Page 55 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

Cillian shrugs. “I don’t know, you just look…” He trails off without finishing his sentence.

I turn to him with one raised eyebrow. “Are youtryingto annoy me?”

He throws me a shit-eating smile. “Nope. Just naturally good at it.”

I roll my eyes and move down the jet so I can sit down. Cillian follows behind me and takes the seat opposite.

I glance out the window. We’re cruising through cotton candy clouds smudged bronze with sunlight.

“How long ‘till we arrive?” I ask.

“Couple of hours.”

I nod and stare out the window again as though I’ve never seen clouds before.

I can feel Cillian glancing at me every now and again, but I try and block him out.

The Irish bastard is the closest thing to a brother I have. Which means, when something’s up with me, he usually knows.

So, of course, he’s onto something now.

But I’m just not willing to talk about it.

I haven’t even told him about the fact that I’ve met Esme before. That I’vefuckedEsme before.

I don’t know why I don’t tell him, but somehow, it feels like a secret I want to keep to myself.

At least for now.

“It’s normal to be nervous, you know.”

I turn to Cillian, trying to figure out where his train of thought has landed. “What?”

Cillian shrugs and rubs his knees with his hands like he’s trying to get comfortable. “I’m just saying… marriage. It’s big.”

I scowl. If he thinks he’s about to improv as my marriage counselor, he’s got another thing coming.

“It’s not big,” I retort. “Doesn’t mean shit.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, totally, of course. One hundred percent. Absolutely.”

I can feel his incredulity from here.

I sigh and turn to him again.

“This is business, Cillian,” I remind him. “This marriage isn’t something either one of us asked for. It’s not real. It’s just… an alliance.”

“An alliance?” Cillian repeats.

“Well, a slightly one-sided alliance,” I admit. “But fuck, life isn’t fair. She should learn that now if she hasn’t already.”

A slight smirk crosses Cillian’s face. “Fair, it is not. I will agree with you there. But as far as forced marriages go… you got lucky, hombre.”

“If you say something like ‘She’s fuckable,’ I’m ejecting you out of the plane myself.”

“Fuckable?” Cillian echoes in disbelief. He disregards my threat completely, as per usual. “Come on, dude, you can’t tell me that she’s not one of the most beautiful women you’ve ever laid eyes on.”

I shrug my shoulders and try not to glance over in her direction. She’s still sleeping soundly. I’m pretty sure she’ll stay that way until the plane lands.

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