Embracing the Dark Side (Morozov Mafia #2)

11. Loss

Chapter eleven

Loss

Jolie slipped to the floor with her legs straight out in front of her and her hands in her lap. The world felt broken, like the aftermath of an earthquake. She didn’t trust the ground beneath her, fearful that at any moment it would break apart and suck her down. She didn’t know how to recover, what to do next, what was expected of her. The only thing she could think of was Adrik’s face as he lay on the floor, pinning her as if he knew she was at fault for this.

Helina’s crying was pulling her from her stupor. She blinked and searched around. The crowd was clearing out. Condolences were given as they passed the grieving parents like a funeral procession. Katia stood behind them, holding Helina in her arms and rocking her. She dabbed her eyes with a napkin in a pathetic attempt at grief.

When the door finally closed, Yakov turned toward the guards and servants left behind. There was a split between them, Yakov’s soldiers on one side and Adrik’s on the other. The tension between them was shifting. Who did they listen to now that their leader was taken? But like every good soldier, it was all about who paid the most .

One by one, they turned their attention to Yakov. “I want an explanation. I don’t care who you have to kill, maim, torture. Find out what the police know.” The group scattered, most heading out the door while others pulled out their phones and dispersed throughout the house.

Katia nodded as if she was part of the team and shifted toward the stairs.

“Wait.”

Katia turned to him, keeping Helina tight in her arms.

Using her daughter as a shield, Jolie thought.

Yakov instructed, “You are to stay in your room till I call for you.”

“Adrik promised me I could go home.”

“Adrik isn’t here, and I promised you nothing.”

Katia was about to fight but was interrupted by a knock on the door. And if Jolie wasn’t watching her every move, she wouldn’t have caught the smile Katia quickly suppressed.

The door opened, and a voice called out, “Knock, knock! Is anybody home?”

Jolie’s mouth fell open as Vincent stepped in.

“Who are you?” Yakov asked.

A smirk shifted on Vincent’s lips, and like a tsunami crashing into the house, Vincent’s gang flooded into every nook and cranny, slipping into hallways and doorways. With guns in hand, fifty of them traveled through the house.

And then there was rapid gunfire.

Jolie clamped her hands over her ears, screaming as she lay on the floor. The gunshots vibrated the floor like thunder, a machine gun ripping through the walls and sending shards of glass and debris flying .

But it was quick. Over in seconds, not much longer than the shootout at Salem’s. Jolie didn’t move, didn’t open her eyes, reliving the trauma of the body she saw and the quiver of the little girl in her arms.

Helina.

Jolie whipped her head up, searching for her. She was whimpering in her mother’s arms, burying her face in Katia’s neck, with her grandparents wrapping their arms around both till the violence was over.

Vincent stood just a few feet away, with his hands behind his back, grinning. He scanned the room, pausing when he saw her. His smile faltered only briefly before he tore his attention from her. “Get them up,” Vincent ordered. “Get their phones and weapons.”

A team of soldiers bombarded the Morozov family. Tatianna, Yakov, Katia, and Helina were huddled into a circle but torn apart as the gang members patted them down and swiped any items they found, tossing them into a pile on the table. The shattered centerpieces crunched at their feet. Lights flickered, and ripped curtains waved like torn flags on a bloody battlefield.

“Who the fuck are you?” Yakov bit.

Vincent approached and stood in front of him. The silence forced all of Jolie’s attention on them as she waited for Vincent to give a reason for this massacre. Yakov was unafraid, daring almost, and for a moment, Jolie felt assured that there was nothing to worry about.

With a sudden jerk, Vincent had his gun against Yakov’s forehead and fired. Blood sprayed the tables behind him and his body slammed hard into the ground, bouncing before it was still.

Jolie jumped and scrambled to sit up, trying to push herself into the wall behind her. Tatianna screamed, falling on Yakov and calling his name. Her gut-wrenching wails echoed in the quiet, and Jolie squeezed her hands over her ears, trying to dull the painful sound.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Katia hissed.

The words broke through Jolie’s conscience, pulling her back to the surface. Katia stood unafraid and confident, almost like she was a part of Vincent’s team. She held Helina’s head against her shoulder, keeping her from seeing anything. “This wasn’t part of the arrangement.”

Dread doused Jolie. Katia had used her ex-boyfriend to take out Adrik’s family. In all the conversations Jolie and Kaita had, Katia only tried to get information out of her. There had been no desire for friendship the entire time. Jolie inadvertently helped destroy the Morozov line.

“I didn’t like your arrangement.” Vincent shrugged with indifference. “So, I made my own.”

“I got you out of prison. You signed a contract!”

“I said I would help you take down Adrik.” He looked around. “I think they’re down. But it didn’t say what I could do afterward. I’m taking charge.”

She scoffed, sneering, “You are a street-level gang. You cannot compete with the Russian Mafia. Leave now.” Katia stepped forward. “Before my family gets here.”

Vincent looked around again, perhaps thinking of his next step. His gaze landed on Jolie, lingering long enough that Katia looked over at her, and their eyes met. The heat of betrayal was embarrassing. Adrik told her time and time again not to trust Katia, and Jolie thought he was biased because of their relationship. Now she saw Katia for the monster that she was.

“Put the kid down.” Vincent turned back to Katia, raising his gun .

The movement struck fear in Jolie, and she scrambled to her feet. It didn’t matter that Katia deserved her fate. Helina did not.

Her movement alerted the guards, who hastened to grab her.

“Hold up,” Vincent ordered, watching her with humor in his hazel eyes. “Let her come. But check her over first. She’s a little unpredictable.” A guard felt along her body, and she glared at him. She prayed they wouldn’t find her phone, but inevitably, they pulled it from her sleeve and put it with the rest.

Jolie approached, stepping around the guards who watched her. None of them appeared familiar. They were all Spanish, with face tattoos, black clothes, and armor.

Jolie moved in front of Katia, facing Vincent. He shifted the gun just an inch so that the barrel wasn’t directed at her. She didn’t understand how the boy she used to date in high school had become this extreme. The famous quarterback of the football team was now no more than a criminal. Everything about him was off, from the ugly tattoos ruining his face to the bulging muscles of his chest. The eighteen-year-old she had fallen in love with had become a violent dumb jock.

But she always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. And though she had just seen Vincent murder in cold blood, she still had a sliver of hope that the boy she used to care for was here. “Please, stop this.”

Vincent clenched his teeth. “Stay out of this, JoJo.”

“This isn’t who you are.”

“Oh, mami,” he patronized. “You never knew who I was.”

“I won’t let you hurt them. ”

Vincent studied her. It wasn’t unlike Jolie to intervene when she saw something unjust. But she was on the wrong side of this. “I have no plans to kill the women. Tatianna and Katia, a car is waiting outside to take you wherever you want.”

Katia stumbled. “No, my daughter—”

“Is going to stay with me.” Vincent backed up and motioned for the guards. They approached like sentinels, latching onto Katia and Helina with no regard for their screams or how they clung to each other. Jolie tried to stop it, hanging on their arms, but she was taken around the waist and pulled away.

Another guard lifted Tatianna to her feet. She was crying and whimpering, reaching for Yakov, but they pushed her toward the entrance. Katia’s screams continued, fighting, feral, reaching for Helina’s outstretched arms. Jolie’s heart broke, and she shouted at Katia, “I’ll protect her!” Helina wouldn’t stop slapping and screeching, and the guards were getting annoyed. “Let me take her. Give her to me. Please!” With a glance to Vincent, they waited for approval before letting the little girl dive into Jolie’s arms. Jolie squeezed her with all her might, whispering reassuring words as she ran a hand through her blonde curls.

The door shut, and the silence echoed in her ears—until Vincent hollered, “We got a new home, boys!”

Jolie sat in front of the cake table, now riddled with bullets, with Helina’s head hiding in her neck. She watched the band of monsters cheer, waving their guns in the air like pirates having successfully overtaken a ship. And she: their stolen treasure.