Page 118 of The Dark Side

Jolie laid on a lounge chair in shorts and a tank top. It took her time to recover from Katia's outburst, and she still felt shaken inside, but Helina had come to her room and begged her to come down. The sun was blazing, warming her, and the panic receded more every passing minute. On the pool deck, dozen men in shorts were drinking and laughing nearby. Women in string bikinis walked on high heels and strutted from one end of the pool to the other for no reason whatsoever other than to get attention. She felt completely out of place, like a nerd at a frat party. But Helina and Alexei played in the pool, and she forced her attention on them, even when her gaze drifted.

This was Adrik's life. Men with guns exposed at their waist. Women showing off their bodies and getting their butts smacked by random strangers. Drugs lay on the table with children around. It was surreal, sitting here, knowing she wasn't one of them.

'Run. Escape before you can't anymore.'

Jolie appreciated Katia's advice, but there was no walking away. She was already in the middle of the jungle. What she needed to do was get stronger, educate herself on the dangers, and learn how to navigate them. There was a point to this. Katia believed that love wasn't enough, but love was the only reason to endure hardships. Love was the only reason to fight back.

A young man approached her. He was staring at her, and his eyes drifted down her body with obvious intent. She pulled her legs into her chest. "Hey, I'm Trevor." He sat beside her, holding a beer out to her.

"Trevor," Alexei called from the pool.

They both turned their gaze toward Alexei, and with only a slight tick of his head, Trevor excused himself and left her alone. Jolie relaxed and let her legs fall back down. A soft smile on her lips as she thanked him. It hit her then why Alexei wasn't with Adrik, considering they typically traveled together. Adrik made his brother stay behind to watch over her.

Her stomach filled with warmth. It was something so silly, something probably not worth a thought, but it meant something to her. Even angry, Adrik thought of her well-being. It was something Vincent had been incapable of. He left her on the side of the road once after he kicked her out of his car because he was pissed about something she said. She needed to stop comparing. Adrik was in a league all of his own.

A phone on top of Alexei's shirt rang, and Jolie got up to hand it to him. He pushed himself out of the pool with his bad arm tucked into his stomach and sat on the edge, dangling his legs in. Jolie averted her eyes. There was no doubt that Alexei had a good body. Though currently there were terrible bruises, it didn't hide the muscles in his arms. Alexei may not have a six-pack like Adrik, but it didn't matter. He was thick, like a Viking. How these women weren't flocking to his side, she didn't know.

He's more like a bear,Jolie thought, recalling Katia’s cat analogy.

Jolie leaned down, pretending to play with Helina, hoping to find out who was on the phone, but Alexei spoke in Russian, and nothing about what he said was familiar. Would Adrik ignore her till he returned? Her secret phone was in her pocket, with no messages. She wasn't the kind of woman that sat in anger. She liked to get it out as soon as possible. But she doubted Adrik was that way.

A tap on her arm, and the phone waited for her. Jolie's eyes widened, and she grabbed it. "Hello?"

"Don't say anything," Adrik said. "Only listen." He waited for an 'okay,' but she was smart enough to stay silent. "I'm dealing with coke heads in the south for a few days. Don't do anything without telling Alexei. My father should stay away from you, but if he does anything, you let my brother know. And stay away from Katia. Give the phone back."

Jolie's brows knitted at his complete disregard. She wanted more from him; she wanted him to fix the ache in her chest, not make it worse. She numbly handed it over and sat staring at the water.

Alexei tossed the phone back on the chair and glanced at her nervously.

Jolie didn't want him to feel obligated to talk to her, so she burst into conversation. "You dated any of those girls?" It was a pathetic attempt to keep his attention off her.

His brows knitted in disgust, and he pointed to two girls. "My cousins." Then he pointed to two more. "Cousins." Three more. "Wives of cousins."

"Oh," she whimpered, glancing toward them. They were beyond gorgeous and intimidating, but knowing they were family took the edge off a little.

"Most of them were at my mom's party."

Jolie bowed her head, embarrassed. There were a bunch of people, and they were fully clothed. She couldn't possibly remember who was who.

Alexei fiddled with the water. "I told you before I'm picky."

"You're young, gorgeous, and a millionaire. Didn't think it would be a struggle."

"Well, first, she's got to be Russian, so that deletes like ninety-nine percent of the population."

Jolie rolled her eyes. "Of course, how could I forget."

"And she can't be family, obviously, so that takes out like half of the people I know. Then she has to be okay with drugs, guns, drunks, druggies, violence, strippers, and blood."

Jolie nodded with wide eyes. "That's a lot."

"Then she'd have to be cool with being alone eighty percent of our life because I'm always fucking busy. And when I'm out, I'm typically in the audience of"—he pointed to the nearly naked women—"that. So, if you know anyone—"

She laughed, hanging her head. When he put it that way, it didn’t sound like something Jolie would be good with. But it was something she would have to figure out. If she wanted to be in Adrik’s life than she would have to accept his life.

Alexei smiled. Her happiness caught him in a trance, and he stared at her longer than planned. He forced his eyes back to the water and brought up his brother. It was the only way to remind himself that she would never be his.

"You and Adrik are fighting, huh?"

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