Page 83 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

I groan and curse in Russian. “Passossee mayee yaitsa, are you fucking serious?”

“That’s why I’m here in the first place,” Cillian tells me. “I’m here to wrangle you and bring you in. We can even go to The Siren. I know how much you love that club.”

I tense slightly, searching his face for clues.

But there are none. He still doesn’t know why I’d been frequenting The Siren so often the last several months.

Which means he doesn’t know that my interest in The Siren has disappeared now that Esme has re-entered the picture.

“I’m not in the mood for a club tonight, Cillian.”

Cillian’s smile drops instantly. “Well, too fucking bad! You don’t have a choice. This bachelor party is happening. And if you wanna call it off, you’ll have to go down and tell Budimir and the boys yourself.”

I raise my eyebrows. “My uncle is downstairs?”

“Big time,” Cillian nods. “You wanna tell the second biggest boss in this business that he’s not gonna get to party because you’re on the fucking rag?”

“Right, because my presence is essential for Budimir to enjoy himself. He owns half the clubs in the goddamn town. He can party whenever he wants.”

“Don’t be a prick,” Cillian says. “Just come to the club with us. We’ll drink a little, dance a little, fuck a little, and then it’ll be over and you can be a boring celibate married guy if you want. Okay?”

The corner of my mouth twitches up in a smile even as I exhale frustratedly. “Jesus. Fine. You’re in a goddamnmood.”

“Yes!” Cillian smiles, punching the air. “Let’s get going.”

I stand and reach for my jacket. Cillian turns and whistles slowly as I put it on.

“Fucking hell, nowthat’sa jacket. No way you picked that shit out yourself.”

I grin. The jacket is one of the flashier ones I own, but it works. Fine leather in a deep rust red hue and flawless craftmanship with every stitch.

Not every man could pull it off.

But I’m not every man.

Cillian and I take the elevator down to the lobby. When the doors open, there’s a huge crew waiting for me on the other side, with my uncle heading the pack.

He throws his arms open when he sees me, a tilted smile on his chapped lips.

“It’s time to say goodbye to the days of whoring and drinking, my boy,” he tells me as I walk towards him.

I smirk at him. “Is that so? I wasn’t aware that whoring and drinking put a stop to anything. As I recall, you’ve been married three times and nothing ever stopped for you.”

Budimir laughs and shrugs. “Your father and I are Kovalyov men,” he says. “Our appetites are tremendous. One woman will never be enough for us.”

He claps me on the back but it feels almost like a rebuke. I know he’s referring to the fact that during my marriage to Marisha, I was faithful only to her, something that my uncle had never truly understood.

“As I’m sure you will never be enough for any woman,” I bite back, softening my words with a smile.

My uncle just laughs it off and pushes me towards the waiting procession of vehicles outside.

Budimir, Cillian, and I get into one of the SUVs together and head off towards the Siren.

I’m not thrilled about going there, but I figure Cillian has made plans and I don’t want to disrupt them.

More to the point, I just want to get through this night as fast as possible so I can be done with it once and for all.

“So,” Budimir says, giving me a salacious smile, “how’s the girl?”

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