Page 43 of Embracing the Dark Side

Jolie closed her eyes, breathing heavily out of her nose.Katia. What would Katia do?But the fear was overtaking her. She wasn't Katia. She wasn't a wife in the mafia. She was a stupid schoolteacher, and she wasn't made for this.

"Please," she whimpered. "Let me go."

"Let you go?" He laughed, looking around at his friends. "Should we let her go?"

They cackled and hollered 'no,' a repeated chorus from the twenty that surrounded her.

It was a last-ditch effort when Jolie focused on Vincent. He stood stiff and still, trying to remain impassive, but if Jolie could see him struggling, so could Santiago.

"Let her go," Vincent ordered.

Santiago knitted his brow. "Oh? Why should I?"

Vincent couldn't believe Santi would so openly disobey him. He didn't know what to do. There were so many against him. Their lust blinding reason. They turned into wolves, capable of anything.

But he was a wolf, too.

Vincent pulled out his gun, pointing it at Santiago's head, but the man was too close to Jolie. He was a good shot, but not that good. "Let her go."

A scoff passed his lips."Are you serious, Cousin? What do you think your dad is going to say about this? Huh? You still hung up on this bitch? Tell us the truth now."

Another gang member, some fucking asshole Vincent couldn't remember, came up beside Santigo, laughing, reaching,"Give her to me. I'll show her a good time."

Vincent fired, and the man dropped dead beside them with a bleeding hole in his head.

The mood shifted. Everyone took a step back. Vincent pointed the gun at random people, and their heads bowed, and they cowered. The control was back in his hands, but he couldn't believe how close he came to losing it.

Santiago's smile fell."You want to shoot me? She gave you five years in hell, Vinny. Why the fuck are you so blind?"

"I'm fucking her."

Santiago cackled."No, you ain't."He gripped Jolie's chin and asked in English, "You fucking him? Huh? You suck his dick?"

Jolie's wide, wild eyes stayed on Vincent. Why would Santiago ask that? What was the significance? She searched Vincent for the answer, and he stared back at her, his teeth clenched and his gun steady. That damn 'trust me' kept repeating in her head. When had it ever played out well for her? Vincent constantly failed her, but it didn't mean he didn't try. And her terrible habit of giving the benefit of the doubt crept in. “Y-Y-Yes.”

He shoved Jolie, and Vincent caught her. She nearly collapsed in relief, but he forced her to move, wrapping her up in the robe. Once she was covered, Vincent let her fall to her knees.

Santiago sneered at the level of care."You're fucking pathetic."

Vincent ran up to him, pressing the barrel against his head."I should fucking kill you."

"But you can't,"Santi whispered back."You're a dumbass, Vinny. You're gonna get us all killed. Stop playing house with that slut and fix this shit. The Stephanovs are threatening to invade us, and you're so fucking concentrated on that bitch, you don't see reason."

"I'm doing everything I can."

"It's not enough. Drop her and pay fucking attention before we burn."Santiago waved to the group of men, and everyone followed the order as if he were in charge.

Vincent was left alone on the pool deck, with Jolie kneeling on the floor behind him. She was trembling, clenching the fabric of her robe with white knuckles. He looked down at her as she looked up. Her fear disgusted him. What the hell was she doing in this world if she couldn't handle a little sexual harassment? He walked away. It was time to get Jolie out of there and somehowget Santiago off his back before he lost all control. This mafia shit was more trouble than it was worth.

Chapter twenty

Curious

It was never truly quiet in jail. Someone coughed, sneezed, groaned, or yawned—an endless barrage of noise. After three weeks here, Adrik thought he would get used to it, but now, when all he wanted to do was concentrate, every noise was like gunfire, keeping him alert.

Adrik lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, with his arm behind his head while the other arm laid on a propped pillow, trying to help ease the pain of a recent fracture. He used the ceiling like a painter’s white canvas, drawing events and moments in time that should have stood out—that he should have realized what was happening—and seeing how he had failed. Adrik had only gotten this far by learning from his mistakes and the mistakes of others.

And like a stray glob of paint splattering across the art piece, Jolie’s face interrupted the process and destroyed his chain of thought. Despite how much he didn’t want to think of her, he was too tired to fight it. He closed his eyes, and her voice came rushing in.

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