Page 107 of The Dark Side

"Give me information, and I will."

The audacity that she would ask broke Jolie, "How? I can't get you anything!" There were almost tears in her eyes. Jolie wanted the woman to leave her alone, but like her conscience, it lingered.

Mally held up Zinof's picture. There was a chance he wasn't alive anymore, and Adrik knew precisely where the body was buried. "A life hangs in your hands. Find him."

Jolie returned to the bar, numb and miserable. She downed the rest of her drink before ordering another one. Katia watched her with concern but smiled nonetheless as Jolie sipped on her third drink. She ordered a round of appetizers before she asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Jolie gave a tight smile and leaned into her, “Mally is here.”

Katia sank into her and hissed, “You didn’t tell me you partnered with Mally. That woman is like the plague.” Katia glanced around searching for the agent. The woman just came from the hallway, a drink in her hand saluting. Katia snapped her eyes to her drink. Jolie was a stupid woman for being caught in the middle of this. There was no way Adrik would forgive her. But his forgiveness wasn’t her problem. Katia planned to be gone before any ofthatdisaster went down.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've had fun?" Jolie asked. And though Mally was just over her shoulder in the distance, Jolie wanted to forget her.

"No, I have no idea,” Katia assured.

"A long time. A looonnnggg time." The music was getting louder, or at least it was inside Jolie's head. She got off the bar stool to wiggle around. "My ex-boyfriend—you know, the one I told you about?"

"Vincent."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She sipped her drink. "His friends would throw these bonfire parties that were insane. Like crazy, pickup truckin’, muddin' keggers in high school," she stressed. "High school. They were the talk of the town. And always got shut down by the police. There would be drugs, but I never did any of that."

"Of course," Katia patronized.

"But I danced." She shook her hips with a wild grin.

Katia smiled. "I knew this good girl persona was all an act."

"What?" Jolie screeched. "I am a good girl. I am. I was always home at curfew. I could never do what these girls did. But maybe…" Jolie leaned in, and whispered, "Maybe I wanted to." A sudden squeal broke out as she pointed at the door. "That's a DJ. Is there music tonight?" Jolie asked the bartender.

"On the roof, it's an exclusive club. Would you like passes, Mrs. Morozov?"

Katia was hesitant. She knew what was expected of her as a wife to a mafia boss, but Jolie's exuberance was rubbing off on her. It made her wonder when the last time wasshehad fun. Jolie gripped her arm, begging.

"What do you plan to wear?"

The bartender interrupted, "It's a pool party. What you have on is perfect."

Jolie whispered, "Please, please, please."

Katia cursed internally when she heard herself say, "Alright."

"Yes!" Jolie squealed.

"But you need to eat and slow down a little. You cannot embarrass me by throwing up in the pool."

Jolie sat down and began to binge. She couldn't believe how awesome Katia was. She was caring and sweet. It made her think about why there was animosity between her and Adrik until Agent Mally's words filtered through the haze. Adrik killed her lover.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Depends." Katia smirked, glancing toward her. "What?"

Jolie paused, unsure if asking was in her best interest. Her question probably wouldn’t bring happy memories. "What happened with you and Adrik?"

Like she knew it, Katia's smile drifted. She fiddled with a French fry and watched the people swim in the pool. "I broke his heart, I suppose," she finally murmured. Katia no longer saw what was around. She was back ten years when it all began. The mistakes made because of stupid love. Maybe that was why she couldn't wholly hate Jolie. Jolie was in love, a beautiful place to be. Even her goodness was something that Katia used to possess. "I was betrothed to Adrik six months before I turned eighteen. As you can imagine, I wasn't happy about being forced to be with someone I never met. I mean, we live in America; I thought I'd get freedom like everyone else. But the Mafia is a world of its own. We do not follow the rules of this society. We follow the rules of our parents." The resentment in her tone was undeniable. "No matter how hard I fought, there was no getting around it. And even though I was in love with someone else, engaged to someone else, my father told me I would marry Adrik, or he would kill my lover, Nikolas." The name said out loud brought with it all the times she had called him. She could see his face so vividly even after all these years. "So, I married. What else could I have done? I broke it off with Nikolas, but he wasn't about to give up. He found my father, got beaten, and was thrown in jail. He was a fool, and I was so desperate to be saved I didn't think about the consequences. I believed in him even though he was nothing against the power of the Morozovs."

Katia took a drink. It was a way to fortify her walls against the pain that would always be there.

"Adrik was young and so blindly wanting what his parents had. I'll never downplay how well he treated me in the beginning. He wanted me to love him, but he didn't realize I couldn't. My heart was already in the hands of another." Katia took a deep breath and then ripped it off like a Band-Aid. "I cheated on Adrik, from the very beginning. For years," she softly admitted. "One single text message I forgot to erase, and it was over. Adrik knew immediately. Every time I disappeared. Every time he couldn't reach me. The times I pushed him away or made up some excuse to get out of his bed. It all clicked, and my secrets were exposed." Katia swallowed harshly, pressing a finger under her eye to push back any wetness. Then she cleared her throat and said coldly, "Adrik killed him. Tortured him to death. Now I am without a heart, only alive to care for a daughter that should have been someone else's."

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