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

30. Risk

Adrik leaned against the doorway of the theater. It was a thirteen-seater, with big reclining chairs on an elevated surface. The screen was the entire width of the wall, and a movie played. A pathetic romcom that annoyed him. But he knew she”d pick nothing else.

Jolie sat in the center, curled up with a blanket. He stayed silent as he stared at the back of her head.

When he was away from her, the reasons for ending their budding relationship were apparent. He could name a dozen off the top of his head in seconds. But the moment he saw her face, all those logical facts disappeared.

It fucked with him because he wasn”t the type of man that questioned himself. He chose with confidence and never second-guessed. To be a leader, he had to make difficult choices with conviction. Otherwise, his enemies would see a weakness in him and exploit it.

So, why couldn”t he make this decision to leave her with just as much certainty?

”I didn”t think you”d stay.” Adrik slipped a hand in his pocket, keeping his distance.

Jolie paused the movie and didn”t speak for a moment before a small whisper escaped, ”Me either.”

Adrik pushed himself into the room, moving forward till he stood behind her. She didn”t turn around, her eyes dead set on the screen in front.

”Let”s hear it,” he said.

All her judgments would no doubt spew forth, only to confirm what he already knew. It would help him to end this doomed relationship. He needed to hear her call him a cheater. It was a pet peeve, and getting pissed off might be the only way to walk away from her.

Jolie whispered, ”Why do you want me?”

His brows knitted. That wasn”t an accusation. It wasn”t a judgment.

”You are surrounded by beautiful women all day. Any one of them would bend over backward for you. Your father would approve, I”m sure. They would accept your lifestyle. There would be no risk. And you wouldn”t have to choose. You can have all of them. It doesn”t make any sense.”

Everything she said was true.

But it sparked no desire in him.

A hand lowered to her hair. Adrik touched her scalp, tracing down her ear and along her jaw. Her head tilted back just a bit for his hand to cup the bottom of her jaw. A thumb brushed her lips.

This simple act ignited a storm in his gut.

Adrik swallowed and pulled away. ”What movie did you pick?”

Her cheeks were red, and she watched him sit beside her, keeping his eyes on the screen. She didn”t know why he wouldn”t look at her, but if he felt even an ounce of what she did, then he was keeping distant because it was getting harder to stay away. She fought a smile, touching her lips where his thumb had graced her skin. ”50 First Dates.”

”Adam Sandler. I love this man.” Adrik pushed the button on his chair and leaned back, putting his feet up. ”It is funnier in Russian.”

Jolie sat there with a weight in her stomach that made her twist. She didn”t know how he could act so normal when all she could do was fantasize. His touch was like fire, and it burned her cheek and lips, and she wondered if it would have the same effect if he touched other parts of her. ”Is your brother alright?”

There was a stiffness in his reply. ”He”s fine.”

With no other explanation, Jolie let the conversation drop. She saw Alexei sitting at the poker table, but it was dark, aside from the strobe light above the stripper pole. Too many distractions to really pay attention.

Jolie didn”t know what to feel about it all. She knew his life would be different, but that was intense. She”d rather not think about it.

”Ignorance is bliss,”her mother said. ”But stupidity is dangerous.”

Adrik broke the silence. ”Did you enjoy my gift?”

”No!” Jolie bit back in a shriek, hating how he cackled. ”It was frightening.” That made him laugh more.

”Not big enough? I fear we will have a problem if that doesn”t satisfy.”

Jolie buried her face and groaned, ”Shut up.”

Oh, he enjoyed this too much. Embarrassing Jolie exposed how much she didn”t know about everything he could show her. Everything he could teach her. Adrik bent his knees, hiding the growing excitement. There were too many thoughts that he couldn”t control and too much liquor in his system to stop him.

”Tell me something,” Adrik ordered. ”This boyfriend you had. What did he do for you?”

Her brows knitted at the question because it was hard to answer. ”I don”t know.” She concentrated, trying to come up with a response. ”He was fun.”

Adrik chuckled, and rectified, ”I meant in bed.”

She flushed and hid her face. ”I”m not gonna talk about that.”

He grinned, adoring her embarrassment. ”I can”t imagine much. He was eighteen at the time, yes? So, this is why you have a problem with my gift.”

”I have a problem with your gift because it is terrifying.”

Adrik conceded, ”Perhaps a little over the top.”

”You think?”

”I can buy a smaller one—”

”No, no, thank you.”

Adrik cackled, his hands linking behind his head proudly. ”You had sex with him, didn”t you?”

”Yes, not that it”s any of your business.”

”It is my business.”

”Why?”

”Because when I take you to my bed, I need to know how rough I can be.”

Jolie buried her head into the chair. She didn”t know how he could be so confident about something so intimidating. It brought back waves of nervousness and tension. She remembered the pain of sex and the uncomfortableness. Despite the excitement in her, she mentally knew it wasn”t as pleasant as she wished it was. And the word ”rough” frightened her. Her boyfriend had been all kinds of gentle, and it still hurt.

”If,” she enunciated, her voice muffled by the armrest, ”we”—she stuttered—”do that, not very.”

Adrik watched her, trying to understand her movements and her words. Until it hit him. ”Did he hurt you?”

Jolie”s head popped up. ”No, well, not on purpose. It was just painful. Every time.”

”He was that big?”

Jolie choked. This conversation was worse than getting a pap smear. ”No. And that”s all the information I”m giving you.”

A smile once more crept on his lips.

Jolie”s brow knitted. ”Why are you smiling?”

Adrik shook his head, shrugging, momentarily speechless. It was exciting, in a way, all that he could give her. Not only would he bring her up out of poverty, provide medical care for her parents, and allow her to fulfill her dreams in ways she never imagined, but now, along with all of that, he could expose her to a world of sexual pleasure. He turned his attention to the movie, soaking it in, and even though he could tell she was still confused, he kept it to himself. Their situation was new, and how he felt about her was overwhelming.

The movie continued to play, and she made little comments about the film, telling him memories from her childhood. Adrik found himself indulging in every word she spoke, the way she ran her hands through her hair when she couldn”t handle his stare, or the way her cheeks reddened when her gaze would drift down to his lips in the middle of her speech, and she”d stutter, trying to find the sentence again. All his negative thoughts about their future were now about ways to combat it. Would there be a way to divorce Katia? With her brother nearly killing their kid, he should be able to maneuver out of it. Her brother was still missing, and for all he knew, Katia and her parents were hiding him. That would give him leeway to get out of the contract.

Then there was his father.

When the movie was over, Adrik glanced at her, against his will, but found she had fallen asleep. It allowed him to look at her when no one was watching, and he found himself drowning in her. She had perfect eyebrows, which was insane, because they weren”t drawn on or colored in. She wore little to no makeup, except around her eyes, which didn”t need much help. Her thick black glasses rested on her small, perfect nose. She only wore her glasses at night, and he had rarely seen her in them, yet they fit her, were a part of her. Her brown hair lay against her cheek, and he almost reached out to move it, but it looked like it belonged there.

Jolie questioned the women in his life. It would be a lie if he didn”t admit they were all beautiful. They had perfect bodies that only money could buy. They knew how to please and strived to do so. They had talents that could only be learned from years of sexual conquests. But Jolie failed to realize that none of them even compared to her.

And he barely even knew her.

How could he let her go?

Adrik pushed his seat back up, planting his feet on the floor. The movement woke her, and she stretched, moaning. A sound that he”d loved to provoke one day.

It was nearly two-thirty. He still needed to visit Katia to keep up the act of their coupling. ”It”s late.”

Jolie smiled at him. ”I enjoyed this,” she emphasized.

It”s funny because he figured she would. Unlike all the other women, it didn”t take much to impress her. Material things were barely on her radar. He would have to change his entire mentality to make her happy. Was that something he could do?

Adrik stood and held out his hand. She was hesitant, but only momentarily, before her fingers slipped into his palm. He pulled her to her feet and stood her in front of him. She was half a foot shorter, and though she tried to bow her head, he had a hand on her cheek, lifting her face to meet his eyes.

He was never good with words. Emotions were another thing altogether. But showing physical affection was something his family never had trouble with, and he hoped if they continued this forbidden affair, she”d learn that his touch held all the words he could never say.

Jolie struggled to make eye contact. ”Don”t look at me like that.”

”You cannot control how I look at you.” His thumb brushed her lips, and she leaned into it, closing her eyes. The movement nearly broke him. ”All day today,” he began in a whisper, ”I”ve been thinking of everything about us that would not work.”

Her eyes snapped up to his in a sudden panic.

”But I don”t care. I want to try.”

Her brows knitted, and the yearning returned to her gaze. She gripped his wrist, the other hand resting on his chest. Then she dropped her eyes. He attempted to get them back onto him, leaning down, but she refused.

”It”s easy for you to say that,” she murmured. ”You aren”t the one going against everything you”ve ever learned. You aren”t betraying your morals. You aren”t risking your life.”

”I think we are more alike than you realize.”

”Then, why are you choosing this?”

”There”s a saying in my family. Big risk, big reward. There are no small bets in my life. Everything is a big risk. It makes what I do worth it. This will be worth it.”

Jolie clenched his shirt. He was so sure and confident that fighting it was hard. But what if she didn”t fight it? What if, instead of going against the current, she allowed it to take her away? It may drown her, but it could also bring her to land.

”Okay,” she found herself saying.

A smile flashed on his face before it faltered. ”Are you sure?”

She shook her head. ”Big risk, right?”

Adrik felt a flash of pride in her words. It made him believe she could handle everything that came their way.

He leaned down, his eyes on her lips, unable to stop himself. ”Big reward,” he finished as he graced her skin. Their lips collided like a gentle wave against the shore. It was unsure at first, concerned she”d change her mind, that he was dreaming. But then her fingers clenched the back of his head, pushing him against her, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, aggressively pulling her to him. The speed of their kiss intensified as the desire swallowed them. He could feel the rate of her breathing rapidly increasing, and every time they broke, the desperation only got stronger. There would be no waiting. He was going to take her here in the fucking theater.

”Wait, wait, wait,” she panted as his lips traced her jawline. ”I”m not ready.”

Adrik”s lips descended down her collarbone. ”Yes, you are.” He didn”t need to slip his fingers in her pussy to find out, but it didn”t mean he wasn”t going to.

”I…umm—” Jolie struggled with words as she fought herself. A curse was on her lips. ”Crap, I”m sorry. I didn”t shave.”

Adrik chuckled against her skin. Like that mattered to him. She could be hairy as a wolf, and it still wouldn”t stop him. A hand slipped down her ass, a place he’d been dying to touch, and gripped the fat, shoving her against him so she could feel what awaited her.

”Adrik,” she panted. ”There”s one thing I need you to do.” Her fingers dived into his hair to bring him back to her lips, and she found his tongue with hers, surprising him in the best way.

Adrik shifted, sitting in a chair. ”I already know,” he revealed. She stood above him, her cheeks red, her lips swollen, her gaze full of want. He held her hips and kissed her belly over her shirt, her big breasts like mountains from this angle. The one thing she needed was an orgasm, and he had every intention to give her more pleasure than she could handle. He bit the hem of her pants, ready to pull them down to her ankles.

”I need you to meet my mother.”

Adrik paused. ”What?”

A gasp escaped her lips, and she stepped out of his hands. He looked up at her, but her gaze was on the doorway. Adrik turned his head and found Alexei.

Adrik stood, but Alexei only shook his head before he backed out of the room.