Page 65 of Embracing the Dark Side

Adrik was sweating beneath his black tux, the liquor and drugs in his system not helping him any. Tatianna looked back at him as she stepped on the stairs. She wanted him to go with her, but he couldn’t yet. He needed to get the family in order here before he began his pursuit of Katia. The duties of the family were chains, and no matter how much he yearned to be free of them, they clung tight, never to release him.

Adrik felt like half a person. It was as if a dull serrated knife cut him down in the middle, and he was bleeding and screaming, and no one was fixing it. Everything he was before was gone now. And there was no filling in the missing parts. He’d remain half alive till his brother and father were properly avenged.

Uncle Yefim stood beside him. Adrik had never gotten along with his bigoted uncle, but the old man proved himself. He was a powerful lawyer in Georgia who gotAdrik and Alexei free of all charges. He was one of many to whom Adrik was indebted. Debts were terrible things. At any time, those who aided him in the past week could come years from now and ask Adrik for a favor, and no matter what it was, he’d have to concede. It’s the only way favors worked in the family.

But Adrik just found out a secret Yefim’s been keeping.

Yefim cleared his throat. “There will be a meeting in five days with all the heads. I expect you there.”

Adrik pretended not to hear him. Yefim’s tone was too authoritative. If Adrik didn’t know any better, he’d think his uncle was telling him what to do.

“I hope you are not as impulsive as your father and have learned to compromise.”

“How’s your son?” Adrik questioned, offhand, but it was far from meaningless.

The pause was everything. Adrik would have been amused if he could feel anything.

“Kuzma overstepped,” Yefim admitted.

“Overstepped? Is that the new term for insurrection?”

Adrik’s brother-in-law Rurik called him this morning. Kuzma had tried to take control of the family in Russia while Adrik was in jail. He had almost been successful, allying himself with other family members and a few mafia families that always despised Yakov. Rurik had thwarted the attempt, and now Adrik was in debt to someone else. It was never-ending.

“I’ve dealt with him. It won’t happen again.”

“Then we are even.” Adrik had cleared one debt, but he hoped Yefim didn't think it meant it would be forgotten. For right now, he needed Yefim on his side. “I’m busy in five days. I will call the families together when I am ready.”

Yefim clenched his fists. “Understood. See you then.”

“Oh, and Uncle”—Adrik stepped up to the man—“I will be leaving for Russia soon, and I have decided to leave you in charge here. Make sureyoudon’toverstep. I am very low on forgiveness at the moment and have been solving problems without much thought.Impulsive, you might call it.”

Adrik turned and walked back to his car, feeling the weight of his uncle’s vehement stare. It brought him a little joy, annoying the man. Yefim walked away, diving into his limo and driving off. Fighting with family was never pleasant, but it was always necessary. If Yefim wanted to be Adrik’s second-in-command, then Adrik needed to trust him. Before, he didn’t understand why Yefim had helped him and his brother get out of prison, but now it made sense. It was self-interest. Thankfully, it gave Adrik an insight into Yefim’s weakness. If his uncle attempted to go behind his back, he’d string Kuzma up over a pyre and get the old man back in line.

Adrik brought his attention back to the plane. The doors closed, a finality to death, to hope. The engines roared, sparking the realization that Alexei would no longer be a phone call away. Failure was bitter on Adrik’s tongue and nearly choked him. All his life, he did everything he could to keep Alexei away from his father, to keep him safe, and in the end, it wasn’t his father that pulled the trigger.

What was the point?

Adrik’s walls began to slip. Filip lit a joint before passing it to him, and Adrik eagerly sucked in. The smoke filled his head, easing the ache of gravity a little. If he could risk it, he’d spend the days in a drug-induced coma till the worst of the pain healed, but there was too muchthat he needed to be mentally prepared for. His uncles were watching, hoping for him to slip up, to show signs that he could not take care of the family so they could file an injunction against him. If there were enough votes, they could decide to remove him. Never had this been done, and Adrik wasn’t going to be the first.

But he also didn’t know how to get through this sober. There was a small bag of cocaine in his pocket, calling his name.

Filip handed him a phone. An unfamiliar number showed up on the screen, but Adrik took it. “Who is this?”

There was a moment of silence, to the point where Adrik nearly handed it back, and then he heard, “Adrik?”

Adrik straightened. Thousands of cruel thoughts raced through his head, but nothing would be enough, not until he wrapped his hands around Gil’s throat and watched the life fade out of him. “Gil?” Adrik waved a hand, alerting all his soldiers, and they spread out around the car, searching for any odd movement. “Where are you?”

“He wasn’t—” A cry, a whine, a pathetic show of emotion. “He wasn’t supposed to get hurt.”

Adrik sneered as Gil sobbed into the speaker. How the fuck dare he have the audacity to cry to him? But Adrik played into his misery. “It was an accident,” Adrik conceded. “Mama will forgive you. Come home.”

“Do you think so?”

No, you stupid fuck.

“She wants to see you,” Adrik continued.

“I fucked up so bad.” The moan continued. “It hurts, man.”

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