Twilight Sins (Kulikov Bratva Book 1)
Twilight Sins: Chapter 59

Nik pulls out the bar stool next to me. “Things still tense on the home front?”

That would require being at the mansion for enough time to know. We got home late and I was gone before the sun came up.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

He reaches over and taps the side of my glass. “It’s barely noon and we’re meeting in a bar instead of your office.”

“I wanted a drink.”

“You finished off half a bottle of bourbon from the bar cart last night after we dealt with Mariya. If you were anyone else, you wouldn’t even be standing today.”

“Good thing I’m not anyone else.”

He nods. “You’re right. You’re my brother. Which is why I’m going to tell you that you can’t drink away the blonde sleeping in your bed.”

“You’re my second, not my fucking sober sponsor,” I snarl.

Nik doesn’t even flinch. He just lifts his hand to the bartender, gesturing that he’ll have what I’m having. “I think you have to be sober to be a sober sponsor.”

The bartender slides a drink to Nik and gives me another. I told him to make sure my glass was full until I said stop. If I say stop. I don’t plan on it.

I didn’t actually come here to drink, though. I thought a place with no windows and patrons who know how to mind their own business was a good choice while there’s still a price on my head. The alcohol was just a nice perk.

“Is Mariya still locked in her room?” Nik asks.

“I unlocked it before I left this morning. As long as she doesn’t start screaming again, it will stay unlocked.”

“And Luna?”

My muscles tense. Her name is a record scratch in my brain. “What about her?”

Nik shrugs. “I just wondered if you’d talked to her yet about⁠—”

“There’s nothing to talk about. She disobeyed me.”

“I think she paid the price for it, too. That asshole last night really scared her.”

I can’t close my eyes without seeing Luna slumped in my arms, her head lolling against my arm. “She almost got our sister killed.”

“I mean, yeah, but you have to admit, Mariya would have gotten herself there one way or the other.”

“Not if Luna alerted the guards like she should have. Not if she’d called me.”

Not if I’d stayed closer to home. Not if I’d kept Luna under constant surveillance.

“Mariya lied to her. She admitted it. Luna didn’t know⁠—”

“She knew,” I growl. “She knew I wouldn’t have let her leave.”

Nik draws his finger through the condensation around his glass. “You took her on a date. Maybe she thought you trusted her enough to let her go.”

I did. That was my mistake.

“I know what happened last night. I didn’t tell you to meet me here so I could hear Luna’s side of the story.”

Nik raises both hands. “I’m just checking in.”

“Don’t bother,” I snap. “Tell me what you’ve found out.”

His jaw works back and forth. Luna didn’t just weasel her way into my trust; she’s infected my entire fucking family.

The sooner she’s gone, the better.

Finally, Nik sighs. “I’ve got good and bad news. Since last night sucked, I’ll start with the good news first: I finally have a solid contact for Akim’s arms dealer. Budimir is ready to meet with you whenever you set the date.”

Finally. Forward momentum. I’m not used to spinning my wheels. The last couple weeks have given me way too much free time. Staying busy is easier. It keeps my head clear of distractions.

“We should meet with him as soon as possible. Akim has every wannabe assassin in the city gunning for me. Murdering his main source of income feels fair.”

“That’s where the bad news comes in,” he winces. “Akim called off the greenlight and is planning to take you out himself.”

“Is the bad news that Akim is an even bigger idiot than we thought? He can’t kill me.”

“No, but the word is that he’s planning to take you out… when you meet with Budimir.”

There it is.

“How sound is your source this time?”

“Solid as a fucking rock,” he says. “I’ve confirmed it.”

I grind my teeth. “Then we have a leak.”

“Maybe Boris was a double agent, after all. Before he was murdered, obviously,” Nik adds.

If Akim knows that we’re planning to meet with Budimir, then he knows I’m going after him financially. He’ll prepare for it.

“It doesn’t matter now. The plan is shot to shit.”

“Does that mean we’re backing out?”

I shake my head. “No. I want Akim to think he has the upper hand. We need to meet with Budimir so Akim thinks he is one step ahead of us. Then we can catch him off-guard.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Nikandr grins. “Are we finally taking out Akim Gustev?”

I smirk. “Drink up, brother. We’ve got work to do.”

I drive up to the house through the side gate and enter through the patio doors, but Luna is waiting in the kitchen.

It’s the first time I’ve seen her since the alley. Her hair is tucked behind one ear, the bruise high on her cheekbone blossoming into a nasty purple color.

Sergey is dismembered and decomposing in some barrel of acid by now, but my fists still clench. I should have dragged his death out longer. Made him suffer for everything he did to her. Everything he wanted to do.

Luna hears me and stands up. “You’re here.”

She’s wearing a pair of my sweatpants rolled around her waist and a tank top. I want to rip them off of her. But I know where that would lead.

Nowhere good.

“It’s my house.”

“Right, yeah.” She chews on her full lower lip. “You were gone all day.”

I walk past the island. If she’s waiting for an explanation of where I’ve been, she’ll die waiting. I don’t owe her anything. I’ve given her more than enough already. All I want to do is get to my office and sleep for a few hours.

Then her fingers wrap around my elbow. Her hand is cold and the first thought in my head is that I should turn up the heat if she’s uncomfortable. Fucking hell, what is wrong with me?

I twist away from her.

“Sorry, I—” She pulls her hand back. “Can we talk? It will just take a second.”

“No.”

I’m going to end Akim and then Luna can go back to her life. I don’t need to talk about that; I just need to fucking do it.

I keep walking, but she reaches for me again. “Yakov, please.”

I snatch her hand off my arm. “No.”

“I know you’re mad at me,” she says anyway. “If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s okay. But I need to tell you⁠—”

I drop her hand at her side. “I don’t even want to fucking see you right now.”

Hurt lashes across her face. I force my eyes away from her, mostly because it hurts too bad to leave them there.

Every time I look at her, I see Sergey standing over her in a dark corner.

Every time I look at her, I feel the hollow ache in my chest that started the moment I came home and realized Luna and Mariya were gone.

Every time I look at her, all I see is how fucking stupid I was to let this woman get under my skin, in my head, in my bed, in my heart.

“I want to respect your space,” she whispers, her voice watery. “I just think there’s something you should know.”

Even now, I want to still the wobble in her chin. My hands itch to press her against the counter and erase every memory of Sergey’s hands on her. “I don’t need to know a damn thing about you, Luna. Nothing about you has anything to do with me.”

Her face is pale.

This is the right thing. What I should have done from the start.

“You don’t mean that,” she breathes.

“I don’t have a good reason to lie. Not anymore.”

“When did you lie? You told me there would be secrets, but you swore you wouldn’t lie to me.”

“Everything I did was just to make sure your death wasn’t pinned on me. If we were out at dinner and you turned up dead that night, I would’ve had all eyes on me. But I’ll be able to get rid of you soon.”

“‘Get rid of me’?” she rasps.

“I only kept you around because it was easier this way. I could neutralize the threat and make sure you didn’t get yourself killed. Though you sure tried last night.”

“But you said… We went out on dates. We had sex.”

I paste a cruel smile on my face. “Who says work can’t be fun sometimes?”

She folds her hands over her stomach. She looks like she’s going to be sick. “I told you I loved you.”

“And I didn’t say it back, did I?”

Her knees wobble. I have to fight the urge to steady her. Yet another sign that I let myself get drawn in way too fucking deep. I have enough people in my life to take care of. I don’t need another one.

“Yakov.” My name breaks on her lips. “Please. I’m⁠—”

“Once the threat is gone, I’ll have Hope pack your things.” I turn back to the patio door, leaving the way I came. “It’ll be like this never happened.”

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