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Mike let out a heavy breath and dropped the papers he’d been pretending to examine “Please, Nik, I’m fucked”

Norht of what ordinarily would have co in Mike’s tone that had ue

Mike fell silent and then looked in the direction of the ring which we could see a little bit of fro was actually an old warehouse in Brooklyn that Mike had gotten for pretty cheap but that was also falling down around our ears I had firsthand knowledge that Mike and his wife had invested every penny of their savings to start Smithfield Security It was a dream Mike had had froo in on the business with him but my own financial situation hadn’t allowed for it

“What’s going on?” I asked even as h I hadn’t been able to partner with Mike, he had takenrole so I never had to work in the field The hours were steady and I wasn’t risking gettinga client Not to

I really sucked at the polite thing

Mike took a long time to answer but I didn’t press hiods had blessed me with an infinite amount of patience… well, a certain kind of patience, anyway When people were being stupid and risking not only their lives but mine as well, then my patience went out the

“If soe, we’ll lose this place in a few months”

That was enough to knock me back into my chair I’d known Mike was stressed about the cootten so bad so fast Granted, I’d also been too ees of gling

“How?” I asked before I could stop —”

“No, I know you’re not,” Mike interjected He settled his elbows on the desk “Econo’s fucked, the HVAC is on its last legs, equip apart but surprise, surprise, no one’s all that interested in loaning money to a start-up security company whose only clients are a fe-level celebrities and executives”

"Fuck," Iit, I'd—"