Page 60 of The Dark Side

"When we were younger—"Alexei took up a bottle of water, swallowing some before he questioned,"Did you ever think about leaving?"

Adrik had always wanted to be better than his father. He couldn't do that if he ran away. He knew where his place was. The only way to protect his brother, to help this family, was to be the one to lead it. Adrik shook his head.

"I almost left a dozen times."

"He'd find you, Alexei. You know that."

Alexei distantly nodded. He knew there was no escape. But he hoped by now things would be different. He didn't want to have his pride taken from him daily. He didn't want to be forced to live the way his father wanted. He was nearly twenty-nine-years old, but life hadn't changed all that much from when he was a ten-year-old helpless boy.

"Two more years,"Alexei murmured, lightly hitting the punching bag. He met his brother's eyes, hoping he'd find something there. A silent request to do what they both wanted.

But Adrik only whispered,"Two more years."

Chapter twenty-two

Touch

TheToxinshadcalleda truce. Adrik stared at the picture on his phone. On the screen was the man who attacked Jolie. He was handcuffed, with a gag in his mouth. He was bleeding in several places. Under the picture was a text message. ‘At the dock. Though we weren’t aware that girl was part of your family, we apologize. Let this rectify our disagreement.’

Adrik bit his lip as he clicked off his phone and tossed it on the table.‘Weren’t aware the girl was yours,’he repeated. If the Toxins hadn’t gone after her because of Adrik, why did they target her?

Was it simply a hit-and-run?

Had he gone there to rape her?

Adrik shifted uncomfortably as a roll of hot rage spiraled down into his stomach.

“What is it?”Gil wondered, sitting on the other side of Adrik’s desk. He played with a squishy, tossing it up in the air and then squeezing till the beads nearly broke through the skin.

Adrik leaned back in his chair, gesturing to the phone, and Gil took it up to look. He smiled and nodded.“Good stuff.”

“Why did they go after her?”

He shrugged.“Young girl, living alone, new to town. Perfect pickings.”

“The Toxins don’t deal in human trafficking.”

Gil paused, racking his brain. But one thing about Gil, he didn’t like to think.“Don’t know. Have you asked her?”

Adrik looked around his office. The room was three floors up on the opposite end of the house, furthest from his father’s. He liked the sunlight and had glass walls leading to the rooftop terrace that overlooked the pool. There were three men in here, two of them playing pool. ‘Friends,’ they would call themselves, but Adrik kept everyone at arm’s length. Afriendhad tried to murder him three years ago. The scar on his back was covered by a Grim Reaper tattoo.

Adrik stood, and Gil nearly dropped the ball as he watched him.“Where you going?”

“To ask her.”

Gil jumped to his feet, cursing, nearly falling before he snatched his crutches off the floor. He used every muscle to sway his body forward as fast as possible to catch up.“You know that’s not a good idea. You need to stay away.”

“Avoiding her like the plague is just as obvious as pursuing her.”Adrik stood before the elevator doors, glaring at his reflection.“Meanwhile, my brother is moving in on her.”

“Then, let him.”Gil snatched Adrik’s arm.“Adrik, think about this.”

Adrik fisted his hands on his side, and calmly said,“I am simply going to ask her questions. I’m not going to fuck her.”

Gil scoffed.“You think I don’t know you? You need to stay away from her.”

Adrik stared at the open elevator. He knew he should listen, but he didn’t want to. He stepped into the elevator, and Gil was shaking his head.

“Try not to get caught.”