31. Brothers
Adrik ran down the hall after his brother. ”Alexei!” When he reached the garage doorway, Adrik seized his brother”s arm. ”Alexei, stop.”
”Get in the car,” Alexei ordered, grabbing a pair of keys from the panel. The beep echoed as he unlocked his white Porsche.
Adrik didn”t hesitate, diving into the passenger seat. He rubbed his face, cursing his stupidity. It was only the first day of his affair, and he was already caught. How in the world would he keep anyone else from finding out? It was only a matter of time, and then what?
Fucking disaster.
Alexei got in and started the car.
”Alexei—”
”No.” Alexei stopped him. He backed the car out of the garage and drove up the driveway with the speed of screeching tires. It wasn”t until they were a mile down the road that Alexei finally spoke. ”You”re a fucking dumbass. You had your phone on you. You know you have a locator app, right? Why the fuck would you bring your goddamn phone?”
The topic threw Adrik offbeat. ”You”re mad you caught me?”
”No, I”m mad that you”re fucking dumb. The tutor, Adrik? Really? Why the hell did you let me go on about her, man?”
”I told you she was a lesbian.”
Alexei rolled his eyes, ”Yeah, great cover story. What the hell are you doing? You bring her to the house? Why would you do that? You want to get this girl killed?”
”I brought her because I could protect her better.”
”Who”s gonna protect her from Dad?”
The very mention of the old man brought fury to his lips. ”I am.”
”Oh? Like you protected me?”
Adrik clenched his teeth, looking out the window. There were words on his lips that couldn”t be said. Not even to his brother.
”This is so fucking dangerous. What about Katia? If she finds out you”re in love with this girl—”
”I”m not in love,” Adrik bit.
Alexei cackled. ”Yeah, okay. You think I don”t know you well enough? You wouldn”t do this for some chick you wanted to fuck.”
It was hard to fight that. Love wasn”t exactly what he was hoping for. Infatuation, maybe. Unhealthy desire, maybe. But not love.
”Where”s the future in this? You can”t marry her. You can”t have kids with her. Dad can never know. And if it”s not because you are stupidly in love with her, end it.”
Adrik held his face in his hands. All the words he didn”t want to hear said out loud like a wailing siren. He tried to ignore it, not give it time to manifest into reality. But it was reality already.
”I”m fucked,” Adrik admitted, sinking into the chair.
Alexei pulled to the side of the road. He kept the car running, letting the air conditioning cool his temper. He wasn”t mad at his brother for lying, though it would have stopped him from thinking about Jolie in his spare time. He was angry because of the danger Adrik put himself in. Adrik didn”t realize how bad things could get with their father. He had been sheltered. He didn”t want what happened with Melissa to happen to Jolie. ”Answer this before anything else. If you weren”t married. If Papa wasn”t around. If you weren”t in the Mafia. Would you be with this girl?”
It”s crazy because all those things he mentioned were the only things stopping him from pursuing her already. He couldn”t say it, because he knew what it meant. But he nodded, as terrible as it was.
Alexei sighed, loud and long. ”Okay. You”ve known this girl for a month, and you already know. Mom always said when you know, you know. And I guess, you know.” Alexei cut off his monologue and tapped on the steering wheel. ”Any chance this is just lust? I mean, you”ve fucked her, right?”
”No.”
”No?” Alexei said incredulously, hiding a wave of selfish relief. ”Then, maybe you just got to get her out of your system.”
”She isn”t like that.”
Alexei fought a smile. He agreed that Jolie wasn”t like that. It”s one of the things he liked about her, too. It was one of many, many things.
Jealousy popped up, and Alexei sat silent, staring blankly out the window. Of all the girls they”ve ever encountered, they”ve never gone after the same one. Adrik liked porn stars, and Alexei was into the ”housewife” type. So, what changed? He was so blown away by his brother”s interest in Jolie that he couldn”t grasp it.
Why this one?
Jealousy was an emotion Alexei dealt with a lot growing up. He had to watch his father dote on Adrik with gifts, with hugs and warmth, while Alexei was ridiculed if he had a wrinkle in his shirt.
”I”m not gonna let you hurt this girl, Adrik. So, are you sure, beyond a doubt, she”s what you want? She”s nothing like the girls you”ve been with.” The words came from a place of resentment despite how he tried to make it seem selfless.
”Don”t you think I know that?” Adrik bit back. ”She”s a mouse in a snake pit. I”ve tried talking myself out of it, but I can”t.” Adrik pulled a paper from his pocket, slapping it on his brother”s leg. ”Wrote a whole damn pro-cons list. And none of it fucking matters.”
Alexei could hear the turmoil in his brother”s voice, but it didn”t stop the evil smile as he unwrapped the paper to check it out. A dozen cons were on the list, all reasonable and valid, with only one pro. Of course, he had to read it out loud. ”‘Pro: she”s perfect.’ Awww.”
Adrik snatched the paper from his brother”s hand, slapping him in the face with it.
Alexei cackled, hiding his head. ”Okay, okay, I”m sorry.”
Alexei watched him, his smile slowly fading. There was no denying it then. Adrik was in love with Jolie. It was rough to accept because he began to think he was feeling the same damn things. She was perfect in every way that other women weren”t.
His jealousy was fading. Adrik was his best friend, and despite always getting everything Alexei wanted, Adrik cared for him when no one else did.
Alexei swallowed any spite and became the big brother. ”Alright. Here”s the plan. One, you can”t look at her. Even side glances. She doesn”t exist. She”s beneath you in every sense of the word—”
”No, she”s—”
”She”s beneath you. Everyone sees it. She is a schoolteacher. She is a cat-loving book nerd. A Democrat. American! She is completely out of your realm. She might as well be on a different fucking planet.”
”Okay.”
”Okay.” Alexei rubbed his face, trying to organize the jumbled mess of his thoughts. ”I”ll get you both burner phones that you can use to talk to each other. But you have to delete your messages every night. Keep the phone in your safe. I”ll get her a safe. But number one, the most important, you can”t fuck her in the house.”
Adrik wanted to fight. He tried to pretend that it wasn”t a big deal and that it wouldn”t matter if he made his way to her room. Or if he snuck them into private hallways or closets where his father”s cameras weren”t watching.
”If you guys get caught, her life is in danger. Dad will kill her if he realizes what”s going on.”
Adrik knew this; it had been the one thought to keep him from going after her, but how was he supposed to keep them a secret? It didn”t seem possible.
”Does anyone else know?”
”Gil.”
”Gil?” Alexei huffed. ”You told him before me?”
Adrik scratched his head, feeling guilty. Gil was the one who harbored all the taboo secrets of the family. But telling Alexei made it real, and up till this point, Jolie was a secret in his closet. Now, there was no going back. ”I knew you wouldn”t approve.”
”I don”t approve. I most sincerely do not approve. This is stupid and dangerous—”
”You”ve said that.”
”And I”ll say it again. This is stupid and dangerous. But”—Alexei stalled, shaking his head and looking around before he forced his head toward his brother—”my little brother”s in love.” He dropped a hand on the back of Adrik”s neck, squeezing as he grinned. ”It”s great. I”m happy for you. And I”ll do whatever I can to help. But you have to understand the risk.”
”I do.”
”Does she? Have you explained your situation?” A nod eased him in one direction but depressed him in another. ”I can”t believe she”s willing to do this. She must be in love with you, too.”
Adrik kept his gaze on the window, but a smile teased his lips. That may be true.
”And I fucking asked her out like a dumbass. Did she tell you?”
”You didn”t just ask her out,” Adrik bit. ”You asked her to a family dinner.”
Alexei tried to defend himself, and admitted, ”Just to piss off Dad. It worked, apparently.”
Adrik snapped his head toward him. Though it was dark in the car, he could still make out the bruises. ”You provoked him,” Adrik sneered. ”Damn it, Alexei. That”s your fucking problem, you know that? You fucking push.”
”I”m not going to be controlled like a little fucking puppet.”
”Is that how you see me? Look at me, asshole. Is that how you see me?”
Alexei turned his gaze to his brother. He ground his teeth, unsure of what to say. Honesty was the go-to. ”A little.”
”Oh, fuck you.”
”Everyone knows that Papa is past his prime. The whole fucking family is waiting for you, and you just sit there as he fucks shit up. You know he lost a case of cocaine? How does someone do that? How do you lose a million dollars’ worth of supplies? Where the fuck did it go?”
Adrik rolled his eyes. ”No, he didn”t.”
”Adrik, you don”t see it, because you”re so far up his ass. He”s been making mistakes. Why do you think he left for those two months?”
”Because he nearly had a heart attack.”
”Fine, believe what you want, but don”t come after me because you are too busy being daddy”s little bitch.”
Adrik bit the inside of his lip. He had half a mind to break one of his brother”s fingers, just to sedate the rage inside him.
”Oh, God.” Alexei rubbed his face, setting panic in Adrik as he watched him.
”What?”
”Mom. She”ll see it the moment you look at Jolie. You can”t look at her, do you hear me? Or she”ll know.”
”I won”t look at her,” Adrik agreed, but he didn”t know how much of not looking he could do if Jolie were in his line of sight. What was the alternative? Stay out of her reach. Stay out of the house.
Looking for a distraction, Adrik asked, ”Any luck finding Katia”s brother?”
”That”s what I was coming to tell you. I have a lead. Think he went to Puerto Rico. Gonna head out there on Sunday after the dinner. See if I can”t flush him out.”
”I”ll go.”
”To Puerto Rico?”
”Yeah.” Adrik needed the trip. Needed to get away because his brother put into words every fear he had. There was not going to be a happy ending for them.
Unless he could prove that Katia knew the hit on their daughter was coming. Part of him wanted it to be true simply to be rid of her, but the other part prayed it wasn”t. Helina deserved a mother, and though he hated Katia, he didn”t want her to be absent from his daughter”s life.
A trip to Puerto Rico was the only way to help him stay away from Jolie. But that was one day out. Twenty-four hours to not fuck it up. Why did it suddenly feel like an impossibility?