Chapter 29
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Roman
I look at what appears to be my own reflection, if I had ever been a reformed rock star. I can feel the shock rolling off Niko too and try to think of a logical explanation. This man doesn't just resemble me, he's identical. I never heard my parents mention a twin brother, but damn it, I should have known something.
"Let's go inside. It's cold and Luna's been standing out here for quite a while," says the woman standing in front of the door to the A-frame cabin.
She has black hair tied in a top knot, cargo pants, and a white off-the-shoulder sweater. She looks completely harmless, but I see the faint outlines where she’s hiding two knives and a Kolibri pistol.
Luna's shoulders slump, dark circles shadowing her eyes, but her gaze remains steady as her fingers wrap around mine. She tugs me toward the house with quiet determination, a small gesture from her free hand beckoning Niko to follow. My mind races to make sense of the situation—her unexpected composure, the guns that remain holstered, the tension hanging in the air. Logic whispers that bullets would have already found us if death was their intention, yet questions swirl through my thoughts with each step we take.
Who the hell are these people?
I know backup will arrive soon, but the reason I've survived this long is because I've always relied on instinct, and right now there’s no alarm sounding.
The house is more like a renovated barn, with tall windows and computers and monitors everywhere.
"I'll go prepare coffee for everyone, and, Roman, you might want to radio your boys before they decide this place needs redecorating with explosives," says the woman.
Luna's body shifts closer, her heat seeping through my shirt, fingers curling into the fabric as if anchoring herself to me. God, how good it feels to have her warmth next to my body. I saw her from the gate, and my eyes have been fixed on her since. A hole could have opened in the earth and I would have crawled back from hell to get to her.
"Well, I suppose it's my turn to talk," says the man who, without any doubt in my mind now, is my twin.
The only difference in his voice is that it has a throatier tone as if he smokes heavily. I don't know why, but this thought bothers me. Hmm...
"You’d better. Niko, contact Anton and tell him to stay on standby. If he doesn't get a call from us in fifteen minutes, he can unleash the mother of all apocalypses in this forest," I say, but when I turn to my brother, I see him unable to take his eyes off the guy.
"Niko," I say in a tone I know will snap him out of any shock.
Immediately his eyes connect with mine and register the command I gave him. He takes his phone from his pocket and starts typing.
"Go ahead," I tell the guy.
I see him analyzing me for several seconds, and then his gaze lingers for too many seconds on Luna, who gives him a slight nod.
It seems to be encouragement, but the fact that the bastard still keeps his eyes trained on her bothers me. His eyes finally return to mine when he opens his mouth.
"My name is Maksim Rastovski, and I'm your brother."
The words leave his mouth, and although I hear them, my brain processes them with a delay.
"How have I not known about your existence until now?" I ask, frustrated because not even for a second did I suspect anything.
My parents, although it's a bad joke to call them parents, were beside me throughout my childhood. They didn't miss a single birthday, not a single significant moment for me. Where the hell did they keep this man?
At that moment, the black-haired woman reappears with a tray full of coffees and walks to Maksim's side. Instantly, his posture becomes more relaxed, and when he looks at her...I'll be damned. It's the same look I'm sure I give Luna every time I look at her. It's something between adoring and protective. It's the kind of look that screams you'd burn the world down for that person. I see the same thing in her eyes, and somehow, that relaxes me and, more strangely...makes me happy.
"Thirty-two years ago, Maria Borisov found out that one of the children she was going to have had a heart defect. Alexei Borisov decided he couldn't have a child with such a weakness, so he placed me in an orphanage in Moscow and returned to his wife and healthy child," he says, and the words are spoken so clinically, so calculatedly, as if the facts he's telling me hadn't definitively steered the course of his life.
"You seem healthy," are the first words Niko says, and when I look at him, I see the shock has passed and he's entered business mode.
Everyone thinks Niko is just good with numbers, but he's also the man who can destroy you at poker precisely because he knows how to read situations and people so well.
"I didn't say the heart defect was inoperable, just that the great head of the Borisov family didn't want this weakness in his bloodline," he says, the last part loaded with poison, and it makes me smile slightly.
The hatred toward our father is something we have in common, and what's sad is that I’m not at all surprised by what he told me. Alexei Borisov would rather set himself on fire than let rumors circulate that one of his sons has serious health problems. The man taught us that any weakness will bury you, but giving your own son up for adoption seems excessive, even for him.
"Who paid for your operation?" I ask because it's hard for me to believe that an orphanage in Moscow would have had the money necessary for such an expensive intervention.
"Maria Borisov," he answers while reaching for his coffee mug.
At least one of them had a shred of decency not to abandon him completely. I look at Niko and know he's thinking the same thing. Alexei probably expected Maksim to die within weeks.
Maksim’s phone rings, and when he answers, he speaks in Russian with someone. I catch only pieces of the conversation, but I know something exploded somewhere. He barely hangs up before he’s texting someone.
There are so many things I want to ask him, but somehow I feel I know the answers without needing to ask. They're written on his body and face, so my only curiosity right now remains focused on the reason for this encounter.
"Why did you need Luna?"
Clearly she was brought here for a reason.
His eyes fix on Luna, and some sort of silent communication passes between them. The level of intimacy they seem to have after only knowing each other for a few hours grates on my nerves.
"Luna will tell you about it, but I think it's time for you to leave," he tells me in a slightly bored tone.
"We're not done talking, brother ," I toss back at him in a tone that I'm sure shows my irritation at his attitude.
"Agreed, but one of your weapons warehouses just exploded and I think you should see what that's about," he says, and when I look closely at him, I realize he's serious.
That call wasn't about him, but about me. And then some pieces of this puzzle start to fall into place.
"You're the one who sent me the anonymous tip about the truck driver," I say.
His sly smile and the glint in his eye are all the confirmation I need.
"Ro, come on!" Niko's voice breaks my train of thought.
"This discussion is far from over. I assume you know where our offices are. Tomorrow morning, I expect you there," I say, and with that I grab Luna's hand and get the hell out of there.
?
All the tension from the last few hours has gathered in every muscle in my body, and I feel tension in my posture as I drive us out of the forest.
"Roman, are you okay?"
Luna asks the question almost in a whisper, and when I glance at her in the rearview mirror, I see so much sympathy…and something else I don't want to define yet, afraid to name feelings I don't know much about.
"Now that you're a few inches from me, yes," I say and see a smile curving her lips. It's the type of smile that reaches her eyes, and I’m consoled by the fact that we didn't have to massacre anyone to recover her.
"Niko, I need details on what the hell happened at the warehouse, but first I want to take Luna home."
Niko still seems lost in thought, but he pulls out his phone and starts firing off messages.
"What did he say his last name was?" my younger brother's voice sounds throughout the car, and I look at him, trying to remember.
"Rastovski," Luna answers.
That's when both Niko and I realize that this is the same last name as the man from Russia who Ilya suspects is backing the Irish. We'll have a lot to discuss tomorrow.
"Why did he need you, Luna?" I ask, because I can't wait another second without knowing.
I see her face go pale, and taking a breath, she answers so quickly I almost don’t understand.
"He needed me to kill someone."
My intense focus on driving is the only thing that keeps me from swerving across the road, but I register Niko's shock at Luna's statement.
I give her time to find her own words, and after a few moments, she continues in a more normal tone.
"My former job was at a company that produces internal cardiac defibrillators. The company never deletes digital signatures from the system. It's an error in their security. He needed me to go in and deactivate one of these devices," she says, and the words slip easily from her lips, but I know Luna.
It wasn't a decision she made lightly. Something convinced her to do this.
"Why?" I ask, and I know she understands the meaning behind the question.
How did he manage to convince her to do this? Because I know deep down to the marrow of my bones that she would have preferred to be killed than to be made to kill an innocent person, so clearly that person did something to deserve death.
"He's Maksim's adoptive father. Apparently he's involved in human trafficking, and when Julia mentioned what happens to little girls and boys around him...and then when I looked at Maksim…" she answers, her voice trailing off to a whimper and tears gathering in her eyes.
"Piece of garbage." Niko's voice is a murmur.
I know I'll learn more tomorrow, but it's enough for now. I don't know Maksim, but I can tell he went through torture just from looking at him.
The fact that that trash abused him has me seeing red again, and I feel the need to breathe deeply, so as not to do something stupid.
After driving for several minutes, my gaze returns to the rearview mirror, to Luna sitting in the back seat. She has traces of tears on her cheeks and seems tired, but apart from that, I don't notice any physical injuries. Still, I feel an unease that doesn't let me relax. I use my phone to send a quick message to Kai to come to my house for a consultation.
Luna and I need to discuss everything that happened today, but the explosion is my priority now. I already know it's Devin's work, probably in retaliation after failing to kidnap the woman behind me. How the hell does he always manage to attack our warehouses? We have soldiers and state-of-the-art technology monitoring the entire perimeter.
When I park in front of the house, I get out with Luna because all I want is to see her safely inside. Niko continues shouting on the phone in the car, demanding details and trying to prevent any information about the warehouse from appearing in the press.
Anuska waits for us in the entryway with a worried look. The poor woman seems to have aged twenty years in a few hours, but I recognize that this comes from her affection for Luna, and I can only appreciate her concern.
"Ro, thank heaven you've made it home safely," she says, looking at me while hugging Luna, who lets out a slight "Oof." I can see her trying to mask her pain with a smile while returning Anuska's embrace.
"Where does it hurt, love?" I ask and hope my tone makes it clear I won't accept a lie this time.
"I had a dislocated shoulder from the accident, but Julia reset it. I still feel a slight pain...but it's mild, Roman," she answers calmly, cupping my face in her hands.
For a moment I close my eyes and breathe in her scent. It's a jasmine fragrance that works like a balm for my nerves that wanted to spill blood a few hours ago.
"Anuska, please prepare some soup for Luna. Kai will be coming to check on her," I tell the housekeeper, and then I take the hand of the woman who constantly makes me lose control and lead her to the bedroom.
I know Niko is waiting for me in the car, but I want a few moments alone with Luna. The demon in me wants to be enveloped in her for at least a few seconds without prying eyes.
When we enter the room, she exhales in relief and turns toward me. Instantly we both close the distance between us and our lips touch. It's not a brutal or passionate kiss. It's a slow kiss meant to soothe the beast that went crazy in the hours she was gone. It's a kiss meant to cool the lava in my blood that made me lose reason. If someone had asked me at that moment to sign away everything I have just to get her back, I know I would have done it.
Normally such a realization would have terrified me, this lack of control over reason, but now there's a sense of calm in the certainty that this woman is the cornerstone of my control. Without her there is no control, no logic; I cease to exist.
Her lips deepen the kiss, seeking more, and when our tongues touch, a moan escapes her. That sound is enough to make me forget about Niko and the explosion, and I start running my fingertips over her back under the blouse she's wearing. Her skin is so warm, and I feel her scars burning under my touch.
"Roman..."
It's more of a breath, but I know the scars still upset her, so I stop. I rest my forehead against hers, looking straight into those green eyes that brought my beast to its knees.
"I have to leave, but when I return, love, I will kiss every mark, every scar, every scratch, and you'll understand that there isn't a part of you that I don't find perfect."
I kiss her again slowly, pressing gently on her lips, and feel her hands clutching my shirt in her fists.
Every touch from this woman is enough to make me think of her naked and trembling beneath me. Now she's safe and I need to deal with the other problems.
"Wake me when you return. We need to talk," she tells me and places a kiss on my cheek.
I can kiss her in the most depraved ways, undress her in front of me, have sex until I'm sure Anuska hears every scream, but it's this kiss that makes her cheeks redden in the most adorable way.
Again, my heart clenches in my chest when I look at her.
"If that's what you want. Go take a shower before Kai arrives," I tell her, and with that I head for the door.
When I get in the car, Niko looks like he's ready to kill someone.
My expression urges him to speak, and his words are enough to reawaken the demon that, for those few minutes with Luna, had calmed down.
"I think I know who the mole is."