Page 160 of Twilight Sins

I shake my head. “A perimeter is still a risk. Akim will be watching everything leading up to the opening.”

“What do you suggest then?”

“You and me. That’s it.”

Nik’s eyes widen, excitement coursing through him. “We’re making this hit ourselves?”

I can’t imagine sending anyone else in my stead. Not after everything Akim has done to my family. It needs to be me.

I nod. “We go in alone and we tell no one. The more people who know the plan, the more likely it is that Akim gets a heads-up. If he does, that fucking rat won’t show his face again anytime soon. It’ll be months before we get another good shot at him. Which is why, when we take this one, we won’t fucking miss.”

Nik stands up. “I’ll do as much recon as possible—exits, entrances, security, the surrounding area. The more we know, the cleaner this kill can be.”

“Good. Meeting with Akim’s dealer and finding an in that way can be a backup, but for now, we focus on a hit two days out.”

“Two days out.” Nik grins, shaking his head. “Fucking finally.”

I try to share in his excitement, but I can’t quite get there. I never thought killing Akim would be bittersweet, but now, it’s tangled up in Luna leaving. Once he’s dead, there won’t be any reason for her to be here. She’ll leave and this house will go back to the way it’s been since my father was killed.

Quiet.

Lonely.

Suddenly, the door to my office flings open and Mariya is standing there. “Family meeting?”

On second thought, maybe it won’t exactly be quiet and lonely…

“Bratva business,” Nik corrects, trying to push the door closed. “Get out.”

Mariya squeezes through just in time. “I’m Bratva.”

Nik snorts. “Being part of our family doesn’t make you a soldier, little sister.”

She sticks her tongue out at Nik. “I deserve to know what’s going on.”

Nik opens his mouth to argue, but I wave him off. The two of them could go back and forth for hours. We don’t have that kind of time.

“Do what you need to do,” I tell him. “I’ll handle this.”

Nik slips through the door and Mariya turns to me. “I’m not a ‘problem’ that needs to be ‘handled.’”

“If that was true, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“I want to know what’s going on.”

I shake my head. “It’s safer for you if you don’t know.”

“No. Nuh-uh.” She perches on the arm of the chair Nik was just sitting in. “I didn’t know anything last week and I snuck out of the house and got kidnapped by a pedo. I think we’ve learned that it’s safer when you keep me in the loop.”

“No,” I grit out. “We’ve learned it’s safer when you don’t fucking sneak out of the house.”

“I wouldn’t have snuck out if anyone in this house treated me like an adult! You all act like I’m some little kid. I’m not. When Dad was killed, I was kept in the dark. No one told me we were in danger. Even afterward, I didn’t know what happened.”

Mariya watched our father die. Nik tried to keep her back, but she fought her way towards where our father was dying in my arms. She saw it all. I never talked to her about it afterward because she’d already seen enough. Why relive it again and again?

She leans forward, eyes pleading. “If we’re in danger, Yakov, I deserve to know.”

“We’re one of the most powerful crime families in the world, Mariya. We’re always in danger.”

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