Page 79 of Reckless Promises

In the sunlight, the scruff on his jaw is lighter, and the wind tosses his hair over his forehead while he stares at me.

He’s quiet because he knows there’s no point in him trying to comfort me when what I said is the truth. Pretty or not.

Cillian takes a step toward me.

“It’s fine.” I step back. “I know this isn’t your fault. It’s our fathers.”

I try to brush past him again, but this time, he catches my hand, spinning me to face him. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” I snap back, harsher than I mean to.

“Just…”—he takes my other hand—“stop.”

He closes his eyes, gripping my hands tighter. I’ve seen many sides to him, but as he takes a deep breath, healmost looks vulnerable, and I’m not sure he’s ever looked quite like this.

Cillian grazes the back of my hands with his thumbs while Birdie runs around us. It’s silent this far from any road, but the birds and wind fill the emptiness. And I can’t take my eyes off Cillian, standing quietly, working through whatever he’s thinking.

Seconds pass and it feels like hours, until finally he blinks open his eyes and looks at me. “Do you want to know why I came back to the family?”

My eyebrows pinch. “Because your father died?”

He shakes his head. “When he died, my first thought was—good. I was going to sell off every last dirty business he built and finally wash our family name clean.”

“But you didn’t.”

He shakes his head. “When I received the paperwork, there were conditions attached to it. Deals that had been added to the estate sometime in the eight years I was gone. My dad had made an arrangement with Joseph Moreno, for his son to marry my sister.”

“Joey was going to marry Fallon?”

Cillian nods, and my skin crawls just thinking about it. “Those particular agreements don’t get dissolved like other assets, they either get enforced or transferred to the new controlling interest in the estate.”

“And that was you?”

If Cillian didn’t assume control of the Cross assets, Joseph Moreno could have enforced the arranged marriage between his son and Fallon. So Cillian did the one thing he never wanted. He took his father’s place.

“Does she know?”

Cillian shakes his head. “And she doesn’t need to. It’s not her burden to figure out, it’s mine.”

“Is that what Joseph Moreno was talking about when he came to the house a few weeks ago? He wants you to follow through with the deal?”

“He’s not used to losing, so yes,” Cillian says. “I won’t, but I also haven’t found a way out of it without pissing him off yet. So until I find something better to dangle in front of him to void the contract, here I am.”

“Running the family business?”

He nods.

“And then what? You’ll walk away?”

Cillian pulls me closer, and I can’t help but step to him. “That’s what I planned on. But then there was you. And then Brandon got on board with my plans. I started thinking—"

“That you could take the business legit.” I finish his thought.

He smirks at me. “Your father has no idea how smart you are, does he?”

“What makes you think that?” I try to bury my smile, even if I know he sees through it.

“Because, if he did, you’d have been running his business beside him.” He leans in and plants a kiss on my forehead, pausing a moment to breathe me in before pulling back.

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