[Jake's POV]
The morning sun revealed the true extent of the damage.
It came in through the jagged hole where the front doors used to be. Harsh. White. It cut across the wreckage and made everything look worse.
The ground floor of the Golden Koi was a wreck.
The front doors were gone. Just a frame of twisted metal and shards of glass sticking up like teeth. The mahogany tables were splintered. Oak that had taken three generations to stain, now in pieces. The walls were pockmarked with bullet holes. Little black circles clustered around the pillars and the doorways.
And the floor. The floor was covered in a thick layer of plaster dust and brass casings. It crunched under my boots. It smelled like gunpowder, old blood, and the lemon cleaner the guys were already using.
But the building still stood.
And the territory was still ours.
I walked through the debris with a cup of black coffee in my hand. The ceramic was warm against my palm. The coffee was bitter. I needed it.
