The Dark Side: A Mafia Romance Thriller (Morozov Mafia Series Book 1)

25. Logical

Adrik didn”t know what to say. Jolie wasn”t speaking. She sat shivering for the first ten minutes and was now staring out the window, too quiet.

Having a gang come up on him in the middle of a bowling alley wasn”t something he wanted her to experience for their first date. It had been going so well up till that point. He was sure he could get her to ignore his mafia life and simply surrender to the attraction growing between them. And now, all he did was reinforce her fears. Any advancement in their relationship was looking more as an impossibility. He should just give up.

Maybe it was the mafia in him, but he refused to do so.

”You suck at bowling, by the way,” Adrik cut into the silence.

Jolie snapped her head toward him. He met her gaze, humor dancing in his eyes, hoping to weasel her out of the bubble she put herself in. And though it took a minute, a soft smile danced on her lips. ”Not one of my skills.”

He grinned, reaching for her hand. She allowed it, and he tied his fingers in with hers. Such a simple action that he wanted to do every day.

”Does that happen often?” Jolie finally wondered.

”No,” Adrik admitted, wishing to change the subject, but he couldn”t. He needed to explain. ”I didn”t know that bowling alley was tied with any gang. But there aren”t many neutral places. Everything I own is tied in with my father. Someone would report back to him.”

She paused as those words rolled in her head before she whispered, ”And you can”t be seen with me. Because your father will hurt me.”

Adrik clenched the steering wheel. ”I won”t let him.”

”He told me to stay away from you. Both of you.”

He nodded, more out of frustration. His father was a gnat that wouldn”t get out of his face. Yakov saw everything as a threat. Even someone as harmless as Jolie was dangerous to his empire. When Adrik was younger, he thought his father was smart to see the world as an enemy. But now, he realized it was a weakness to be afraid of everything.

”You should slow down,” Jolie whispered, squeezing his fingers to get his attention. He was nearly over a hundred, lost in his head somewhere.

Sirens kicked up behind them, and Adrik cursed, stealing his hand from hers to grab his phone. As he pulled over, he texted someone before dropping it in his lap. Resting his head back in his seat, he stared at the roof. This night kept getting worse. Adrik glanced at Jolie and gave an accusing look. ”You jinxed us.”

Playful outrage burst on her face.

Adrik rolled down the window as the police officer came to the window. ”Step out of the car, please.”

Adrik looked at the man with an odd expression. ”Good evening, officer. How is your night?”

”You were speeding in a construction zone.” He gestured to the one orange cone half a mile down the road. ”Get out of the vehicle and put your hands on the hood.”

Adrik tapped a finger on his thigh. Being arrested was not in his best interest, but running with Jolie in the car wasn”t ideal. He looked at Jolie and the panic on her face. He would have to play nicely. ”Stay in the car.” Adrik got out with his hands up, knowing the routine well enough. ”I have a gun and a permit to carry.” As the police officer felt him up, removing his weapon, Adrik watched his movements, studying him. ”Officer Jameson,” he read his nametag. Adrik didn”t know Pasco’s police as well as Tampa’s, but most were corruptible, if not corrupted already. But Adrik knew the signs to look for, and this man was determined to do his job well. ”New to the force?” The new ones always had the attitude to save the planet. The drive would fade in ten years, and that”s when people like Adrik snagged them for personal gain.

The officer didn”t like the insinuation and shoved him down on the hood of his car. Adrik chuckled but took it with grace. He wasn”t going to lose his temper on a police officer. It typically wasn”t worth the aftermath. When the officer removed his wallet and took out his ID, a foreign name was read back to him. But Adrik responded to ”Mr. Judds,” nonetheless.

A black SUV squealed their brakes beside them. The police officer put his hand on his gun, turning to the car while keeping his other hand on Adrik”s back. Jolie was wide-eyed, terrified of what was happening. But out of the SUV was Adrik”s police friend Morgan, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

”Get back in your car,” the officer warned.

Morgan held up his hand with his badge at the ready. ”I”m the chief officer for Tampa Police.”

”Tampa? You don”t have any jurisdiction here.”

Morgan glanced wearily at Adrik, “Boss, you okay?”

”Perfect,”the sarcastic reply came muffled against the hood of the car. This wasn”t the first time he dealt with law enforcement, and it wouldn”t be the last. It never bothered him much before, but with Jolie watching the scene unfold, he was pissed.

”Can we please talk, Officer Jameson?”

There was a silent pause before the man said, ”Let me put him in the car.”

Morgan rushed forward. ”No, no, no, friend, you don”t want to do that. Let”s talk. Please, please, let”s talk.” As Morgan led the other officer away, Adrik stood, flexing his back muscles. He caught Jolie”s deer eyes through the windshield, and he winked, smirking. It took her a minute before a giggle broke out, and she covered her face with her hands.

Jolie didn”t need to be told what was happening. He was getting away with an arrest so effortlessly it was ridiculous. It was another example of the power he had. He was a god here, with friends in valuable places. So, not only did he have money to move the world, but he had connections that made anything possible. He was magnificent.

It made her realize he could actually protect her against his father. But then the question wasn”t if he could. It was, would he?

It took two minutes for the officer to come back and uncuff him. ”This is bullshit,” the man admitted. ”I”m gonna talk to my superior about this. Don”t think I”m not coming back.”

Adrik nodded as he rubbed his wrists. ”Do you like your job?”

The officer sneered, ”Yes.”

”Then, let this go, and I will, too,” Adrik said, spitefully slapping him on the arm as he passed. He got into his car and slammed the door. He looked at Jolie, ignoring the officer as he cursed and stomped back to his vehicle. ”Do you like gelato?”

Jolie huffed. She couldn”t believe him. All of this was normal to him. An inconvenience, yes, but typical. What was she doing here with him? This was too insane. She didn”t reply, staying in her thoughts as Adrik spoke with Morgan in Russian, keeping her solely out of the conversation. Not that she was paying attention to any of it.

Jolie clicked off the pen and thought about throwing it out the window. She fully understood what kind of man Adrik was, and being against him wasn”t a wise place to get caught in. Her heart pounded like a drum in a rock band, thumping harder than she could handle.

This was a mistake.

After Adrik began driving again, Jolie found her voice. ”What am I doing here, Adrik?”

Adrik rested his head back against the seat. He clenched his teeth, unsure what he was supposed to say. It wasn”t common for him to date. He fucked and walked away. Being in a relationship wasn”t anything he wanted, but here he was, attempting to start one.

Adrik turned the car down the road, finding an empty parking lot in a half-finished construction site. Out here, away from the city, there were many places to get lost and go unnoticed. He could only imagine how many bodies were buried out here. How many he had killed.

It was a full moon, and they were illuminated even though there wasn”t a streetlight around. He stopped the car and got out. His bodyguards kept in a distant vehicle, shutting off their lights. They had wisely stayed back when he was being accosted by the police officer. They knew better than to murder law enforcement.

Adrik opened Jolie”s door, held out his hand, and waited. She needed to learn to trust him, and though she was confused, she put her hand in his.

Jolie rested against the car, with her head down, as he stood in front of her. ”I like you,” she whispered. ”But I don”t know if I can do this.”

Her admittance to how she felt was all he needed.

Adrik stepped into her space, a foot between her legs. A hand rested on her hip as the other traced the curve of her jaw before resting under her chin, forcing her head up. She almost refused to meet him, but he was insistent. He needed to see what was reflected in her face.

When her brown eyes finally met him, the desire was too pronounced to be overlooked. All these things that they worried about didn”t matter. He wanted her, and she wanted him. It was intuitive. It was instinct.

Adrik leaned down, brushing his lips against hers in the gentlest of touches. So soft, it was barely there. Again, he kissed her, just enough to entice her. And when she pushed herself up on her toes, pressing her lips in desperation against his, he devoured her. He pressed her against the car, her lips tangled against his. The darkness made them appear as one shadow; no space separated them. Her hands were on his shoulders, gripping his shirt. Adrik took hold of her hips, lifting her, and her legs wrapped around his waist. A moan escaped her mouth when she felt his excitement, his desire for her unprotected, hard against her. The kiss was everything she dreamed of and more.

But then she broke from him. ”No.” She weaseled out of his hold. ”No, you can”t touch me,” she said as she backed away. ”That”s not fair.”

Adrik ground his teeth in disappointment, his fingers dancing across his lips. He rarely dealt with being turned down; it was a bat to his pride. Adrik stepped back, putting even more space between them. He wasn”t a pathetic pubescent boy who couldn”t control himself. If she wanted space, she”d get a whole mountain of it.

”I”m not the type of girl that just sleeps with anyone. I”m not a one-night stand.”

Adrik knew this and would have been insulted, but his reputation preceded him. There was no doubt she knew about his past. Katia was more than willing to reveal all his flaws.

”You can”t be seen with me, because you don”t want your father to find out. We came hours away just to see each other. Gang members kicked us out of a bowling alley. You evaded arrest! That”s insane to me.”

Adrik let her rant. He realized it was a lot to take in for someone like her. There was little he could say to help her accept it.

Jolie groaned. ”You”re married, Adrik.”

Adrik acknowledged how it looked, but she didn”t understand what happened between Katia and himself. There would never be reconciliation.

”Are you having sex with her?”

”No. I haven”t touched her in years.”

Though there was slight relief, she didn”t quite believe it. Jolie crossed her arms, her thumb going to her lips to nibble on her nail in obvious worry. ”You”re a criminal.”

Adrik brows knitted. “Am I?”

She scoffed. ”Don”t be an ass.”

”I don”t follow the nonsensical rules of your corrupt government. So what?”

”I don”t even have a speeding ticket.” She laughed at the ridiculousness of her statement.

”Neither do I.” He smirked.

Jolie eyed him, not humored at all at his attempt to joke. She swung around, walking away, and then came back with wide eyes. ”How is this supposed to work? Am I supposed to be hidden away? What kind of life is that? What kind of future?” She slipped her hands into her crazy hair. ”This just sounds impossible. We”re just too different.”

Adrik was disappointed, watching her. All her words, all her fears—they were so trivial in the scheme of things. He liked her. He wanted her in his life. All these things she talked about could be worked out eventually, but she was focused entirely on how it could never be. If she couldn”t even get past the beginning, there was no way she”d make it to the end.

She isn”t strong enough.

”I”ll have you returned home.”

”What?” Jolie stepped toward him as he went for the car door.

”I”ll find someone else to tutor Helina. And you can go back to your stuffed animals and cats.”

Jolie pressed against the door so he couldn”t open it. ”Wait, wait, wait,” she begged, with her hand on his forearm.

Adrik looked past her as if he couldn”t see her. All her excuses were signs of her weakness.

”Let me think.”

”About what?” he asked, annoyed.

”You are asking me to become a fugitive for something I don”t even know what it is. Just because I”m attracted to you and like you? I don”t know you that well. You can”t expect me to jump in your boat when you”re still a stranger. Please. Just give me time.”

It sounded like a reasonable request. But time was a scary thing to give her. The more she found out, the more it would reinforce her fears.

Adrik gripped the side of her face. ”Look at me,” he ordered, and waited till her eyes were on him. ”You want to be rational. Then, the answer is easy. Leaving is safer, smarter, and easier for you. I”m not going to convince you to ruin your life. So, let me take you home.”

Adrik opened the door for her and waited. She stood there like a lost tourist, unsure of which direction was home.

”What if,” she murmured, ”I want more than you can offer? If I get involved with you, I will want a future. And I know it”s so new, and we”ve only had our first date, if that”s what this was. But I know what kind of person I am. I don”t date just for fun. I”ll go all in.” Jolie looked up at him, desperate. ”Is that something you can give?”

Adrik shut the door and leaned against it. She faced him, her fingers going to his, and he watched as their hands entwined. Her touch was everything. It held a future that he always wanted. But being in his life would open her to a new and dangerous world. Did he want to expose her to it? Did he think she could last?

That was why the words out of his mouth felt like knives in his gut. ”I don”t know,” he admitted.

In a moment of clarity, the relationship would cause him so many problems. It was a reason he never allowed himself to date. It was a headache he didn”t want. But as a tear slipped down her cheek, and she nodded, full of misery, he couldn”t let her go. When her fingers loosened on him, he only tightened his hold. He wasn”t giving up.

A car door opened. ”Excuse me, sir.”

Adrik rolled his eyes in aggravation and turned his attention to his bodyguard. ”It better be good.”

”It”s Alexei.”