Embracing the Dark Side (Morozov Mafia #2)

19. SinkSwim

Chapter nineteen

Sink or Swim

“Polk County Correctional Facility. How can I help you?”

Jolie sat on the toilet, with the door locked and the shower running. Vincent had given her the phone last week, and she had caught up with her parents. But now, she was taking a significant risk. Her heart pounded as she whispered, “Hi, I’m looking for someone. I was wondering if you could help me.”

There was an exasperated sigh from the operator, knowing already what she was going to ask. “You have to wait for them to call you. Inmates can’t take personal phone calls.”

“But he doesn’t have my number.”

“Write a letter.”

Jolie groaned. She had a feeling that was going to be the answer. To send a letter to Adrik would be impossible. Everything she did was monitored.

Then the answer hit her. Jolie hung up and found her mother’s number, but she hesitated.

Her mother had learned about Adrik. She saw a news report, and then, with a fast Google search, there were no more secrets from her. Jolie called her the moment she got the phone, desperate for her mother’s love, but instead, all she received was disappointment.

Since then, phone calls have been sparse.

“Momma, I need a favor.”

“Oh,” Heather sneered. “You need a favor.”

Jolie sighed, exhausted already.

“Well, I need a favor,” Heather responded. “I need you to get your head out of the clouds and be a responsible adult. I need you to use your brain. I don’t know where I went wrong with you. How could you think that he would be a good husband? A good father? Can you imagine what life is like for his child?”

Jolie knew exactly what life was like for his child. And it burned her that she couldn’t fight against her mother’s righteous speech.

“You are so smart and so beautiful. You don’t need to settle. You can have it all, Jolie. Why do you date these men who do terrible things? Doesn’t that matter to you? Doesn’t God matter to you?”

“Enough!” Jolie snapped, “I don’t have time to listen to you complain. I know what I’ve done. And I’d do it again. This isn’t like Vincent.”

There was a pause before Heather whispered, “I feel like I don’t even know you.”

It stung, and tears burned the back of her eyes. She never wanted to disappoint her parents, but there’s always been a part of her that didn’t want to be perfect. Living up to their expectations was exhausting. With Adrik, she felt like she could slip from that facade, and he’d still want her.

“Did you hear about the fire in downtown this morning?” The change of subject was a peace offering, but Jolie didn’t care to latch onto it. This wasn’t something that was going to go away. “It’s terrible. A whole block, gone.” Jolie had seen it and could see the black smoke from her window, but she said nothing, sitting in silence. Heather huffed. “You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”

Jolie sighed. “Tell you what?”

“That Vincent’s out. Think I wasn’t paying attention?”

Her shoulders sank. There were only so many lies she could tell. And every lie felt like a brick on her back. “I didn’t know.”

“Sure. Has he tried to talk to you?”

Her back broke, but instead of pain, instead of coming clean, Jolie latched onto anger. “Are you afraid he’ll tell me what you did? How you stole every letter? How you denied every call?”

Heather scoffed. “You did know. I knew he’d go right back to you.” It was a mumble, a bitter, breathless whisper. And then she strengthened her stance. “I’m sorry, but in my defense, Vincent robbed a bank at gunpoint. Did you honestly think there was a future there? Do you honestly think Adrik’s going to get out? They are charging him with murder!”

“It doesn’t matter! Listen to me. It wasn’t your right to keep Vincent’s letters from me. I spent months blaming myself, thinking he hated me. It took years to get over him because there was never any closure. Maybe if you let me solve it, I’d have figured it out myself. Instead, I was bullied out of my town, and everything they said I thought was true. That wasn’t fair, momma.”

“Yes, I’m such a terrible mother for wanting you away from a bank robber.”

“That’s not the point. You’re not listening!”

There was silence between them, each holding fast to their side. Jolie had never needed her mother more, and now she felt that even this one little piece of solace had been taken from her. She was on her own. It broke something inside her, numbing her.

“Well, I want to see you,” her mother demanded. “We can talk in person because I don’t know what’s happening, and I need you to explain it to me step by step. I need to know you’re okay.”

Jolie wiped a cold tear off her face. She wanted to tell her mother what was happening, but Heather would go to the police, and Jolie couldn’t risk it. She needed to stay here for Helina.

“I’ll see when I can get time off.” She had told her mother she was still working at the Morozov residence with Adrik’s wife. It was an easy lie because it was easy to believe. Jolie never wanted to be good at lying, but it was becoming a talent. “Please, I need you to write a letter.”

The door pushed open, and her mother’s disgusted response sounded like it was underwater as Jolie stared at Vincent. His hands were in the pockets of his khaki pants. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Jolie stammered. “I have to go.”

“I’m not done talking—”

Jolie hit the end button. She didn’t know what to do, so she remained seated there, frozen.

“I’m disappointed.”

Jolie quickly assured, “I didn’t tell her anything.”

He leaned against the doorway. “Who are you sending a letter to?”

Jolie struggled to swallow. He had only heard half of the conversation. She didn’t know if anything she had said gave her away, and she took her time with her lie, shutting off the shower before answering. “Helina wants to send a letter to her mother. ”

Vincent’s gaze dropped down to her chest, and Jolie slapped her arms over her chest. She was in her pajamas and wasn’t wearing a bra. He sighed, crossing his arms, bored of her lies already. “Why not ask me?”

“Can she?”

Vincent chuckled, finding her attempt at innocence humorous. “Give me the phone.”

Jolie hesitated, unwilling to give it up that easily, but she couldn’t think of a reason to convince him. She dropped it in his palm, but Vincent gripped her hand before she could pull away, sparking a fear. But it was only for fun. He chuckled as he let go. She despised it, and snapped, “It’s been two weeks. Helina misses her family. If you won’t let her talk to her mother, can she at least talk to her grandma? She’s been behaving.”

Vincent slipped the phone in his pocket before he walked away, throwing over his shoulder, “I think it’s time I find someone else to care for Helina.”

Helina sat watching TV, with the cats snuggled in her lap. The little girl looked at her, concern on her brow, but Jolie held up a hand, telling her to stay. She snatched a robe off the back of the door before rushing out after him. “Vincent, please, wait!”

He ignored her, heading down the stairs. Jolie gripped the railing to stop her knees from giving out. “I want to stay.”

Vincent turned to her, looking up. He was going to yell at her for coming out dressed as she was, but the robe relieved him. “Who’d you call?”

“My mother.”

“That’s it? ”

He was fishing for another answer because he already knew. This was a test. Jolie licked her lips, unwilling to take a risk. “The Polk County Jail.”

Vincent nodded, proud she finally told the truth. But he turned from her, annoyed that she was still trying to reach that jackass of a human being. He went outside, lighting a cigarette, approaching the pool’s edge. Smoke and ash were still affecting the air outside, and the white plume continued to rise in the distance from the fire downtown. They were short-staffed today, as many of his men lived in the area and went to check on their families and properties. The Morozovs owned two buildings in the fire, and a dozen phone calls had come in, but he didn’t give a shit about it. What’s one block to the Morozov Empire?

Jolie was right on his heels, begging. “Please. I won’t screw up again. I promise.”

Vincent didn’t want to send her away, but it was becoming a necessity. As Vincent got deeper into leading this family, he had to leave the house more often. When he wasn’t here, there were too many things he couldn’t control, like his men’s actions. Anytime he heard one of them talk about her, he broke in with exaggerated stories about her lack of skills in the bedroom. But some of these men took it as a challenge to train her.

Santiago was sitting at a round table, playing poker. But he slapped the cards down and got up. Vincent eyed him, blowing smoke in his direction. There were dozens of their people on this deck. If Santi tried him, he’d have to follow through with his threat. He didn’t want to kill his cousin. Santi knew more about the operations of crime than he did. But he wasn’t going to go back on his word .

“Came out of your tower today, huh?”

Jolie glanced at him. Plenty of words were on her lips, but she didn’t dare say them. His bruises had faded, but a scar over his brow remained. The ill feeling in her gut only increased as he approached.

Santiago reached out to touch her hair, and Jolie flinched back. “Don’t touch me.”

He chuckled. “You scared of me, mami?” Santiago leaned in, his foul breath hitting her. “You should be.”

The crowd quieted, lingering in the silence, thirsty for more of a show. Jolie kept her head down. She shouldn’t have come out of her room. She sunk into herself, trying to become smaller.

Vincent turned to Santiago, silent, steady, blowing smoke in his face. His cousin flicked his eyes to him, only for a second, before he backed up. “Let her go for a swim, cousin. The boys need a little entertainment.” Santi sat down again and took up his cards. The men around them eagerly agreed. Vincent fisted his hands, but Santiago didn’t care. “You made it clear she can’t be touched. But that doesn’t mean she can’t be looked at. Does it?”

It was deceptive but targeted. Santiago knew what he was doing. Vincent couldn’t deny something as minor as their request. He should never have let her out of her room.

Vincent turned to Jolie. “You want forgiveness? Go swimming.”

“What?”

Vincent smirked, shrugged, and appeared careless, despite the burning in his gut. “Take off your clothes and go swimming.”

The panic in her eyes nearly broke him. But there was only so much he could do. His power came from the people he managed. Without them, he was nothing. He needed their cooperation. And if watching her swim earned him their respect, it was a small sacrifice.

Vincent leaned into her, his fingers sliding hair behind her ear—the action Santiago wanted to do but was denied. “Trust me,” he said.

Jolie flicked her eyes back and forth as she watched him go to his friends. ‘Trust me,’ he said just before he had robbed a bank. ‘Trust me,’ he said when he got caught cheating. ‘Trust me,’ he said when they had snuck out of the house.

So many memories flooding back in. It was done on purpose, but she doubted the effect it had on her was what he wanted. He was hoping to ignite nostalgia and sentiments. But instead, it brought regret. Because she had trusted him, and he failed time and time again.

All around her were strangers, men that eyed her with a lust that disgusted her. There were only two men who had ever seen her naked. She couldn’t do what he was asking. Her body trembled as she held herself, shaking her head, ready to deny him. “Please,” she whispered, almost reaching out, wanting to, because some part of her still believed he wouldn’t put her at such risk. Part of her still wanted him to be a better person.

“Maybe she needs some incentive,” Santiago decided. “Go get the kid.”

“No! Wait.”

Jolie dug her nails into her skin. Vincent was never the man she wanted. He failed at so many things, and one of the main ones was expectation. He couldn’t live up to her needs, because he was weak. She was always second. Never worth the sacrifice .

Perhaps that’s why it meant so much to her that Adrik was willing to give up so much to be with her. Because of that, Jolie was willing to give something up in return. She was going to stay with Helina. No matter the cost. “If I do this, can I stay?”

Vincent shrugged. “Depends on how well you swim.” A playful smile teased his lips. “Should have taken me up on all those offers to teach you, huh?”

Jolie tugged the knot off her belt, and the robe dropped to her feet. Vincent leaned his arms back on the table, clenched his teeth, and stayed silent. He weighed the pros and cons of allowing this to play through, and there was no winning. When she gripped the edge of her shirt, he dug his nails into the table.

Jolie was fueled by determination. She wasn’t going to lose Helina. With that, she closed her eyes and yanked her shirt over her head, exposing her breasts to the air. Whistles, clapping, and laughter went through the crowd like a wave. She took a deep, steady breath before opening her eyes, keeping them trained on the pool. She wasn’t going to look at Santiago or Vincent or any one of these assholes. They weren’t there in her mind. She was alone on the pool deck, just going for a swim.

Except I hate swimming.

With another swift inhale, she pushed her pants down, leaving only her panties.

“All of it.” Santiago insisted, intensely observing. “We want all of it, don’t we, boys?”

Jolie met Vincent’s gaze. But she chastised herself for it and dropped her eyes to the ground. She wasn’t going to find safety in his face. She wasn’t going to use him as a crutch. He was nothing. She was in a room full of enemies, and the only way to survive was to give them what they wanted.

Jolie slipped out of her underwear.

“Oh, shit!” A yell echoed through the crowd. Another man meow ed while another groaned loudly. All the sounds were sickening, and Jolie would have given anything to punch them in the face.

Santiago sat back. “I get you, Vinny. I see you.” He cackled, slapping his cousin on the back. “She waitin’ for somebody. Ain’t you, mami? All nice and shaved. Damn.”

The humiliation was suffocating, and her body felt hot. Jolie still believed Adrik would come to her rescue any day and naively, she wanted to be ready for him, not in a sexual way, but in a way that said she never doubted. It was silly, shaving and she felt stupid now for doing it.

Jolie shivered, and her muscles ached from the tension. She stared at the water, imagining how Katia would handle the situation. The woman would walk down the pool steps like she was fully dressed and ready for war. There would be no fear.

Jolie put her foot in the water. It was warm from the Florida sun. Even halfway through October, the heat was unrelenting.

She pushed herself across the pool, trying not to doggy paddle, but as she got to the deep end, she barely managed to reach the edge without sinking.

They were laughing and circling around the pool when Jolie choked on water. She let herself sink. She allowed the water to completely erase her, and the darkness and dullness helped. Adrik would have never allowed this. It’s how she knew her mother was wrong. Vincent did things to impress others. Adrik needed to impress no one; just by existing, he was what every man wanted to be .

Jolie gripped the edge of the pool as she moved toward the steps. The foul words from the men around her filled her belly with terror. She kept her eyes on her clothes, pushing herself toward them, knowing she was going to run when she got to the steps. But they would catch her, wouldn't they?

It doesn't matter, I have to try.

There was no assurance anymore that Vincent would stand in their way. It was clear he had limited control over the gang that surrounded her. It was Santiago who kept them in line. She could feel the weight of his gaze as he followed her every move until he waited on the other side of the stairs. She had no choice but to climb, naked and dripping wet.

Jolie begged to pass by without him trying to touch her, but Santiago grabbed her the moment her foot touched the concrete and had her back pressed against his chest. He held her tight, groaning into her neck.

"What a fucking waste. Why aren't we using her again? I'm confused. She's a fucking liar and a narc. You know what they do to narcs in prison, mami?" He pressed his lips against her ear. "Nasty things. Things you never even thought of." Santiago pinched her nipple hard, making her cry out. It only got a bunch of laughs.

Jolie closed her eyes, breathing heavily out of her nose. Katia. What would Katia do? But the fear was overtaking her. She wasn't Katia. She wasn't a wife in the mafia. She was a stupid schoolteacher, and she wasn't made for this.

"Please," she whimpered. "Let me go."

"Let you go?" He laughed, looking around at his friends. "Should we let her go?"

They cackled and hollered 'no,' a repeated chorus from the twenty that surrounded her.

It was a last-ditch effort when Jolie focused on Vincent. He stood stiff and still, trying to remain impassive, but if Jolie could see him struggling, so could Santiago.

"Let her go," Vincent ordered.

Santiago knitted his brow. "Oh? Why should I?"

Vincent couldn't believe Santi would so openly disobey him. He didn't know what to do. There were so many against him. Their lust blinding reason. They turned into wolves, capable of anything.

But he was a wolf, too.

Vincent pulled out his gun, pointing it at Santiago's head, but the man was too close to Jolie. He was a good shot, but not that good. "Let her go."

A scoff passed his lips. "Are you serious, Cousin? What do you think your dad is going to say about this? Huh? You still hung up on this bitch? Tell us the truth now."

Another gang member, some fucking asshole Vincent couldn't remember, came up beside Santigo, laughing, reaching, "Give her to me. I'll show her a good time."

Vincent fired, and the man dropped dead beside them with a bleeding hole in his head.

The mood shifted. Everyone took a step back. Vincent pointed the gun at random people, and their heads bowed, and they cowered. The control was back in his hands, but he couldn't believe how close he came to losing it.

Santiago's smile fell. "You want to shoot me? She gave you five years in hell, Vinny. Why the fuck are you so blind?"

"I'm fucking her."

Santiago cackled. "No, you ain't." He gripped Jolie's chin and asked in English, "You fucking him? Huh? You suck his dick?"

Jolie's wide, wild eyes stayed on Vincent. Why would Santiago ask that? What was the significance? She searched Vincent for the answer, and he stared back at her, his teeth clenched and his gun steady. That damn 'trust me' kept repeating in her head. When had it ever played out well for her? Vincent constantly failed her, but it didn't mean he didn't try. And her terrible habit of giving the benefit of the doubt crept in. “Y-Y-Yes.”

He shoved Jolie, and Vincent caught her. She nearly collapsed in relief, but he forced her to move, wrapping her up in the robe. Once she was covered, Vincent let her fall to her knees.

Santiago sneered at the level of care. "You're fucking pathetic."

Vincent ran up to him, pressing the barrel against his head. "I should fucking kill you."

"But you can't," Santi whispered back. "You're a dumbass, Vinny. You're gonna get us all killed. Stop playing house with that slut and fix this shit. The Stephanovs are threatening to invade us, and you're so fucking concentrated on that bitch, you don't see reason."

"I'm doing everything I can."

"It's not enough. Drop her and pay fucking attention before we burn." Santiago waved to the group of men, and everyone followed the order as if he were in charge.

Vincent was left alone on the pool deck, with Jolie kneeling on the floor behind him. She was trembling, clenching the fabric of her robe with white knuckles. He looked down at her as she looked up. Her fear disgusted him. What the hell was she doing in this world if she couldn't handle a little sexual harassment? He walked away. It was time to get Jolie out of there and somehow get Santiago off his back before he lost all control. This mafia shit was more trouble than it was worth.