17. Reveal
Chapter seventeen
Reveal
Adrik leaned against the wall, smoking a joint. He watched with hooded eyes as Alexei fought two men. They were heavy hitters sent to kill by the current gang leader. Black and formidable they were, and Alexei was struggling. He hadn’t had to fight for his life in a while. This was street shit, peasant shit that they had gone through when they were young teens.
Alexei threw one over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground, grabbing his arm, and twisting. He could have broken it, but the other one swung with a knife. Alexei jumped back but got sliced across the chest.
Adrik stayed still, focusing on the smoke swirling in front of him. He couldn’t help, even as his body tensed to reach out. As the leader, there was no getting his hands dirty. He had to wait.
Joining the other inmates revealed to Adrik why they had been brought to Polk County Jail instead of Tampa. This place had a two-percent Russian populace, which was pitiable. It meant he’d have to gain followers organically instead of based on their race. It would be costly, and loyalty would be low, but he could do it, given time.
Time I don’t have .
Agent Mally had certainly done her research. To give him a warden who wouldn’t be bribed and to place him in jail where the Puerto Rican population was nearly half, she set him up for failure. The Toxins had twenty members here, and they were all as brutal as the next. Adrik hated street gangs. They focused more on violence and fear because they were too broke to barter.
The man with the knife swung again, and Alexei grabbed his wrist, twisting, and snatched the knife from his weak fingers. He slammed it into his opponent’s shoulder, immediately pulling it out again. The blood dripped from the blade as Alexei held it in front of him, daring them to approach.
Adrik glanced toward the guards watching through the barricade. The one on the left was one of the Warden’s bitches. Adrik made sure to remember their faces. When he won over this jail, they would be the first to know it.
The opponent on the ground kicked Alexei’s leg out, dropping him to his knee, but Alexei brought the knife down heavy, ready to impale it into his face.
“Stop,” Adrik ordered.
The knife was a centimeter away from the man’s eye.
Adrik flicked the butt of the joint, holding the smoke in as he kneeled down, his elbows on his knees, and he held his hands between his legs. Without his rings, he felt incomplete, but the tattoos of his family sigil remained on his skin, never to be removed, even in death. Adrik blew the smoke into the man’s face. “Tell your boss I want to meet.”
Shivering and staring at the tip of a blade, the man replied, “My boss doesn’t fuck with Putin lovers. ”
Adrik shifted, slipping a small white bag of cocaine into the man’s hand and folded his fingers around it. “We’ll see.”
Adrik and Alexei stood, leaving the two behind as they returned to Alexei’s cell. The Warden had been wise enough to keep them separated, but during the free period, they gravitated toward one another. Adrik sat on the bunk, groaning as he did so. He lifted his shirt, checking on his broken ribs. The bruises extended over his chest and back, but his tattoos hid most of the damage. If they were ever given the time to heal, it might not look so inflamed, but the guards were consistent, coming nearly every day.
Alexei stared at his brother from across the cell, arms crossed. He only had a few small bruises from his fight. The cut on his chest was just a scratch, hidden in the bulk of his orange jumper. “This is playground shit.” Alexei cursed. “Why even bother? We should focus on getting the fuck out of here.”
Adrik slowly stretched on the bed, holding his sides, suppressing a groan with a silent gasp. He panted heavily for a moment and then turned his attention to Alexei. “When we get out, the game will have changed. I can’t plan until I know what we will be playing with. We have to survive till then. Unless you’d rather fight every day we are here.”
“It helps. I need something to do, or I’ll go insane.”
Adrik agreed. It was hard not to give in to terrible thoughts. There was a clusterfuck of problems that bombarded every hour of the day. If he hadn’t practiced dealing with the stress of the Mafia, he’d never sleep, but Adrik had been dealing with this intense lifestyle for so long that he knew how to shut it off. And that’s what he’d been doing. Hours and hours of sleep, if only to escape it.
If he allowed even a sliver of fear to creep in, the doors would burst open and devour his mind.
Fears like what was happening to Helina.
To Jolie.
His blockade was slipping, and panic was building. Adrik quickly jabbed a finger into his broken rib, and a shot of shearing white pain pierced behind his eyes, blowing apart the thoughts in his head. He coughed and groaned.
“Those fucking guards,” Alexei sneered, watching his brother writhe in agony.
“It’s fine,” Adrik whispered. He didn’t want Alexei to go after them. It wasn’t time for revenge. That would come later. Right now, they needed to procure their place here.
“Morozov!” a guard yelled down the hall. “Phone call.”
Alexei reached down to help his brother to his feet. Adrik kept hold of his arm. “Don’t do anything while I’m gone.”
“Have faith, brother.” Alexei smiled, but Adrik didn’t move, pinning his eyes on him. A silent warning. Alexei rolled his eyes. “Relax. I can exist without you.”
Adrik nodded and moved out of the jail. “I can’t.”
Down the hall, a guard stood with a cell phone. He looked like a dad of four, slightly overweight and smelling of sweat. Adrik didn’t take it, suspecting some malicious reason for the guard to be willing to hand him contraband. “My brother’s in the family.”
Adrik hesitated only a moment more before he took up the phone. “What’s your brother’s name?”
“Jared Gusin. ”
"And yours?"
"Mark."
Adrik nodded. “I’ll take care of him.” Waiting until Mark walked away, Adrik put it to his ear. “What?”
“Hey,” Gil responded. “You okay?”
Pain drifted into his lungs as he took a breath. “Fine.” It was far from the truth, but it didn't matter.
Gil instantly assured him, “Helina’s okay.”
It twisted his gut that he had to hear about how his daughter was doing from a third party. Adrik wanted her voice, but he swallowed and nodded, thankful for the news.
“I found out something. And I want you to know that I double checked, and there is no lie here.”
“Just say it.”
Still hesitation. Adrik hardened himself against whatever it was. Whatever Katia did now, what did it matter? He was already in jail for murder.
“Jolie was working with the FBI.”
A hand hit the wall to steady him. Denial was the first thing, and he tried to defend her, going back through all their conversations, all the times she ever looked at him, and he could see nothing. She couldn’t have been that good of a liar. “I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t get joy out of telling you this. But I’ve been digging into Mally, and she used Jolie as an informant. Remember that pen your father found?”
Adrik ground his teeth, staring at the cracked wall beneath his hands, wondering if he pushed hard enough, the jail would come crashing down around him, and he’d be the one left standing. It can't be true. There has to be a misunderstanding. Adrik changed the subject. “What are you doing to save my daughter? ”
“Vincent isn’t budging. He won’t talk, and he won’t negotiate. I’ve been learning about him, too. Small town gang. Came from a run-down trailer in the same neighborhood as your girl. There’s too much connection, Adrik. What if she’s working with this guy? What if it wasn’t Katia who gave you up to the police?”
The words were empty. There wasn’t a part of him that believed Jolie could do something like that. She didn’t have a cruel bone in her body. But there were overwhelming implications that were weeding their way into his thoughts. What if her innocent attitude was all an act? Jolie had all these chances to run from him, and she hadn’t. The night he fucked her, she hadn’t shied away. Adrik felt her push into him as his cock buried inside her. She wanted more. Did that expose her?
“I’m sorry,” Gil’s voice came through. “I know it’s hard to hear. I’m thinking about going after her parents. Maybe see if that could get her to talk.”
“Leave it.”
“Adrik, she’s been fucking with you this whole time—”
“I said leave it. I’ll deal with her when I get out.”
“Sure.” Gil snorted.
The need to defend her breached his lips. “She wasn’t—”
“She played you, brother. She took down your empire with her goddamn pussy.”
Adrik punched the wall. “Shut the fuck up and listen to me. Focus on Vincent and Katia. Do you understand me? You owe me, and you better be fucking trying to make it up to me.”
“Why would it be Katia? Vincent stole her daughter! Think about it. Katia was leaving. She was going back to her family that night. She had no more need to take you down.”
More what ifs, more speculation. If he gave in to it, it’ll never stop.
“I gotta go,” Gil finally said. “Take care of Alexei.”
When the line clicked off, Adrik shoved the phone into his pocket and fell against the wall. The crippling thoughts were creeping again, and his strength was all but spent. Had Jolie betrayed him?