Page 36 of Embracing the Dark Side

The opponent on the ground kicked Alexei’s leg out, dropping him to his knee, but Alexei brought the knife down heavy, ready to impale it into his face.

“Stop,” Adrik ordered.

The knife was a centimeter away from the man’s eye.

Adrik flicked the butt of the joint, holding the smoke in as he kneeled down, his elbows on his knees, and he held his hands between his legs. Without his rings, he felt incomplete, but the tattoos of his family sigil remained on his skin, never to be removed, even in death. Adrik blew the smoke into the man’s face. “Tell your boss I want to meet.”

Shivering and staring at the tip of a blade, the man replied, “My boss doesn’t fuck with Putin lovers.”

Adrik shifted, slipping a small white bag of cocaine into the man’s hand and folded his fingers around it. “We’ll see.”

Adrik and Alexei stood, leaving the two behind as they returned to Alexei’s cell. The Warden had been wise enough to keep them separated, but during the free period, they gravitated toward one another. Adrik sat on the bunk, groaning as he did so. He lifted his shirt, checking on his broken ribs. The bruises extended over his chest and back, but his tattoos hid most of the damage. If they were ever given the time to heal, it might not look so inflamed, but the guards were consistent, coming nearly every day.

Alexei stared at his brother from across the cell, arms crossed. He only had a few small bruises from his fight. The cut on his chest was just a scratch, hidden in the bulk of his orange jumper. “This is playground shit.” Alexei cursed. “Why even bother? We should focus on getting the fuck out of here.”

Adrik slowly stretched on the bed, holding his sides, suppressing a groan with a silent gasp. He panted heavily for a moment and then turned his attention to Alexei. “When we get out, the game will have changed. I can’t plan until I know what we will be playing with. We have to survive till then. Unless you’d rather fight every day we are here.”

“It helps. I need something to do, or I’ll go insane.”

Adrik agreed. It was hard not to give in to terrible thoughts. There was a clusterfuck of problems that bombarded every hour of the day. If he hadn’t practiced dealing with the stress of the Mafia, he’d never sleep, but Adrik had been dealing with this intense lifestyle for solong that he knew how to shut it off. And that’s what he’d been doing. Hours and hours of sleep, if only to escape it.

If he allowed even a sliver of fear to creep in, the doors would burst open and devour his mind.

Fears like what was happening to Helina.

To Jolie.

His blockade was slipping, and panic was building. Adrik quickly jabbed a finger into his broken rib, and a shot of shearing white pain pierced behind his eyes, blowing apart the thoughts in his head. He coughed and groaned.

“Those fucking guards,” Alexei sneered, watching his brother writhe in agony.

“It’s fine,” Adrik whispered. He didn’t want Alexei to go after them. It wasn’t time for revenge. That would come later. Right now, they needed to procure their place here.

“Morozov!” a guard yelled down the hall. “Phone call.”

Alexei reached down to help his brother to his feet. Adrik kept hold of his arm. “Don’t do anything while I’m gone.”

“Have faith, brother.” Alexei smiled, but Adrik didn’t move, pinning his eyes on him. A silent warning. Alexei rolled his eyes. “Relax. I can exist without you.”

Adrik nodded and moved out of the jail. “I can’t.”

Down the hall, a guard stood with a cell phone. He looked like a dad of four, slightly overweight and smelling of sweat. Adrik didn’t take it, suspecting some malicious reason for the guard to be willing to hand him contraband. “My brother’s in the family.”

Adrik hesitated only a moment more before he took up the phone. “What’s your brother’s name?”

“Jared Gusin.”

"And yours?"

"Mark."

Adrik nodded. “I’ll take care of him.” Waiting until Mark walked away, Adrik put it to his ear. “What?”

“Hey,” Gil responded. “You okay?”

Pain drifted into his lungs as he took a breath. “Fine.” It was far from the truth, but it didn't matter.

Gil instantly assured him, “Helina’s okay.”

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