Page 16 of The Dark Side

Alexei answered,"Sixty thousand."

"And how many do they?"

"Forty-five, give or take. But it was never about us being stronger. They have more playing cards than we do."

Adrik could see all his cards—the casino, the governor, the hospitals, and the airport. It was a never-ending web of money laundering, drug smuggling, and trafficking that could get tangled if not adequately cared for. It was enough to give him a headache.

Adrik could feel the weight of exhaustion. After finally getting his answer, sleep was sneaking in.

He stood, approaching his brother. They were similar in height and stance. But Alexei was thicker and had more power in his punch, while Adrik had a nicer face. But they still held the family's eyes. Blue like water. He gently tapped Alexei's cheek."Good work. Restart the product line before we have addicts pounding on our doors."

"What are you going to do?"

Adrik walked away."I'm going for a drive."

Jolie sat on her couch. Ming was snug in her lap, purring, and it was a pleasant sound in the quiet. The remote was in her other hand, but she had yet to turn on the TV. She feared she wouldn't hear if someone came through her door.

Strangers had entered her apartment and cleaned while she was at work. Now, Jolie was eyeing the lock as if it betrayed her. There was a knife on the coffee table, but it was laughable. What was she going to do with it? She'd never harmed a creature in her life.

The laptop sat next to her, closed and warm from use. She had done the worst thing.

She googled.

Adrik Morozov was the son of the Russian Mafia Kingpin, Yakov Morozov. He was the youngest of six and the current heir to the Morozov kingdom.

There wasn't anything lengthy on Adrik. But his father undoubtedly had a long rap sheet in Russia, including war crimes, sedition, kidnapping, extortion, mass murder, and fraud. No doubt Adrik had partaken in some of those things, or at least knew about it.

There was no pretending that Adrik wasn't a criminal. It didn't matter how nice-looking he was. Attractive people could still be dangerous.

Jolie heard the vibration of her phone, but she didn't reach for it. Her mother was calling. She spoke to her mother every day at 7 p.m. It was now nearly eight and no doubt causing panic, but she didn't know what to tell her mother. She didn't want her to worry, but the moment her mother heard her voice, she would know something was wrong. She always did.

At the last vibration, Jolie reached for it, and then there was a knock on the door.

She stood, the cat screeching as it flew, jumping on the computer before darting under the bed. "Sorry, Ming."

Another small knock.

Jolie tossed the remote on the couch and approached the door. "Who is it?" she called out, afraid to put her face against the peephole. Wasn't that the part in movies where they have a gun, and the person gets shot in the head?

Another soft knock.

Jolie snatched her phone and pre-dialed 911 before she unlocked the door and peeled it open just an inch. Dressed in a bulky black hoodie, Adrik's gorgeous blue eyes greeted her, unsmiling, unfriendly, and totally intimidating. Jolie almost pressed send on her phone, but curiosity got the best of her. "What do you want?"

Adrik put a finger on his lips and put his hand on the door, pushing it gently, asking for permission. He glanced at the phone with the large three numbers reflecting. He waited till she was ready.

Jolie couldn't find any maliciousness in his gaze, but she wasn't naive either. Or she hoped she wasn't. He wasn't so different from her ex-boyfriend, using his looks to get him what ordinary people couldn't. But Jolie allowed Adrik to take the phone from her as he entered the apartment.

Behind him, three people entered in black suits, with odd equipment in their hands. One had a microphone, another was listening on headphones, and another held a metal stick that made a static noise and beeped.

Adrik grabbed the remote off the couch and put on YouTube. He looked back at her quizzically, studying her, before he typed in a song.

Whitney Houston, "I Want to Dance with Somebody."

Jolie narrowed her eyes as the music got louder and louder.

There was no way he just guessed that's my favorite song.

"What are you doing?"