Page 74 of Twilight Sins

I thought we were getting to a place where he’d start letting me in. Emotionally but also on a practical level. Things like “Who the fuck is after me?” would be a good place to start. How long can he keep me here alone and in the dark?

I don’t want to think that Yakov spending time with me and playing games was a trick. But if it was a trick… it would be a really, really good one. I let my guard down. Now, I’m so busy being twisted up over him that I’m not thinking about when I’m finally going to get the hell out of here.

I pour food into Gregory’s dish, which is my cat’s version of a siren call. Fifteen seconds later, Gregory comes running down the hallway, tail high, ears up.

“Food is definitely the way to your stomach,” I mumble.

Gregory ignores me and dives to the bottom of his bowl. He hasn’t been as cuddly since he got to the mansion. I suspect he’s getting his daily dose of cuddles from another, much more muscular member of the household. But I haven’t confirmed that theory. Yet.

I’m thinking about whether I could order and set up cameras of my own. Maybe a cat collar camera to catch Gregory and Yakov in the act. And then I realize what I’m doing.

“Human interaction,” I say to myself. “I need human interaction.”

I march towards Yakov’s office door before I can stop myself.

I’ll ask him if I can call Kayla. Just a phone call. Preferably one where he isn’t leaning over my shoulder to make sure everything I say is approved. Ten minutes of talking to my best friend might pull me out of this funk and give me some perspective.

Kay makes up for her terrible taste in potential suitors for me by being a rock-solid support system. She told me once she always has an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and an uncle with a woodchipper if the first two don’t help.

I stop outside of Yakov’s office door and raise my hand to knock—just as I hear my name on the other side.

“This has nothing to do with Luna,” Yakov growls.

I didn’t see anyone go into his office. He must be on the phone.

Turn around, I tell myself. Walk away and give him his privacy.

Instead, I lean in closer and press my ear to the door.

I wait, but I don’t hear anything inside. No voices. No movement. Maybe being alone in this house is making me crazy. I’m having hallucinations.

I’m about to stand up again and knock when the door suddenly flies open. Yakov’s broad shoulders fill the door frame. “What are you doing?”

I jump back and smile. “I was coming to see you.”

“Hard to do that through a wooden door.” One brow angles up. He might as well shine a flashlight in my face and snarl that we can do this “the easy way or the hard way.”

“I was about to knock.”

“I don’t like to be interrupted when I’m working.” He steps out of the room and pulls the door closed behind him. “Do you need something?”

Human companionship. A hug. A time machine so I can go back and undo approaching your office in the first place.

“I wanted to say hi.” I rock from my heels to toes and back again. “So… hi.”

I could ask him about calling Kayla, but I know what the answer would be. I gave the slightest tug on the leash and he’s acting like he caught me climbing out a window or scaling the fences. Asking to talk to Kayla would set off too many alarm bells.

Yakov presses his hand to my lower back and leads me down the hallway. “I have to leave for a bit. If you need anything, talk to someone on staff or security. They can help you.”

Don’t call me. That’s what he’s really saying. If you need something, talk to someone else.

Yakov leaves me a few steps away from the bedroom. Like he doesn’t want to get too close. “I’ll be back later.”

I wave and smile. But the moment the front door clicks closed, I make my way back across the house to his office.

He always locks the door behind him. I’ve seen him do it.

But he didn’t lock it just now.