Chapter 26 – Adrik
I sat at the table, silent and distant, as Sergei discussed the terms and conditions of our deal. The room was dimly lit, and the smell of whisky and tobacco drifted through the air.
The men at this table were important members of some of the city’s most powerful families. The purpose of this meeting was to reach an agreement on how to form a formidable alliance.
I was the one they all expected to speak, but I gave the floor to Sergei. I honestly couldn’t care less how this meeting would turn out in the end. Regardless, though, those greedy bastards were in safe hands because Sergei wasn’t new to this.
It was obvious they weren’t pleased with my silence, but fuck them. They should be lucky I even showed up for this ridiculous deal. I never wanted to be in this room with these scorpions. But the Bratva elites had decided I must.
I knew these men better than anyone else within the ranks. They were vipers and shouldn’t be trusted with anything. Letting my guard down around Richard Beaumont taught me a hard lesson: never to ignore my gut.
Sergei was still speaking to them when one of them interrupted him.
“I’m not comfortable with this,” he said, his voice laced with disdain.
“With what?” Sergei asked.
The man shifted his gaze toward me. “What’s the matter with you, Adrik? You’re the one who’s supposed to address us.” He glanced at Sergei. “Not your errand boy. That’s disrespectful.”
My scowl deepened. “He’s not my errand boy,” I growled.
“Whatever,” he replied. “Are you addressing us or not?”
I didn’t respond, just kept my cool, even though his disrespect toward my lieutenant already had me pissed.
“He can’t,” another man replied to him, reclining in his chair. “I hear he’s still sulking because his wife left him.”
The room fell silent.
Sergei turned to me, knowing exactly what was running through my head. My expression remained unchanged, but my men could already feel the tension rising. I didn’t say a word, yet my gaze left his face.
Murmurs rose from amongst them as they leaned in, whispering into each other’s ears.
From my seat, I glared at the bastard who dared mention my wife. With the reflexes of a cat, I reached out and grabbed him by the collar. “You should’ve kept your mouth shut.”
Before anyone could react, I dented his head onto the table three times, then dragged him across the surface. The others sprang to their feet, watching helplessly as I drilled the man with heavy punches.
Without mercy, I slammed my fist into his face, each strike further damaging his broken nose. The impact of my punches made his body jerk, the back of his head hitting the floor.
No one dared intervene. Nobody dared to speak up for him. My knuckles hurt, but I didn’t stop. The room was so quiet that the only sound was that of my fist smashing his face.
Once satisfied, I let go of his collar and rose to my feet, seething in silence. His blood dripped from knuckles as I straightened, my disheveled hair framing my face. My chest rose and fell with slow, controlled breaths while his body lay at my feet.
He was still breathing. Barely.
I scanned the room, waiting for someone else to speak out of turn. But no one dared to. “Clean this up.” I signaled the nearest guard.
He nodded.
Sergei handed me a white handkerchief, and with it, I wiped my hand. “Carry on,” I said, shifting my gaze across their faces.
Sergei adjusted his tie. “Gentlemen, shall we continue?”
They exchanged glances amongst themselves before taking their seats. They tried to mask it, but I could see it in their eyes: the fear.
Ever since Emika had left me, nothing had been the same again. I was colder. More distant. And angrier. According to Sergei, I’d become even more terrifying to people, more ruthless.
To try and forget her, I buried myself in work: meetings, threats, and profitable deals—anything to keep my mind occupied. This outburst was necessary because I needed to blow off some steam.
This man was unfortunate enough to be my victim. He should’ve kept his mouth shut. He never should’ve mentioned my wife.
The meeting went on as planned because no one wanted to get on my bad side. The same man who’d said he wasn’t comfortable speaking with Sergei ended up paying rapt attention.
Later that evening, Sergei didn’t drive me straight home; he branched off to a nightclub downtown.
“What’re we doing here?” I asked him after he killed the engine.
“Not ‘we,’ Boss. You,” he said, looking back at me.
“I don’t understand.”
He unbuckled his seatbelt. “You’ve been working so hard. It’s time to relax a little.”
“That’s what my big, comfy bed at home is for,” I answered, seemingly uninterested.
“Yeah, well, that bed has been cold for a while,” he said. “Let’s warm it up a bit.” He stepped out of the vehicle, walked over to my door, and opened it.
I didn’t have it in me to argue. So, I just complied and climbed out of the car. The ground vibrated beneath my shoes as the muffled beat thrummed inside.
“I hear the strippers here offer the best services,” he said, his lips curling into a mischievous grin.
“You hear?” I asked teasingly as we headed toward the entrance. “Or you know?”
“I have a life outside the mansion, you know.”
I chuckled lightly.
No questions asked, the bouncers let us through the door.
Inside was wild. The air was filled with the scent of sweat and liquor as dancers moved to the DJ’s hypnotic beats. Vibrant lights sliced through the air, flashing across frenzied faces.
The beat was so loud I thought the bass was about to bring the building down. Sergei laughed, rubbing his palms together as she checked out a few girls on the dancefloor.
“Come on, the VIP section’s up there!” He pointed up at the curved balcony.
He led me through the crowd of writhing bodies and up the staircase. “This way.” He grabbed the handle of a red door and pushed it open.
Inside was a simple setting that exuded luxury and style. The place was designed like a living room with plush couches and a mini bar in a corner. In the center of the space was a single pole, its polished steel gleaming in the soft light.
The floor-to-ceiling glass window across revealed a breathtaking view of the sea of dancers downstairs. The room was soundproof, designed for maximum pleasure.
We had barely taken two steps inside when seven women sashayed out of an inner door, butt-ass naked.
These women had some of the most seductive looks I’d seen in a while, and they came in different shapes and sizes.
A good number of them were tall, like runaway models.
Some had big breasts. Some had small breasts.
Some were perky. Others were saggy. One thing they all had in common, though, was that seductive gaze that almost ignited a fire within me. Almost.
Sergei leaned in and whispered, “I told you they offered the best services.”
“Gentlemen,” one of them called out, her voice smooth and enticing. “Please, take a seat.” She halted in front of me, her manicured hands caressing my body.
“Allow us to help ease your stress,” another chipped in, circling round my back. “Sit back and enjoy the show,” she whispered in my ear.
“Ladies,” Sergei said softly. “Take care of him for me, will you?”
“Yes, Sergei baby,” said one of them.
Sergei baby?
The first lady nodded at him, then took my hand and led me toward the living room. I glanced back at my lieutenant, casting a look that clearly stated he was as good as dead.
Without a word, he stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
The tall lady gently pushed me down onto the chair, whispering seductively, “Sit back and relax. Allow us to take care of you.”
By now, the others were already at the pole, dancing, moving their bodies as though their bones were made of elastic.
I should be enjoying this; my cock should be swelling in my pants by now. But nothing of the sort happened. When the tall lady sat beside me and reached to kiss my lips, I pulled away.
Shocked, her brows drew together, accentuating the confusion on her face. She was beautiful, with her dark hair cascading down her shoulders in waves. However, she wasn’t qualified to taste my lips.
Her perfume was intoxicating, and her full lips were enticing. Yet none of that stirred anything inside me. Even when one of the dancers sat on my lap, grinding her waist against mine, I didn’t feel anything down there.
These women were trying their best to please me, but the more they tried, the more I lost interest. In my mind, I knew none of them could fill this void inside me. If they could, things would’ve gone down differently.
Even in her absence, Emika still found a way to control me, to make sure no other woman took what was hers. I wanted to lose control and fuck the hell out of these pretty girls two or three at a time. I wanted to release all that pent-up sexual frustration on them.
I wanted to do that so badly.
But I couldn’t. Because as sexy as they were, they couldn’t ignite my fire.
Without a word, I rose to my feet, ignoring their gasps and murmurs. I adjusted my coat and walked out, leaving them shocked and stunned. After I opened the door, I saw him smoking across the hall: Sergei.
He walked over to me, glancing at his watch. “What happened? You’re not supposed to be out yet.”
“Take me home,” I said, leaving no room for gutter debate.
***
Months stretched into a blur of cold mornings and empty nights, a constant reminder of her absence. I’d tried everything to feel whole again, but nothing seemed to be working.
On several occasions, I’d come so close to reaching out to her. However, I always stopped myself at the last minute.
What if this emptiness were one-sided? Why kill myself over a woman who might’ve moved on with her life? Yes, we’d had a good thing going for a while. But it was over. She’d decided to end it and find her place in the world.
Perhaps it was time to move on too. It was time to return to my old ways—unaffected by anyone or anything. She’d stolen too much from me already. No more.
Emika had reminded me of what it was like to be human. And then she’d gone ahead and ripped my heart to shreds, leaving me with the pain to deal with.
Men like me weren’t designed to love. We were monsters, devils in suits. The sooner I remembered that, the better.
The knock on my door snapped me out of my thoughts, my eyes darting toward the entrance.
It was my brother, Artur.
“You look like shit,” he said, strolling in with a hand in his pocket.
“Yet still better than your attitude,” I replied, a faint smirk tugging at the corners of my lips.
He took a seat across my table. “At least I’m not the one sulking in the dark.” He flashed me a corny grin.
My brows knitted together, forming creases between them. “Say that again. I dare you.”
He laughed lightly, reclining in his chair. “Relax, brother. I mean no disrespect.”
“What do you want?”
“Since when did it become a crime to check on my brother?” He grabbed the bottle of whiskey on my table and poured himself a glass.
“Since checking in now feels like babysitting.”
He let out a quiet chuckle and lifted the glass to his lips. After taking a sip, he looked at me and said, “It’s time to move on, Adrik. It’s time to open a new chapter.”
I squinted my eyes at him.
“Or at least, revisit an old one.” He sipped his whiskey again. Artur cleared his throat and leaned in. “I know you don’t wanna hear this, but…with Richard gone, the Bratva’s looking at another candidate for a, uh….”
I stared right at him, knowing where he was going with this.
“…potential marriage.”
I took a second, my gaze unwavering. “They want me to remarry?”
“Don’t look at me like that; it wasn’t my idea.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, hating how my loyalty to the Bratva was turning me into a puppet.
“They’re considering Yelena,” he explained. “Her father is just as powerful as Pakhan Artem. An alliance between both families would benefit the family business.”
The Bratva elites who had come to this conclusion must’ve been a bunch of baboons. Why hadn’t they just matched me with Yelena from the beginning? Why’d they convince Pakhan Artem to pair me with the Beaumont granddaughter?
Those crazy old men knew about my affair with Yelena. Yet they’d chosen to match me with Richard’s granddaughter. Now that things didn’t go their way, they wanted me to go back to the woman I’d dumped.
How convenient for them!
At this point, I didn’t even care anymore. If my orders were to remarry, then that’s what I’d do. Except this time, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
If I somehow ended up marrying Yelena, the two of us would live like total strangers in this house. I wasn’t the man I used to be—the man she used to know. And I could only hope for her sake that she was strong enough to tolerate this new version of me.