Page 271 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

I want to be able to talk to someone, and I realize I have no one to talk to. My family is dead. My cousin betrayed me. I have no real friends.

But Cillian is sitting here in front of me, and there’s a part of me that trusts him.

There’s also a part of me that desperately craves reassurance.

And he knows Artem better than anyone else.

“I’m happy, too,” I start. “Artem means a lot to me. Our family means a lot to me. But… sometimes I don’t know whether I can trust Artem or not.”

I force the words out. Once I say them, it feels as though I’m holding my breath.

Immediately, I start second guessing myself.

Should I have shared that with Cillian?

Should I be talking to Artem instead?

“What makes you think you can’t?” Cillian asks.

“I came across something a few days ago,” I admit. “I saw a… a body. Down in the ravine.”

“It could have been a hiker who’d fallen off the trail—”

“It wasn’t,” I say immediately. “We would know. There are announcements made when hikers suffer accidents, let alone die. And there were no search parties, either. This wasn’t a hiker, Cillian.”

“Did you tell Artem about it?” Cillian asks, worry tainting his brow.

“No,” I admit. “But only because I’m fairly sure that Artem already knows.”

He puts the pieces together quickly. “You think Artem was the one who killed him.”

“Who else?” I ask, desperate for him to tell me that I’m insane for even suggesting such a thing.

But of course, he wouldn’t say that to me. Artem has killed before, in front of me.

He wasn’t about to stop simply because I’d come into his life.

“A few days before I came across the body, Artem came home covered in blood,” I explain, my voice shaky. “He told me that it was deer blood. A stag that got away. There was no body to bring home to show me.”

“Esme…”

“Why wouldn’t be tell me?” I demand. “Why would he lie?”

“If he did lie, it was probably to protect you,” Cillian says immediately.

I had been expecting that response, but it still disappoints me for reasons I cannot fully understand.

“We promised to always be honest with each other.”

Cillian gives me a look that clearly tells me how idealistic a notion that is. “Honesty is important in any relationship,” he agrees. “But it’s not always realistic.”

I sigh. “Apparently not.”

“I’m just saying, you should talk to Artem,” Cillian says. “Ask him straight out.”

“And what if he lies to me again?”

“And what if he tells you the truth?” he counters. “What if he has already told you the truth?”

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