Page 75 of Embracing the Dark Side

Jolie forced a tight smile and grabbed the envelope, pulling out the thick wad of paper inside. Each one contained a different payment, and Jolie choked with disbelief. “He’s paid off every debt.” She flicked through, finding her student loans, her car bill, her parents’ trailer, her parents’ cars, and all their credit cards.

Heather took the papers from her, shuffling through them. She was numb, handing each one off to her husband. Adrik paid thousands of dollars of debt, things they never imagined they’d be able to pay back in their lifetime. Heather struggled to speak when the realization came that she was now indebted to the Russian Mafia. And as she looked up at her daughter, seeing her oblivious grin, Heather knew nothing was going to be the same again.

Chapter thirty-six

Want

‘Returning late’ was an understatement. Jolie sat on his bed, curled under the covers. Tae-Tae sat on her lap, sound asleep despite the TV being on with all the lights. She had gotten used to sleeping like this; it was the only comfort she had during her time as Vincent’s prisoner. But something was missing.

Helina.

Jolie had taken the photo of Helina from the living room and put it on the nightstand. It was a pathetic attempt to not feel like she was missing a piece of her soul, but she wanted more. She wanted videos. She wanted to hear her voice. Vincent had left her with nothing.

Jolie wanted to know what Adrik was doing to get her back. She never thought to question, because she pretended it wasn’t any of her business, but if she was going to stay in his life, it was her business. Jolie had no intention of just being a bed warmer. She planned to be very active in Adrik’s life, to the point of being annoying.

A knock came, and quickly, David, her servant, entered. He hung up Adrik’s suit, covered in a black encasing, on the back of his door. Two maids came in behind him, vacuuming and brushing lint from the couches. They worked quickly, trying todo so without causing much distraction, but Jolie watched them anyway. “Is Adrik coming back?”

“Yes,” David answered. “We received word he’ll be here in the next ten minutes. Could I bring your cat back to your room, ma’am?” Jolie didn’t want to let go, but Tae-Tae’s food and litter box were in her room. She reluctantly handed him over. After the maids cleaned the bathroom, they departed, and Jolie sat in the emptiness, now more nervous than ever.

She had come up with a plan to gain Adrik’s trust back. And one of those was simple. She was going to be herself. Adrik hadn’t really gotten to see all of who she was. There wasn’t a lot of time back when they first started dating. But if she could show him what she could bring to the table, how she could provide for him, she didn’t doubt she could fix them. As Tatianna had said, she would fight in a way she knew how. She would never be a killer or knowledgeable in mafia politics, so she couldn’t help Adrik in that way. But she had other strengths, and she was positive he needed them.

Jolie popped to her feet when the door opened. She darted into the living room, pausing as she saw Adrik. He had his head pressed against the door, a fist curling around the fabric of his suit. “Adrik?”

He snapped around, all levels of weakness draining from him, and he straightened his back. “I didn’t know you were here.”

She gave a soft smile. “I thought I could stay now. Since your father…” Her words drifted; she was sorry she even said them. It was another brick on him with all that’s been going on. Jolie felt silly for expecting their relationship troubles to have any precedence in his life.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he quipped, and walked past her.

She sighed at his disregard but pushed, nonetheless. “Did you eat? Are you hungry?”

The door shut to the bathroom.

Jolie thought the struggle between them was getting better, or maybe she was hoping for no more punishment. The way he acted in front of her parents made her believe she was forgiven, but she should have known better. He knew how to pretend. Only here in the bedroom was he allowed to be his real self.

But that wasn’t true, was it? He changed when he knew she was there. He still had walls around him, and she didn’t know if she could break through them.

I won’t know until I try.

If she kept allowing him to push her away, it would become normal. And she didn’t want it to be. She needed to reinforce the idea that he could pretend with everyone else but be genuine with her.

Jolie opened the door. His shirt had been discarded, leaving him only in black pants. She could see all his interlocking tattoos, beautiful against the muscle of his biceps, but underneath the ink were telling signs of injuries. Yellow skin peeked out from in between tattoos from healing welts. He had his hands on the counter and a bowed head. A necklace dangled, with a ring attached to it. “Leave, Jolie.”

She approached him slowly and rested a hand on his back. “What happened?”

He clenched his teeth and met her gaze in the mirror. “Get undressed.”

“What?”

“How do I know you don’t have a wire on?”

Jolie knew what he was doing. It was a push tactic, a way to get her out of the room. But she was done with it. He was so used to manipulating; it was a natural reaction, but she was about to show him he wasn’t going to have his way anymore.

She took off her shirt. She was braless, and her breasts were exposed. She shoved her pants and panties down, stepping out of them. Then looked at him in the mirror, with a tight-knit smile.

Adrik met her gaze, showing her that nothing she exposed was what he wanted. “Get out.”

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