Page 98 of The Dark Side

The panic only increased from there because not only would Adrik abandon her, but how would he get revenge? She was playing with fire and was delusional enough to think she wouldn't get burned.

Jolie turned her head to Tae-Tae. "I have to tell him." A soft whimper escaped his throat.

Jolie's door burst open, and she sat up, clenching the blankets as soldiers clambered into her room. It was the middle of the night, but they ripped her blankets away and grabbed her arms, pulling her to her feet. "What's going on?"

They shouted in Russian, with rifles in their hands.

Jolie swung her head around, watching three other men ransack her closet and dresser drawers. They dragged her out of the room. "Stop! Please," she begged, digging her feet into the carpet, but they ignored her, yanking her along.

She was relieved when she saw Katia in the same position, her arms in their grips, being hauled down the hallway. She spewed foreign curses and then noticed Jolie over her shoulder.

"Don't fight them," Katia instructed. "They are Yakov's pigs."

Adrik's father was doing this. Was this because Alexei showed her interest? But why take Katia? No, it was something else. Something more terrifying.

Down the stairs, a lineup of servants was on their knees; they were the last two to join. The soldiers dropped them on the floor side by side, and Jolie gripped Katia's hand desperately.

"It's alright," Katia soothed, holding her.

Servants shivered and kept their heads to the ground, but not Katia; her back was straight, waiting impatiently for Yakov to come through the door. The soldiers stayed stiff in front of them, with their rifles pointed at the floor, and when they walked by Jolie, she buried her face into her knees, unable to hide her tremor.

Dressed in a black suit and with a cigar in hand, Yakov strolled into the room.

"What do you think you're doing?" Katia barked. "Adrik will tear you apart for doing this to me, old man."

Yakov put his cigar between his teeth, disregarding her as he stepped inches from a servant's hand. Jolie had nowhere near the confidence Katia had. She was a beast of a woman, and Jolie's respect for her soared.

"Adrik will forgive me,"Yakov declared."You, however, I doubt."

"I've done nothing,"Katia spat.

Yakov made a sound in his throat as he strolled the line. He stood before Jolie now, and her eyes widened, staring at her reflection in his shiny black shoes. "What about you, American? Do you have a secret you're hiding?"

Jolie shook her head, too afraid to speak, to move.

When his feet drifted, she let out the breath she was holding, which also triggered her tears. She rubbed her face, trying to take strength from Katia, but she was shaking like a seizure and couldn't stop.

"Shh, it's alright." Katia squeezed her hand. "You've done nothing. You know that. He needs proof for whatever he is claiming."

"Proof," Yakov quipped, "I have."

Jolie was too terrified to look up, but Katia revealed what it was. "A pen?" she cackled. "What proof is this?"

A pen.

A pen.

Jolie's eyes dilated. A wave of nausea crawled up her belly, and she put a hand over her mouth to quell it.

In Russian, Yakov explained what he found. Katia whispered in her ear. "This pen has a listening device. FBI. Found in the servants' quarters. He's gonna question all of us."

Jolie's body went cold. There was no way she would survive this. She wasn't a liar. She wasn't a spy. She was a freaking teacher. She shouldn't be here. She risked everything because of a stupid boy.

Katia ground her teeth. "You dare insult me this way? I am your daughter-in-law."

Yakov smiled, and gently assured,"Which is why you will be questioned last. I hope there will be no need, sweet one. Now, let's begin."He motioned to the first servant, and though the man struggled to his feet, the soldiers had no problem giving him encouragement by smacking him in the face and shoving him forward.

Jolie winced and shuddered. They were being hurt because of her. Because she had been so stupid to put the pen in a freaking garbage can. All the precautions Agent Mally and Adrik had taken, and she had ignored it, thinking they were overexaggerating.