Twilight Sins (Kulikov Bratva Book 1)

The decision to break into Mariya’s phone isn’t one I take lightly.

She’ll be a nightmare if she finds out and the last thing I need is for her to start being more unpredictable.

The only person she talks to nowadays is Luna. I’m the one who pushed the two of them together, so I have only myself to blame, but I still think it was a smart move. The problem is that Mariya is confiding in Luna, so she doesn’t have to tell me shit.

Therefore, bugging her phone to make sure she isn’t planning to flee into the night and never come back is my only option.

I scroll around and don’t find anything more incriminating than a few texts between her and her friends in Moscow and a string of unanswered texts from our mother. Nothing alarming.

I almost don’t check her call log at all. I’ve never seen Mariya actually use her voice to make a call. But I’m nothing if not thorough.

The only call she’s made in the last five days is to a number not in her contact list.

A number I instantly recognize.

My hand tightens around the phone just as I hear footsteps behind me. “There you are,” Luna says. “You didn’t sleep in your room again. I’m starting to wonder if I smell or⁠—”

I grab Luna by the arm and spin her against me. She yelps, but the sound dies in her throat when I cage her between my body and the countertop.

“When did you steal my sister’s phone?” I growl.

“I didn’t steal anything. What are you talking about?”

She tries to shake me off, but I pin her down with my hips and hold up Mariya’s phone. “I know you called Kayla.”

Emotions flicker across Luna’s face almost too fast to read. “I didn’t steal anything.”

“But you did call Kayla,” I confirm. “You fucking lied to me.”

“No. No, I didn’t.”

“What do you call this?” I roar.

She stretches onto her toes, her body sliding against mine. The friction is really undercutting how pissed I am at her. I inch back, but Luna closes the gap. “Mariya let me borrow her phone. She thought I should talk to my friend. I didn’t tell Kayla anything at all.”

“Bullshit. Why call her if you aren’t passing information?”

“Have you ever heard of having friends?” Luna throws her hands up in frustration. “I was proving to her that you haven’t tossed me in some dungeon and thrown away the key. And don’t worry, I didn’t tell her about when you did actually lock me up in some dungeon and throw away the key.”

I grimace. “You’re making me regret the decision to let you out every day.”

Her eyes narrow. “You may find this hard to believe, but people in my real life care about me. They want to make sure I’m okay.”

Real life. As if everything here has been some vacation from reality. Some break before she goes back to her shitty apartment and her shitty job and her shitty blind dates set up by her shitty best friend.

“There is no ‘real life’ without me. Don’t you get that? The only reason you’re still here is because I’m keeping you alive.” I snap. “Do your friends realize that a man was waiting outside your apartment the morning after we met? If they knew how quickly he would have shot you in the head and left you to die on the sidewalk, they’d be thanking me for everything I’ve done for you.”

Luna’s eyes are wide and her skin is pale. Fuck, I scared her.

I need her to wake up and realize how serious things are. She’s in danger and she needs to start fucking acting like it. But the look on her face dims the fire in my chest. I don’t want to lock her in a room; I want to drag her against my chest.

I take a concerted step back, my teeth grinding with the effort it takes to pull myself away. “Running away is a bad idea. If you leave this house, you’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Do you really think I’m trying to run away?”

“You’re sneaking around to call your friend and tricking my little sister into using her phone. Running away seems like the next step.”

“You think I’m—You told me to get close with Mariya. I’m doing that to help you.”

“And helping yourself along the way,” I bite out. “You’re smart, Luna. No survival instincts to speak of, but you know how to manipulate a situation to your advantage.”

She shrieks in sheer frustration. “You are so annoying!”

“Feeling is mutual.”

She jabs a finger into my chest. “Do you know how easily I could have run away if I wanted to? I went on a jog twice this week and there weren’t any guards at the gates. I could have hopped the fence and been gone before anyone realized. Even before you realized. Easy enough since you haven’t been around much.”

She’s right. In the beginning, I had all eyes turned inward. I wanted to know where Luna was and what she was doing at all times. At some point, I stopped worrying about Luna leaving and became way more worried about someone taking her instead.

When the fuck did that happen?

“Your sister offered me her phone. It was a nice gesture and I wanted her to know I appreciated it,” Luna continues. “I called Kayla, told her I was safe, and gave the phone right back to Mariya. She was there for the entire call. End of story.”

“Not ‘end of story.’ Now, Kayla has my sister’s cell phone number.”

“So?” Luna shrugs. “What is Kayla going to do with that?”

“I have no fucking idea. That’s the problem.” I spin away from her, pacing off the energy that sizzles under my skin anytime Luna is around. “I could have Nikandr grab Kayla and bring her to the house for questioning. That would be the easiest way to figure out what she’s up to.”

Suddenly, Luna is in front of me, her hand flat on my chest. “You think kidnapping her is the easiest solution? Really? You need a new go-to Option A.”

I grab her wrist and throw her hand off of me. I still feel the warm impression of her fingers against my skin. “It’s either kidnapping or I kill her before she can go to the police.”

Luna blanches. “The entire reason I called her is so she wouldn’t go to the police. She’ll only go to the police if she thinks I’m in danger. Do you know what helps convince her I’m not in danger?” She presses onto her tiptoes and gets in my face. “Regular contact. You’re welcome.”

I snort. “I’m supposed to thank you for lying to me?”

“Sure. The same way I’m supposed to thank you for stealing my phone and locking me in a bedroom.” She plants her fists on her hips and glares up at me. “Not a fun thing to hear, is it?”

We stare daggers at each other for a few seconds, until the energy under my skin begins to burn. My gaze shifts from her narrowed eyes to her full, pink mouth.

Before I can wrap my hand around her neck, pin her to the wall, rip that skirt up over her hips, and empty all of this tension into her, I grab Mariya’s phone and tap the most recent call.

Luna blinks like she’s coming out of a daze. “What are you doing?”

I don’t respond. I just place the phone on speaker and lay it on the countertop. It rings three times before Kayla’s voice erupts out of the tinny speaker. “Luna! Mr. Stockholm let you call me twice in the same week. Is this your reward for good behavior?”

I arch a brow and look to Luna. “Mr. Stockholm?”

She presses a palm to her forehead. “Hi, Kayla. It’s Luna… and Yakov. You’re on speakerphone.”

“Fuck. Sorry. Could have led with that,” Kayla mumbles. “It would’ve saved us all this weird moment.”

I turn the speaker off and grab the phone. “Now that you know Luna is alive, the two of us can talk.”

“Hey!” Luna swipes for the phone. “She’s my friend.”

I snag her hand out of the air and twirl her around until she smacks against me with a heavy exhale. “Which is exactly why I need to clear her,” I hiss in her ear.

She wriggles in protest and I have to shift her off to the side before I revert back to my original plan and fuck her against the fridge.

“God, you two are so not normal,” Kayla says. “Are you fighting?”

“Everything with Luna is a fight. She’s your friend. You should know this.”

“I mean, not really. Luna has always been the quiet one. Not boring,” she’s quick to add. “Just… reserved.”

I look down at Luna’s blonde head as she tries to squirm her way out from under my arm. “I suppose I just bring it out in her.”

Luna jabs me in the ribs. “Stop talking about me.”

I grab her other wrist and hold both of her hands in one of mine, her body still wedged under my arm.

“Kayla, I’m calling to tell you that things will get very bad if you go to the police.”

“Says the kidnapper,” Kayla mutters. “Are you going to try to convince me the cops are crooked or something?”

“Of course they are. But even if they weren’t, I’d say the same things. It will get very ugly for you if you start talking to the wrong people.”

There’s a long pause before she whistles. “You are a real piece of work.”

“I’m keeping your friend alive. Without me, she’d be dead,” I grit out. “If you’re going to get in my way, then⁠—”

“I’m not getting in anyone’s way. Luna told me that she trusts you with her life. If she feels that strongly about it, then I have no choice but to trust her judgment. No matter what my intuition is screaming at me.”

Luna trusts me with her life.

It’s in direct contrast with the way she’s fighting like a fucking banshee to get free right now. But if she said it to her best friend in private, it’s probably true.

I make a spontaneous decision. “If you really feel that way, then you can come to the house for a visit.”

Luna instantly stops fighting. She looks up at me, blue eyes wide. “What?”

Kayla echoes the sentiment. “What?”

“I’ll send a car,” I tell her. “Be ready in an hour.”

Before I can even hang up, Luna’s arms are around my neck. She buries her face in the crook of my shoulder and breathes, “Thank you, Yakov.”