Twilight Sins (Kulikov Bratva Book 1)

Sometimes, I despise being right.

If I was wrong about Akim Gustev’s plans, then I could have sent Luna home the way I planned. I could have gotten her out of my house and life without all the questions and tears and the fucking sass.

If I was wrong, I also wouldn’t have to drag a man out of his car and interrogate him first thing in the morning.

Unfortunately for the poor mudak in my grasp, I’m always fucking right.

At least the bastard has the decency to make it easy. He is so busy staring up at Luna’s apartment window that he doesn’t see me coming. I open the driver side door and rip him out before he can even reach for his gun.

“Touch that gun and you die.” I slam him against the side of the car. Air whooshes out of his lungs.

“What the fuck, man? What are you—” His mouth falls open as soon as he gets a good look at me. “Oh, no.”

“I love when my reputation precedes me. It makes things so much easier.” I grab his gun and pocket it. “What are you doing here?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know anything. I swear. They send, I go. You know?”

The guy is young. Barely Nikandr’s age. His beard is thin and scraggly and his limbs still look too long for his body. Calling him the bottom rung of Akim Gustev’s ladder would be a promotion.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have useful information.

“Who are you here to watch?” I ask.

Sweat is already beading on his forehead. “No one.”

“I guess I should make myself clear: lie to me and you also die. Actually,” I say, pressing him back against the car until his spine pops, “most paths lead to you dying. There’s only one that might save your life. I suggest you talk.”

Luna lives on a quiet street, so there’s no one else on the sidewalks. One taxi passes by, but he doesn’t even glance our way. People say humans are becoming desensitized to violence as a bad thing, but it makes my job a hell of a lot easier.

I grab his collar and lift him onto his toes. “Who are you here to watch?”

He sputters for air, but still doesn’t respond.

I sigh. “Whatever you’re doing here, it must be pretty important for the boss to let you skip the big meeting today.”

His eyes go wide. “How do you know about⁠—”

“I know everything,” I snap. “Just like I already know why you’re here. The only reason I’m asking is to give you a chance to make yourself useful.”

Nikandr found out about the meeting between Akim and his mysterious weapons dealer a few days ago. There’s precious little intel beyond the fact that the meeting is happening. “Where” and “with whom” are still at the top of my questions list. I’d love to hear what this mudak’s thoughts are.

I lift him a little higher off the ground and he whimpers. “It’s your girl. The blonde.”

“You don’t even know her name?”

“I don’t need to know it,” he says. “I have a picture.”

He gestures towards the car. I look past him and see a blown-up image of Luna sitting in his passenger seat. It’s from last night. She’s standing next to my table, her hip cocked to one side, a hand pushing through her blonde hair. The shot is a little blurry, but she’s unmistakable.

I turn my attention back to him, my fingers itching to crush his windpipe. “What was your objective?”

“To watch her and⁠—”

“Don’t fucking lie to me,” I growl. “You’ve wasted enough of my time today. Waste another second and I’ll make sure you don’t see the next one.”

He swallows hard. “I was just doing what I was told! Akim wanted someone stationed here so that when she came outside…”

“You’d kill her.”

He ducks his head. “It’s nothing personal. Not for me. It’s just another job.”

“I completely understand.” I lower him to the ground and take a half-step back. “For instance, I’m going to kill you right here on the sidewalk, but it’s nothing personal. Just another job.”

When I press the gun to the side of his neck, he squeezes his eyes closed. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know! Just please, please don’t kill me.”

“Who is Akim meeting with?”

“I don’t know.”

I click my tongue and cock the gun. “Try again.”

“I really don’t know,” he insists. “I’m still green. I get sent out on jobs like overnight surveillance to take out a woman on her way home. I’m not in the mix for a lot of the more important stuff.”

The way he casually suggests taking out Luna is menial work has my finger resting on the trigger. “One last chance. Tell me what you know or I’ll⁠—”

“Budimir!” he gasps. “Akim is meeting with a guy named Budimir. That’s all I know, I swear.”

I’ll be damned. A name. We have a name.

Maybe this detour wasn’t such a waste of time, after all.

I take my finger off the trigger and step back. The soldier sags against the car. He looks green around the edges. Something tells me he isn’t used to being threatened.

“Thanks for your honesty.”

He looks up at me, brows pinched. “Are we good?”

I nod and gesture towards the car. “We’re good. I don’t need anything else from you.”

He keeps his eyes on me as he slides down the side of the car and drops back into the driver’s seat.

I really don’t need anything else from him. “Don’t forget this.” I turn the gun around and hold it out to him handle-first.

He reaches towards it with a trembling hand. The moment his fingers wrap around the handle, I curl my hand around his, twist his wrist, and press the gun under his chin.

He doesn’t even have time to beg for his life before I pull the trigger.

I let his arm and the gun fall naturally into his lap. The less posed it looks, the better.

I said I didn’t need anything else from him and I meant it. I sure as fuck didn’t need him driving straight back to Gustev headquarters to tell Akim that I know about their surveillance of Luna and the name of his weapons supplier.

I kick the car door closed, sealing the miserable bastard in his four-wheeled tomb. “Pleasure doing business with you, my friend.”