Page 124 of The Dark Side

The severity of his voice made her speechless, and she nodded. She was still in a whirlwind of confusion. They were making out, about to have sex, and now the feeling in the air was tense and frightening.

Adrik rushed up the stairs while Jolie followed the soldier into the ship’s lower levels. All the servants were now carrying guns, shouting orders to each other as they ran in different directions. Three floors they descended before getting to the engine room. It was hot and stuffy and terrifyingly loud. She wouldn’t be able to hear anything down here. The soldier pushed aside a fake water heater, and behind it on the wall was a keypad. He typed in the number quickly and then grabbed Jolie’s hand.

“You are the only one that will be able to open this door once it closes,” Dima told her. “Wait for Helina and Mrs. Morozov.”

Stepping inside, it was a square box. Against the wall was a cabinet full of guns, a phone glued to the wall, a small refrigerator with food and water, and a small bathroom with a sliding door. Fold-up chairs were laid on the floor, and she picked one up to sit. Jolie clenched the chair, her knuckles white in their hold.

Nothing wrong with this,she whispered to herself.Just a typical day dating the king of the Mafia.

Chapter forty-five

Attack

Adrikpressedagainstthewall, panting, slightly bleeding on the arm. He kept his gun close to his body, listening for footsteps and signs of life. The body of one of his men was at his feet, but it phased him little.

Their opponents were strong and plentiful. They came on four speedboats, with a dozen soldiers on each. It should have been like shooting fish in a barrel, but their enemy was prepared. They had mirrors to blind them and tear gas that they shot from over-the-shoulder cannons. But their arrival had been a diversion. A team of sea divers went under the boat and boarded from the other side, taking Adrik and his team off guard.

Now, they were searching the hull of the yacht, and Adrik had the means to kill every last one. But his numbers were decreasing as the minutes passed.

This boat had never been breached. Thirty million went into this ship, now being reduced to splinters. The failure would eat at Adrik at another time, but right now, he needed to focus on his target.

In his ear, Adrik wore a small Bluetooth and could hear the other members of his army continuing to fight. Adrik didn't want to put himself between the safe room and their enemy for a simple reason. They would know he was protecting something, and they would only try harder. So, he left the safe room to Dima, who sat in hiding, watching the room's safety. He listened every moment for Dima to tell him if the girls were in danger.

Adrik pretended instead to be protecting the upstairs bedroom, and that's where the stalemate was.

A shout called in English, "We only want Zinof."

"He's not here, you fucking idiots."Adrik hollered back in Russian, if only to spite them. But even if Zinof was here, Adrik would still fight with the same amount of zest. They dared come onto his boat; now they must face the penalties.

"Hand him over, and no one else has to die."

"Fuck you," Adrik yelled, and then he shot down the hallway with only his arm out. Immediately, his opponent fired back, and the bullets stuck into the floorboards and walls.

In his ear, he heard Dima."Sir, there's someone coming."Adrik pressed his back against the wall and closed his eyes. 'Someone coming' didn't mean they knew where the safe room was. But even if they did, they couldn't breach it, not without a bomb or Jolie's hand.

"Sir," another voice came on the line. He was whispering and clearly out of breath."In the back of the ship, there's a crew of four. They're sawing into the side. They're breaching the safe room from the outside."

Adrik ground his teeth and smashed his head back against the wall. A tangent of curses rolled through his head. This group of mercenaries had a smart leader. Adrik touched his earpiece."How long?"

"Five, ten minutes tops."

"How many are on the ship?"

The count went out, and it came to seven. He ordered someone to the stairs to help clear his pathway. Adrik entered his bedroom and threw the mattress off the bed to reveal a safe. He typed in a number quickly, listening behind him for any footsteps closing in on his position. Inside the safe was money, drugs, and two grenades. He snatched the two dark-green balls and put one in his pocket. Then he tossed the other down the hall. The yells were humorous, and the bomb vibrated the ground at his feet. Gunfire followed, but from the bottom stairwell.

"Clear!" his soldiers called.

Adrik stepped out of the room, and a gunshot hit him in the shoulder. It pushed him back a step, and he looked down at the wound seeping blood. Then he fired his gun five, six times into the mutilated corpse on the floor. How the soldier managed to get half of him blown off and still survive, Adrik didn't care to know. He was dead now. Adrik vaguely touched the bullet wound on his shoulder, but the adrenaline kept him from feeling most of the pain.

Pulling all his soldiers together, they arrived at the back of the ship. There were two opponents on the top of the railing as lookouts. They wore sunglasses and body armor. Adrik couldn't see the others, but he could hear the drilling, even feel it in the bottom of his bloody feet. So much glass dug into his soles, but he paid it no mind.

Adrik tossed the bomb and watched the two soldiers try to dive off the edge, but it blew them up into the air, and they fell into the water. He stepped out as his soldiers ran to gun down the crew on the side of the ship. They sat in little swings, trying to dive out of their seats, but it was too late. Bullets rained down on them from up above.

"Adrik," Dima’s whisper was a siren in his head. His hearing had dulled because of the bombs, and now, in a moment of clarity, it came back to him. "She opened the door.”

His brows knit, confused first before his eyes widened.Jolie opened the door.

Adrik ran to the front of the ship and darted through the living room. The team kept up with him, trying to calm him, to stop him, but he wouldn't. He threw himself down a flight of stairs, barely catching himself from falling. It felt like hours till he made it to the boiler room and shoved his way through the door. He finally arrived, but the sight made his heart stop.

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