Page 35 of Twilight Sins

I know what to expect from everyone else in my life. But Luna is an unknown. She doesn’t know enough to be afraid of me…

Yet.

“Do you treat everyone in your life like this?” Luna snaps. “You said you have a family, but the only people I’ve seen around here are people you’ve hired. Where is everyone else?”

“That’s not something you need to know.”

She groans. “Okay, Mr. Keeper of Knowledge, what do you think I need to know?”

“For right now, the only thing you need to know is that you’re safe in this house.”

“It’s like fucking Groundhog Day around here,” she mutters. She starts to turn away, but then stops and faces me again. “Fine. You want me to stay in your house, I’ll stay. No more escaping?—”

“You can’t escape.”

She narrows her eyes. “No more trying to escape, then. But, on one condition.”

“I have no fucking clue why you think you’re in a position to barter with me.”

“I’m an optimist.” She shrugs. “Also, I want to wear something aside from this stupid dress and heels.”

“I can buy you clothes.”

She shakes her head. “I want my clothes. You can come with me if you need to, but I want to go to my apartment and?—”

“Absolutely not.”

Akim has probably figured out the soldier he planted outside of her apartment building isn’t reporting back. He might even know that he’s dead by this point. I made it look like a suicide for the authorities, but Akim will know better. If he’s smart, he’ll put someone with a bit more discretion on the job.

Point being, if Luna gets within three blocks of her apartment, Akim will know.

I can’t risk that.

“Just for an hour,” she pleads. “I want to grab some of my stuff. Clothes, makeup, my computer, my cat.”

I shake my head. “No fucking way. You aren’t bringing a cat into my house.”

“But Gregory will die if nobody is there to feed him!”

She has got to be kidding. “Who names their cat Gregory?”

“Someone whose first crush was Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday.” She lifts her chin, not nearly as embarrassed as I think she should be. “It’s a good name. Noble.”

“Noble or not, your godforsaken cat isn’t going to hack up hairballs all over my house.”

“He only does that, like, once every few weeks. It’s not even a big deal!” She grabs my arm, her fingers wrapped gently around my wrist. Her blue eyes are wide and desperate. “Please, Yakov. I’ll make sure he doesn’t make a mess. You won’t even notice him.”

Pets have never made sense to me. You spend time and money taking care of them, and for what? They’re a burden, at best.

Luna is also a burden. And she’ll be an even bigger one if I refuse. I see the path forward: I leave Gregory to rot, Luna cries bloody murder, and my life becomes more complicated.

Plus, a cat could keep her busy. She’ll be so busy scooping up his shit that I’ll have five fucking minutes of peace to figure out how I’m going to eradicate Akim Gustev.

“Fine.”

She jumps up and down, still holding onto my arm. I’m less focused on the way my body is moving and much more focused on hers. The dress isn’t doing much to hold her in place. Things are bouncing and shaking and… oh, fucking hell, it might be nice if she put on some different clothes. Like a parka.

I jerk my arm out of her grip. “But you can’t leave the mansion. I’ll send someone to your apartment to get what you need.”

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