Page 29 of Embracing the Dark Side

Vincent rolled his eyes and did the only thing he could think of. He provoked. “Guess I don’t get a thank you.” Jolie’s wide outrage was written all over her face. “You know, now that I think about it, you were never that thankful.”

“What?” she bit.

“Prom?”

The memories were a waterfall drowning the panic. She blinked at him, wondering if he had done it on purpose. Jolie played his game, almost thankful. “You were an hour late, you forgot my corsage, and you didn’t order the limo like I wanted. I had to drive in your jeep, which ruined my hair.”

He held up a finger. “One, I couldn’t afford the limo because you wanted me to get a tuxedo. Which I did. Two, the corsage was dumb. But I got you a necklace. Three, I was an hour late because I helped an old lady cross the street.”

The pause before the laugh was everything. She realized the lie for what it was, and she shook her head. Vincent smirked but licked his lips to stop it. He wasn’t here for whatever the hell he was doing. Flirting with her was natural, like how one talks to a child with a soft tone. It came out without him thinking about it. He fell back into the teenager he once was, like he was home again, days away from a football game, when he wasn’t the leader of a gang, a killer, a trafficker, and a drug dealer.

When she sat back, no longer freaking out, Vincent brought them back to the present. “Many people here know what you did. Santiago, in particular, won’t let it go. So stay away from him. Maybe just stay in your room as much as possible.”

Jolie nodded, staring out her window down to the pool deck, where everyone returned to normal with music blasting. Her cats came out of hiding, meowing at her, and when they saw Vincent, they ran to him for attention, but he only nudged them with his toe. “Why don’t you hate me?” Jolie wondered.

“I did for a while,” he admitted, refusing to look at her. “But I guess I fucked you over first.”

Jolie gave a playful smile. “You guess?”

Vincent toyed with the ring on his lip. She couldn’t know how much he enjoyed that look. Or how much he missed it.

Jolie stood with her hands twisting in front of her. She pleaded. “Let us go, Vincent. Please. You don’t want to hurt us. That’s not the kind of person you are.”

The plea was pathetic but not surprising. She would believe there was something left of him that remembered how to be normal. But there was way too much blood on his hands. The first time he had to shank someone in the shower, he destroyed the boy she loved. The second time, it surrounded him with thick skin, making him numb. He’d forgotten how many deaths he’s been a part of since then. When he became part of a pack in prison, violence was the way every day began and ended. It all rolled into one.

“I need her.”

“Why?”

How could she not understand why? Didn’t she live with them? Jolie had to know what it meant. But if she was indeed a tutor and nothing more, then her ignorance would make sense. Maybe she hadn’t slept with Adrik, and he lied only to provoke him.

Why does that fucking matter?He belittled himself for the thought. It’s been five years. He was surprised she wasn’t married and had kids of her own.

“Why didn’t you visit me?” Vincent suddenly asked, and then hated himself for it.

Jolie tucked her brown hair behind her ear before she sat on the bed. “I tried.”

That sounded like a pathetic excuse he didn’t want to hear. If she began with ‘it was too hard,’ he’d walk out this fucking door. It was ‘too hard’ to be trapped in that fucking place, not knowing what was going on with her. It was ‘too hard’ lying in bed wondering if she was crying or angry. Did she even acknowledge the fact that he had pleaded guilty simply so she wouldn’t have to testify?

Her cats jumped in her lap, and she hugged them closely. “I’d gone to the jail, and they’d denied me. Said you weren’t taking visitors, or you didn’t want to see me. I tried a dozen times. I wrote to you, but you never returned my letters.”

“I never got them.” He clenched his fists. And the reasoning behind all of that was easy to figure out. “My father intervened.”

“Just like my parents.”

Vincent stared at the floor. All the hours he spent thinking about their situation, and the whole time, she was trying to reach him. Vincent thought he kept Jolie a secret from most of his family. He was constantly hanging with other women so nothing would get back to his father. But he should have known better.

Now that question didn’t burn so heavily in the back of his head, he could answer her. “I need Helina to keep Adrik’s family at bay. They want revenge, and they are a bit bigger than my gang. Stronger. They’d destroy us in seconds. Hell, they’re trying now. But Katia protects us. She won’t let them storm this castle, because the first thing I’ll do is put that girl in front of me.”

Jolie sneered at such a declaration. “You knew you weren’t strong enough to take them on, and yet you did anyway? Why?”

“Going after the Morozovs”—he paused, a smile overtaking his face and igniting the light in his eyes—“was a big fucking deal. You see, gangs like mine never make the kind of money mafias make. We make pennies in comparison. But I did something no one would have done. I brought down an empire. And now it’s all fucking mine. Everything!” Vincent began to pace in his excitement, a habit he picked up as a teen. Jolie would watch him as he’d go on tangents about the football games. He’d talk for an hour, and all Jolie had to do was listen and give the proper encouragement. In these moments, he didn’t want her negativity or even reality. He wanted praise.

“These fucking Russians don’t want to admit that I beat them at their own game. Even after I blew Yakov’s head off! They want to come at me now. The Morozovs had cops on their payroll, and they've taken a few of my cousins. But I can't give in. No matter what. As word gets out, there will be more blood in the streets. More people trying to come for me. But With Katia’s help, I'm untouchable. I’ll own the Mafia’s biggest fucking family.”

Jolie nodded as if she understood. But some things weren’t clear, but asking when he was riled up would only piss him off. Why did she still remember these things when it was so long ago?Fear,Jolie acknowledged.I’m still afraid of him.

“Katia will bargain for her.” Vincent turned to Jolie, finally willing to communicate. “So just keep her safe.”

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