Page 63 of Embracing the Dark Side

Adrik shifted his head, only a fraction, awareness creeping in. He nodded once and pulled the knife out, watching the body crumble. He stood and dropped the knife, his hand only slightly shaking, but quickly, Filip slipped a cigarette between his fingers, and Adrik instinctively brought it to his lips. The taste was poison, and he hated it, but it awoke his senses enough to move. As he passed a table, he picked up the bottle of vodka and took a deep swig. His bloody handprint was left on the glass. The soldiers watched him. No one dared move lest they gain his unwanted attention. Adrik took one last drag of the sickening cigarette before he flicked it away.

Waiting for him in front of a closed door was the family mortician. The man worked for the Morozovs for fifty years, hired by Yakov’s father. He was nearly eighty and suffered from scoliosis, bent nearly in half after so many years of dissecting bodies. Adrik stood in front of him, but before the old man could speak, he ordered the room empty. His soldiers slipped out, dragging bodies and leaving behind red trails. They would kill whoever was left over and throw them into the waiting boat to take them out to sea.

When the doors closed, the warehouse vibrated. The emptiness echoed, and the mortician’s voice carried, making it impossible to have misheard.

“It’s him.” In the man’s small, wrinkled hand lay Alexei’s ring.

Adrik pinched the bridge of his nose. It was a move he’d never done, because he’d never felt such despair. He couldn’t lose it, so he stood for severalminutes until the worst of the pain passed. Adrik moved to go inside but was stopped.

“I advise against it, Mr. Morozov.” The mortician put a gentle hand on his arm. “Your brother was burned badly. There isn’t much of him left. They had to dig him out of a pyre of twenty soldiers. He’s missing a few limbs.”

Adrik didn’t want to see the remains of his brother. But he had to, didn’t he? Because it still didn’t seem real, and the only way to fully believe that Alexei was gone was to see his burnt, mutilated corpse. It would be closure.

And so what if it triggered an atom bomb? War was already imminent. But this would decide the number of casualties.

If Adrik’s world was about to be destroyed, so was everyone else’s.

Adrik took his brother’s family ring in his bloody palm and stepped forward.

Chapter twenty-nine

Tidal Wave

Jolie stood in a plain black dress beside Tatianna as they greeted everyone at the door. The church slowly filled up with the same people she’d seen for Tatianna’s welcome home party and Adrik’s birthday. Though they still called her ‘the American,’ they seemed to be getting used to her presence or perhaps not caring as much as they used to. But Tatianna assured her it was neither.

“They are just happy you are no longer dating a Russian.” It was a bitter statement considering her dead son, but Tatianna was still able to say it with a smile on her face.

Acting was a common denominator with these people. There was a group of women crying twenty feet ahead, wrapping everyone up in hugs as if it had been their brother who was killed. They sought attention like grieving was a competition.

Perhaps that’s why it was so important for Jolie to be honest with Adrik. He was surrounded by liars. She was disappointed in herself for being just like everyone else.

“Yefim,” Tatianna greeted. Jolie watched as they approached. Yefim had to be nearly two hundred and fifty pounds, but he was tall—over six feet. The blue eyes were unmistakable, nearly the exact replica of Yakov’s. Shecould see pieces of Yakov inside this man, in how he walked and looked at others with judgment in the depth of the dark hell of his eyes.

All the ugly pieces, that’s for sure.

Jolie would have excused herself if Tatianna hadn’t held tight to her. She gestured to a woman on Yefim’s arm. “Who’s this beautiful woman beside you?”

The woman was thirty years young and full of Botox.

“You know me. I’m weak for beautiful women.”

Tatianna gave a giggle that strangled her throat. “Well, I want to thank you again for what you did for my boys.”

“It was no problem. Adrik and I struggled with our differences in the past, but he is still my nephew. I’m heartbroken for you, Tati. I know how hard it is to lose a child.”

Tatianna only nodded. Emotions clogged her throat, and she could do nothing else.

Yefim glanced at Jolie but righted his gaze. “I’m sure we will be seeing more of each other. If there is any way for me to help, don’t hesitate.”

Tatianna smiled and waited till he was further away before she ushered Jolie to the side of the church, hiding behind a thick, wide column. Tatianna pulled a cigarette and lighter out of her purse and quickly lit it, taking a deep breath before sighing.

Jolie suppressed a smile. “I don’t think you’re supposed to smoke in here.”

Humor lit up Tatianna’s gaze as she stared at Jolie, taking in a deep drag. She could see why Adrik was smitten with Jolie. She always hoped her youngest son would find a woman just like her. Adrik was humorless, dispassionate about life, and had been so since birth. She knew Adrik had the potential to be Yakov’sshadow, even at a young age. So long as Yakov’s temper didn’t destroy it.

Tatianna dropped her eyes to the floor. Yakov had managed to hold back his temper against Adrik, but he never even tried with Alexei. Her poor little boy. Alexei never fit into the mafia life. If he had been born to normal parents, he would have been a rock climber or a hunter, living in a cabin in the woods with his dogs, a wife, and kids. She could see it every time she looked at him, his potential for happiness that was never fulfilled.

“Who is that guy?” Jolie tentatively asked, peeking out. Yefim shook hands and chatted as if he was familiar.

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