Page 24 of Embracing the Dark Side

“Where are Mommy and Daddy?”

Jolie’s understanding was slow, but she squeezed her tighter as soon as she comprehended those words. Communication between them would be difficult for a time. There was no phone to help her translate. She only knew a few words in Russian. But Jolie spoke anyway, hoping her tone would get through if nothing else. “I’m gonna get us out of here, okay?Don’t worry, Helina.I’m not leaving your side.”

Helina was only learning the basics of English, but she nodded as if she understood it.

Jolie began to plan. If they were hostages, then she needed to protect them. Vincent and his baboons didn’t know the rooms were connected, so Jolie went through Katia’s room, diving into drawers. Most were empty, but inside her nightstand, Jolie found a knife. She took it and found a new hiding place inside one of Helina’s stuffed bears. She put it on a shelf as if it were a decoration.

If I have to fight,she told herself.I’m gonna win.

Jolie wasn’t going to let anyone hurt that little girl. Even if it jeopardized her life. Jolie looked around the room, searching for ways to block the door and items she could use if she had to fight someone off.

When Helina yawned, Jolie got her in bed. A little musical bear lit up beside her. It was nearly one in the morning, and Adrik’s birthday was officially over. A day that had begun with warmth and love now ended with blood and loneliness. Jolie rested her head beside Helina’s, running her fingers through her blonde curly hair. Her puffy dress made noise every time she moved, but she wastoo tired to change out of it. Everything Jolie was feeling meant so very little compared to her. Helina watched her father get taken away to jail, she saw her grandfather get murdered, she was separated from her mother and grandmother, and though she might not realize it yet, she was kidnapped. Jolie’s suffering was pitiable, and she’d do anything to ease the little girl’s pain.

When Helina finally fell asleep, Jolie got up. Without having to care for Helina, all her insecurities were creeping in, like a thick fog. The tears were coming, and she slapped a hand over her mouth to stop a sudden sob. She felt Adrik’s loss like a missing limb. All his protection, all the comfort he gave her, was now an emptiness that made her nauseous.

She made her way through the joined doorway to find her bed. She prayed the maids hadn’t had time to come and clean her room, and Adrik’s scent would still be present in her blankets, but upon finding her bed pristinely made, Jolie’s legs gave out, and she collapsed in the doorway. A sob broke through, and Jolie rushed to close the door so Helina couldn’t hear. She curled her legs into her chest, hugging her knees as her body shook. The tears only got stronger, and she let it come, let it consume her. All hope for a future was destroyed. The little flame of excitement and adventure was snuffed out before it ever truly began.

‘You’re jumping onto a sinking ship,’Agent Mally had said to her.‘This family is going down, and you are so stupid to think it will be happy ever after.’

Mally tried to warn Jolie, but Jolie put too much faith in Adrik’s invincibility. He was human, after all,so far from all-powerful.

Jolie clenched her legs tighter, wishing her mother was here. Heather was going to find out about Adrik soon, wasn’t she? Would she come looking for Jolie? Or maybe she’d call the cops, freak out, and come knocking on the door demanding to see her. Would Vincent kill her? Jolie knew nothing about this version of him. She didn’t know what he was capable of.

Ming and Tae-Tae came from the shadows and meowed as they crawled on her. Her cats were her only comfort, and she crushed her face against them to cry into their furs.

Not an hour later, a man came to the door. He found Jolie curled on the floor and was careless as he roughly lifted her to her feet, pulling her along and making her trip over herself. He carried an AK at his hip and was dressed in black, with thick, heavy boots that pounded against the white flooring.

Jolie’s eyes went wide as they traveled down the stairs.

All the decorations had been torn down, and the furniture had been brought back in. The spot where Yakov had been shot was covered by a big, ugly bear rug that didn’t match anything, taken from Yakov’s office. They brought in random furniture from around the house,making the grand living room their lounge. Men and women partied, all of the Morozov liquor on the table. Loud Spanish music blasted, and there were lines of cocaine on the table with a bowl full of pills. Guns lay forgotten, and they trampled the pristine white carpet with carelessness. She despised every single one of them. It was degradation on top of degradation. The amount of disrespect would have Adrik set the house on fire.

Jolie was brought to the back hallway, where the white marble turned into dark mahogany wood. The wooden doors that were always closed and guarded had been busted open, and pieces of wood splintered. In Yakov’s office, at his desk, Vincent sat.

Vincent had a large Cuban cigar between his lips as he smiled at her, leaning back in the leather chair. He had removed his jacket and shirt, leaving him bare from the waist up. Devil tattoos decorated his tanned skin. A familiar spider tattoo crawled along his clavicle and up into his neck, and three gold chains hung over his pectorals.

Jolie shrunk into herself, feeling the weight of Vincent’s hazel eyes as he studied her.

“You shouldn’t have been here, JoJo.”

Jolie wiped a tear off her cheek and refused to look at him.

“You ain’t a prisoner here. You can go home, if you want.”

Jolie’s eyes popped to him. Hope ignited in her chest, and she nearly sobbed in relief. She nodded, thankful, and for a moment, the look on his face was everything she remembered. He was there. The boy she had loved more than life was in the body of a killer. She was relieved that everything she knew about him wasn’t gone.

“But,” he added as he leaned up on the desk, “you witnessed a murder, didn’t you?”

Jolie’s eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head, but Vincent continued before she could speak. “And we both know how you love to talk to the police.”

Her brows knitted in agony, and her head fell to hide the devastation. He wouldn’t know how horrible he made her feel. How could he? He didn’t know about the years it took to get over what she did to him. He didn’t know how she needed therapy and religious intervention. And he didn’t know how she had done the same stupid thing with Adrik. Oh, Jolie never hated herself more.

Vincent leaned back in the chair, taking a big intake of the expensive cigar. He never tasted tobacco as rich as this, but it was something he could get used to. He watched Jolie and ran his eyes down her body. The dress was everything she wasn’t. Even for prom, Jolie wore a dress that went down to her ankles and hugged her neckline. The only thing it had been was tight, but she had worn thick-lined panties that showed through. All his friends had made fun of her for it, and he spent the night making threats to keep them quiet.

She kept her head bowed, her brown curled hair long down her back. It disgusted him to see makeup on her. Smeared eyeliner and mascara ruined her face. She was trying to be something she wasn’t. No doubt, she was trying to impress a man who would never go for someone like her.

He sighed. “What are you doing here, JoJo?”

Jolie sniffed and rubbed a tear off her cheek. “I told you. I’m Helina’s tutor.”

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