Page 18 of The Dark Side

Adrik drank his milk, swallowed, and licked his lips. The movement sent terribly erotic images through her head, and she twisted away, another foot between them. Any further, she'd be across the freaking apartment.

"My wife's family made the hit," Adrik revealed, placing the cup on the table.

She knitted her brows. "Your wife? But that's her daughter, right?"

"I don't think she was a part of it."

"Wow. That's pretty messed up." She could see the upset on his face even as he tried to suppress it. He was hurt, and that made him a little less scary. She approached the table and sat down. "Your daughter is so cute. How is she?"

Adrik smirked, enjoying how she was losing her fear. "She wants to see you again."

"That's sweet."

But it's never going to happen,Jolie thought.

"What do you think about becoming my daughter's tutor?"

A snicker was muffled as she took a drink of her milk. "Yeah, right."

"I'd pay a six-figure salary."

Jolie gapped openly at him when she realized he was serious. Her reply was quick but honest. "No."

"Why?"

"Because you're a mobster!"

Adrik chuckled, admiring her direct personality. It was something his wife didn't possess. "My daughter isn't."

"She will be."

The thought was poison, and it darkened him. Adrik didn't like Helina's future. He didn't want the mafia lifestyle for her. Maybe if she had been born a boy, it would have been different, but as it were, all he saw for her now was unhappiness. "You teach underprivileged kids. The statistic that they are either dead by eighteen or a drug dealer is high. So, why give them the effort?"

"Because there is always hope. But your daughter has no hope."

It was a terrible thing to say, and Adrik felt the simmering rage inside begin to boil again. It wasn't rage against Jolie. It was anger toward the fact that she was right.

"You'll move into the house," he continued.

"What? I said no!"

"What life do you have here, Jolie? Honestly. Your panda collection can come with you. Or your pathetic amount of stuffed animals."

"My stuffed animals are special, okay? My students have bought them for me over the years."

Adrik knew she was lying. She'd only been a teacher for a month.

"Aside from you being in themob," she stressed, "I have a life, okay? It may not be as insane as yours, but some of us don't believe in carrying our own guns—"

"Oh, don't tell me you're a Democrat?"

"Yes, how horrible to want the world to be a better place!"

"Democrats want to take your control because they think you're too stupid to fix your own problems."

"Republicans want to steal my God-given right to decide what's going on in my body."

Adrik held a hand up. "I'm not touching that."