?”

“Not much. Just that he came back from the military a few years back and was running his family’s bar up until about six months ago. The place shut down and sold, just like several others in the area. Next thing you know, the whole strip was bulldozed to the ground.”

“Damn. That’s rough.”

“Even rougher that his wife left him a month or so later, and she took the kids with her.”

“Yeah, that had to be a tough pill to swallow.” I took a drink of my coffee before asking, “So, was it really about the taxes, or did he get swindled?”

The Branson’s bar used to be right where the new casino was sitting. There was a cigarette shop and a couple of restaurants on the same strip, and his house was just down the block. It wasn’t much. None of them were, but those places meant something to them, and now, they were gone.

Shep knew exactly where I was coming from when he answered, “Pretty much a mix of the two. He was more than a month behind. It was more like two years, and he was up to his eyeballs in debt and had no way to pay them. The Volkovs used the opportunity to swoop in and grab the place for dirt cheap.”

“I was afraid of that.”

I thought back to the night before, and I could still remember the look of frustration and desperation in that boy’s eyes.