Read Online Dimitri by Roxie Rivera - Free Book Online Page B

details of how it went down."
    A few months ago, before crossing paths with
Lena again, I would have said no. to a girls' night out. Dimitri's
voice rattled around in my head. What had he said? That I deserved
to have a life?
    "Okay. I'll come over."
    "Eight o'clock?"
    "Sure but I can't stay too late. We have the
Tasting Houston thing tomorrow."
    "Girl, don't I know it!" With a dramatic shake
of her head, she reached into her oversized leather satchel that
she used for business and produced glossy red folders for me. "I've
got everything ready for your station. I stopped by the print shop
on my way over here. They'll make their delivery to you in a couple
of hours. Just bring all the boxes down to the fairgrounds. I'll
sort them out when we set up your spot."
    Nodding, I opened one of the folders and
examined the materials. "This is really nice."
    We chatted about her plans for
rebranding the bakery. She'd studied all the family-owned bakeries
in Houston and discovered our little panaderia was something of a gem. Not
that anyone knew it because we hadn't been out there, hustling to
grow the brand and broadening our customer base. She wanted to
appeal to foodies who sought out the authentic Mexican bakery
experience and to Latinos who wanted a taste of home.
    "So I think the goal is to make a splash
tomorrow at Tasting Houston. We do the newspaper interview and you
talk up your family history. Make sure to lay it on thick when it
comes to your grandparents coming here build a new, better life. We
want to play up the opportunities this place has given so many
employees. We want to talk about how it enriched the
neighborhood."
    "I hope you're going to give me some note cards
or something because I'm pretty sure I'm going to screw this
up."
    Lena laughed. "You won't. And, yes, I'm going
to give you some talking points." She gestured to the window. "We
want to make sure we talk about how this place is standing strong
and fighting to preserve the history of Houston. People like those
kinds of underdog stories."
    "I'm not sure if I'll be one of the successful
ones."
    Her expression morphed to one of concern. "Why?
What happened?"
    "UpStreet Properties sent this guy to talk to
me this morning. He didn't threaten me outright but he insinuated
that this wasn't going to end well if I didn't accept their offer.
He came in through the side door, from the alley, and scared me to
death. I was the only one in the place but Dimitri was upstairs
thankfully."
    "Ooh," Lena said, her eyes wide. "Did Dimitri
get physical? Because I've seen how protective Ivan is of Erin. He
wouldn't think twice about socking someone in the face for
threatening her."
    "No, but Dimitri wasn't very happy."
    "Boy, those UpStreet guys aren't very smart.
There's a giant Russian ex-soldier living upstairs and they think
it's a good idea to send around one of their goons to strong-arm
you?"
    "They may not be very smart but
they're ruthless. I'm one of the few businesses standing in their
way. Carl, the goon," I clarified, "said that the generous offer they made
would expire on Monday."
    "Dickheads," she muttered.
    I smiled sadly in agreement. "He basically
threatened to go behind my back and buy Johnny's share of the
business to force my hand."
    "Assholes!" She nervously teethed her lower
lip. "Do you think Johnny would sell out to them?"
    "Lately, all he talks about is making money." I
ran my finger over the edge of the table. "He wants that flashy
lifestyle of the drug runners in his gang, you know? Cars, nice
clothes, jewelry, hot girls—but that stuff costs money. God knows
he's not about to lift a finger to find a real job."
    "After the crap I've watched you and Erin go
through with siblings, I am so glad I'm an only child." She reached
out and touched my hand. "What are you going to do? Have you talked
to Johnny?"
    I shook my head. "I tried calling him this
morning but he didn’t answer. He's been hanging out with this girl
and I'm pretty sure he spent the night