Page 13 of Twilight Sins

She smiles and holds up her hands in surrender. “Sure, sure. We all have our dirty secrets, I suppose.”

More than you will ever know.

I text him back. It’s a long story.

NIKANDR: Explain it to me later. You need to get the hell out of there. Now.

I tense up. Without being obvious, I scan the restaurant. It’s the same crowd as it was when I arrived. Couples and small families at their intimately-lit tables. The only difference is that, when I first got here, it was light enough that I could see out to the sidewalk. Now, the interior of the restaurant is reflected against the inside of the glass. Nik is behind that glass somewhere, watching.

And if he’s this panicked…

That means someone else must be watching, too.

“Is everything okay?” Luna looks over her shoulder and then back at me. “Are you looking for somebody?”

The real question is whether someone is looking for me. I ignore her question and tap Nikandr’s contact.

He answers immediately, skipping a greeting to give me the pertinent information. “Gustev Bratva.”

“How many?”

Luna is staring at me. Her brows are pinched together. I hoped to eke out a few more hours of distraction from our night together, but my ugly truths came knocking faster than I would have liked.

“Four,” he replies. “They’re two buildings down, parked in front of the deli. They came in two different cars, but shifted into one. I think they’re planning something.”

I should have expected it. Akim Gustev never did know when to call it quits. Neither did his father. I should have killed them both at the same time. Total eradication.

“You need to leave and take your girlfriend with you,” he concludes.

Luna is still watching me. She can’t hear what Nik is saying, but her head is tilted like she’s hoping she might pick up a few stray words.

I want to ask him if he’s sure the men staking out the restaurant saw us together. I never planned to take her back to my house—a hotel would’ve sufficed for the activities I had in mind—but if Akim has his men after me, a hotel is out of the question. I also don’t want to lead them back to wherever she is staying. I might as well hang a bullseye on her front door.

But I don’t have to ask. Nikandr knows what I want to know.

“The two of you might as well be the pretty display in the shop window,” he confirms. “I have a clear shot at your table. It didn’t help that you made such a scene with the drunk dude. I know what she looks like and it wouldn’t take me five minutes to figure out who she is and where she lives. She isn’t safe.”

An hour ago, I didn’t know Luna.

Now, I’ve put her life in danger just by inviting her to sit at my table.

“Get out of there,” Nik repeats. “Go through the back. I’ll meet you with the car.”

I hang up and Luna doesn’t waste a second. “Is everything okay?”

The pretty lie is sitting on the tip of my tongue. Yes, it’s fine. Eat up.

But I haven’t lied to her yet tonight and I won’t start now.

“Do I not seem okay?”

“You seem tense. And evasive.” She leans forward and places her chin in the palm of her hand. “That’s also not how anyone I know talks to their brother. It was cryptic and now, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t circle back to a few of those personal questions you avoided earlier.”

“I’d love to sit through your interrogation, but I have to leave.”

She sits tall. “Oh. Okay. Well…” She looks over the table and our half-finished dinners. There’s no hiding her disappointment. “Family comes first. I get that—even if my family is kind of a mess. Oh God, I’m not going to reopen that can of worms. Um, I hope everything is okay with your brother and?—”

“We have to leave.”

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