Page 23 of The Dark Side

Weeks later, he found out Katia was fucking someone else.

Adrik hadn't controlled his temper then. He hadn't known what he was capable of until that night. But he pushed limits he never dared to before. It was the only time in his life when he scared himself.

There was no reconciliation after that.

Adrik got out of the shower. He took his time with his nightly ritual—combing his hair, brushing his teeth, and flexing in the mirror to determine which muscle he wanted to work on in the morning. With slacks on his legs, he walked out.

She was still sitting there.

Katia dropped her phone on her lap. "Your father said you wanted to speak to me. So, speak." Katia sat rigid in a tan Dior dress, with her blonde hair curled and pinned to her head. She had gone out with some friends, or that's what she claimed. He stopped caring about her liaisons when he started his own.

Adrik flicked his gaze away in annoyance. His father was forcing him to face the issue of her family. He was surprised his father hadn't just talked to her himself. Why even bother making it seem like Adrik had any control over what happened in their family?

"We found the assholes that shot up Salem’s."

Katia jumped to her feet, hopeful. "Who?"

Adrik clenched his teeth as he watched her. He needed to mark every flicker of her eye, every movement of her hands. If he were to spot her lying, what would he do? Would he be able to hold back, even for the mother of his child?

"A couple of bitches." He used the word 'bitch’ as a term for low-level pieces of shit that held no importance. "They were ordered by a man with a raven on his hand."

The color in her face drained.

"No," she whispered.

"Your brother."

Katia collapsed on the bed, wide-mouthed, simply staring at the floor.

It was a good act; maybe he believed it because he couldn't believe otherwise. She loved their daughter as much as he did. He wasn't questioning that.

Adrik snatched his phone off the dresser and sat in a chair, reading and replying to text messages as she recovered. He didn't want to see her tears. They meant nothing.

When Katia stood, Adrik flicked his eyes up. She had pulled her emotions back, leaving behind a stone facade. He didn't expect anything else. She was mafia-born. Tears could only get her so far. She'd go in a different direction when they no longer aided her. "According to our contract, you can't kill him."

Adrik snapped to his feet and was in her face so quickly that she gasped and took back a step. A break in her mask. "Tell me again what I can't do," he threatened dangerously. "Go ahead, Katia. Say it."

Katia, wide-eyed and breathing heavily through her nose, swallowed, bowing her head. "I just meant, in the contract, immediate family—"

"I'll make him suffer for what he's done." Adrik returned to his seat, with his elbows on his knees and the phone in his hands. He wanted a blunt. He wouldn't be able to sleep now with the rage she caused. He sat back, resting his ankle on his knee as he watched her. Katia was a snake, constantly changing her skin. He failed to read her for the years while she was fucking another man. Her lies were plenty and creative. She was able to cover up her moves like a professional chess player. Yet he underestimated her because she was a woman.

"I want you there."

Her head popped up, full of terror. "What?"

"He almost killed our daughter. You deserve vengeance." Adrik observed her eyes flickering in panic. She was trying to find a way out of it, sitting on the bed as if her legs were too weak to sustain her. She knew what it would mean to deny him. It would say she cared more about her brother than her daughter, and Katia couldn't risk that.

"Your parents—" He paused when she looked at him frightfully. "I don't think they knew."

There was relief in the tension of her shoulders, and she nodded vehemently. "They love Helina. They wouldn't hurt her."

"I agree. But because of this oversight, the contract of our treaty is disrupted. We won't be paying forty percent on shipments anymore. From now, it will be twenty-five."

She scoffed; the Katia he knew so well resurfaced. The businesswoman that was built from the moment she knew how to add. "Good luck with that. Your shipments cost us millions because of payouts to the harbor police, the workers, and the senator."

Adrik continued his text before he replied, "Not my problem."

Katia stood with her arms folded, glaring down at him. Adrik pressed on Candy Crush, and the music interrupted the tension in the room. "You have nothing without that harbor."