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

32. Meeting the Parents

Jolie had barely slept, and though it was the weekend, and she didn”t have to wake early, she was still up before the sun. The lack of sleep filled her brain with fog, making thinking difficult, yet that was all she could do.

Adrik had left her to chase after his brother, and just like the night before, he sent her no message to ease her worries. His lack of communication was gonna have to change. She wasn”t the kind of woman who just went about knitting as the world blew up around her. She was proactive, but she could only react to the information she had, and if she had nothing, then she could do nothing.

Facts. Start with the facts,Jolie attempted to focus her brain. Alexei knew about them now. What would he say? How would he react?

That”s not facts! she scolded herself.

Ming and Tae-Tae followed her around the room, trying their darndest to rub against her legs. Tripping her was a consolation prize. ”Would you get out of my way!” she barked with annoyance before she plopped into a chair. They promptly jumped at the invitation and meowed in her face.

Dropping a hand on their furry heads helped relieve the stress, and she sighed, lowering her head back.

Alexei”s face,she mused. He was beaten. Why did Adrik tell me he was okay if he wasn”t?

”Because he keeps freaking walls higher than China,” she answered herself, but Ming thought it was praise and meowed in affection.

Jolie stared at her phone, telling herself to let it go while getting up simultaneously, hoping for some sort of text message. She was afraid to message him, but she pressed his number anyway. She hadn”t added his name. She hated how, even with her own phone, she didn”t know if she could trust anyone looking at her call log or somehow finding out.

Jolie began to text, writing a single letter before erasing it and starting over. It took her ten minutes to find a way to say what she wanted without really saying it. ”Everything okay?” It was a blank question; if anyone read it, they wouldn”t think much of it.

She was surprised when dots showed up on her phone, and she sat up, suddenly eager.

Seconds ticked by. It felt like an eternity until the text came from Adrik. ”Fine.”

It was so anticlimactic Jolie got frustrated. She wanted answers. She wanted to know when she would see him again. She wanted to talk to him, to understand what was going on. But this was something she would have to learn to suppress.

Was she going to have to wait on pins and needles all day until he deemed to bless her with his presence? Was that the kind of life she was gonna have?

I can”t keep going back and forth. I need to make a final decision and be done with it.

And that one decision waited on one person: her mother.

Jolie texted, ”I”m going to my mother”s.”

She waited for a reply, but when none came, she left the safety of her room. It was early in the morning, so it wasn”t a surprise there was no one out except for the maids. She told the front doorman where she wanted to go, and a car was brought around immediately. Though it was so easy, she didn”t know why she always felt anxious when leaving the property, like she was doing something wrong.

Her mother was beyond excited for her to be coming home. She hadn”t been back to the trailer park in months. Leaving the small town of Geneva had been difficult. It was all she had known for so long. There wasn”t any chaos or crime. It was always quiet. Of course, it was only in her part of town. A charming little neighborhood that had its own neighborhood watch. Across the street was the ”riffraff” her mother deemed unworthy. Jolie was never allowed outside the gates, even when Vincent wanted to bring her to his house. He was part of the ”west side” her mother disapproved of.

Jolie was nervous. She knew Vincent was still in prison, but his cousin lived in their old place and absolutely hated her.

For a reason,Jolie knew. When she turned Vincent into the police, she made plenty of enemies.

Jolie smiled upon pulling up to her parents” trailer. There were so many plants, gnome statues, bird feeders, and windchimes it looked like a store. She hopped on the little round footpath, and the door swung open. Her mother greeted her with her arms open.

Heather Bell was a fifty-year-old retired schoolteacher, part hippy, part human rights activist. She used to have beautiful brown hair like Jolie, but gray hair had started back in her forties, and she didn”t do anything to stop it. Now, she was entirely gray and proud of it. She wore a flowery dress, with a dozen bracelets on each arm. ”My baby came home!” Heather embraced her, and whispered, ”I didn”t know you were bringing a guest.”

”A guest?” Jolie responded with confusion. As her mother pulled away, she found Adrik standing in the living room.

Her heart nearly burst.

”What—” She stumbled as she took a step forward. Adrik reached out for her hand, trying hard to suppress his smile. He enjoyed surprising her more than he thought he would. Jolie stuttered, ”What are you doing here?”

Adrik leaned in, kissing her cheek, ”You said you wanted me to meet your mother. So, here I am. She and I have been talking for a few minutes.”

Heather came up behind her daughter. ”Yes, can I borrow her for a moment?”

Adrik released her and sat back on the couch.

Her mother had her by the arm, and she tripped over her feet, interrupting her wild stare. Adrik looked entirely out of place on her mother”s 1940s floral couch. He was a building in an enchanted forest. She never really appreciated how tall he was, how his muscles were shaped against his white shirt, how long his legs were in his tight jeans, and how big his feet were in their white Nikes.

Heather shut the door to the bedroom. ”Where did you find that Greek god?”

Jolie giggled, shrugging.

”He”s beautiful. And so charming. That accent is every fantasy I”ve ever had—”

”Okay, Mom.”

”But the tattoos. You know how I hate tattoos. Does he smoke?”

”No.”

”Alright, redeeming quality. Is he the brother of the guy you are working for? Because that other guy was married, right? It”s their daughter you are tutoring, not his?”

Jolie hesitated. She had been given half-truths since she first started working for Adrik, but here it was presented in a way that would be a full-out lie if she said yes. The last time she started lying to her mother, she was dating Vincent, which turned into a disaster.

She needed to be honest if she was seeking her mother”s approval. ”It”s his child.”

”But you told me he was married.”

Jolie was able to stretch the truth with this answer. ”They are separated and about to get divorced.”

”Oh, okay. So, he”s the one with all the money.” Heather peeled open the door, looking down the hallway to watch him. Adrik was nervous, his fingers tapping on his thigh as he looked around. There were dozens of photos frames hung up, covering nearly every inch of empty wall space. Jolie winced, remembering all her school pictures since she was in kindergarten were in those said frames.

”You said he was in finance?” her mother questioned. ”Doesn”t quite fit the corporate look. He looks like he”s in a gang.”

Jolie vehemently shook her head but couldn”t deny it, so she casually agreed offhandedly. ”Yeah, I know.”

”Jolie.” Heather turned to her, grabbing her hands. ”This isn”t the kind of guy I was hoping you would bring home. What kind of wedding photos are you gonna have?”

Jolie”s cheeks burned. ”We just started dating.”

Her mother looked out the door again and sighed. ”I guess there”s Photoshop.” Heather dived out of the room. ”Adrik, what do you know about plants?”

Adrik and Jolie waved as they moved off the front porch. Heather and Jolie”s stepfather watched from the doorway, with bright smiles and high aspirations in their glittering eyes.

Adrik had a hand on her back, guiding her toward the car. But when Adrik saw the man who was driving, he pulled Jolie behind a tree. It was one of his father”s lackeys. Jolie questioned it, but he changed the subject. ”Do you believe I have your mother”s approval?”

Jolie leaned against the tree trunk, with a massive smile. ”When you broke out about annuals and perennials and the kind of sunlight certain plants require, I think she thought about divorcing my stepdad for you.”

He chuckled, smiling, shrugging. ”Might have done some research.”

The reveal overwhelmed her. What kind of man puts so much effort into meeting parents?

Adrik stepped up, a leg between hers as he rested a hand on her hip. ”You didn”t sleep,” he noted.

Jolie hung her head, ashamed of her overthinking.

Tears stung her eyes, and Adrik”s brows knitted as he watched her bow her head, hiding the emotion. He quickly gripped her jaw, forcing her to look at him. His thumb wiped across her cheek. ”What?” he asked.

”I”m scared. Alexei caught us—”

”He won”t say anything.”

”But how long until your father finds out? I”m terrified of him. If we do this, he”s going to find out, Adrik.”

Adrik slipped his hand to her neck, holding her still as he rested his forehead against hers. He knew she was right. He”d have to tell his father at some point. But he was more concerned about whether Jolie wanted to be in his life. He wasn”t about to start a battle if Jolie gave up at the first sign of trouble.

”And what about Katia?”

”What about her?” The words came out crisp. Jolie continued to add to their problems, pointing out the flaws. And it didn”t help that she brought up the same things even after he reassured her they weren”t a problem. ”I”ve told you; Katia and I have nothing to do with each other.”

Jolie”s cheeks heated up. ”I”ve seen you kiss.”

”Yes, we perform. We pretend. But that is all.”

She nodded, but it was clear she didn”t quite understand. He didn”t know what else to say, however.

Jolie touched his chest, fiddling with a frayed edge of his shirt. ”And the girls on the stripper poles?”

Adrik chuckled. ”I was waiting for you to say something.” He nuzzled her cheek, a hand running through her hair. ”They are a hazard to my lifestyle. Nothing I can do. However, if you are wondering if I will be faithful, I can only assure you that I am addicted to you. No one else will satisfy.”

Jolie laid her head against his shoulder. His scent filled her, a sweet bourbon that created butterflies in her stomach. Her smile stretched, unhindered, and she bit her lip to stop herself from making noises in her throat. To know that a man like him was ”addicted” to someone like her was too much. She felt lost in the euphoria.

Adrik held her, unsure where this left them. There were so many things against them, but Adrik wasn”t the kind to dwell on the negative. Having a mafia empire was one of the hardest businesses to own, and yet, he had succeeded. He had no doubts in himself about making this relationship work. But he did doubt if Jolie could handle it, but that was out of his hands.

”I have to go,” he whispered, his lips right against her skin. She needed more time, and he had obligations to attend to before the dinner tonight. ”Being apart from you is creating havoc in my head.”

She giggled and nodded. ”Me too.”

”Oh, yeah?” He nudged her. ”Tell me.”

”I can”t think.”

”What else?”

”I look for you everywhere.”

”What about at night? Do you dream of me?”

Jolie clenched her lips together as a wave of heat spread through her cheeks and down into her chest. ”Yes,” she admitted in a murmur.

His fingers clenched her hip, and he purposely pulled her hard against him and groaned, imagining Jolie fingering herself, with him in her mind. ”You”re gonna drive me crazy.” Adrik shoved himself away, backstepping, and every inch placed between them was a knife in his gut.

Jolie stood, holding her arms around herself as his warmth was torn away. He walked away, only looking back once before he stepped around the trailer. She stayed against the tree, falling more for the mafia man with every second they were apart. But her happiness was being eaten away as her secret about the FBI filtered through it. Now, with her mother”s acceptance, there should be nothing keeping her from diving headfirst into love, but a rope kept her tied to a wall, refusing to let her fall.

”How sweet,” a voice from the bushes came.