Page 80 of Gilded in Blood

She studies me, searching my face. Then another thought seems to strike her. She folds her arms tighter around herself.

“And sleeping with me?”

Every muscle in my body goes rigid.

“Was that part of the assignment too?”

“No.”

She waits.

“I never touched you because Michael wanted me to.”

“Then why?”

I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.

Because the answer has been staring me in the face for days, and I’ve been too much of a coward to admit it.

“You asked why I stopped giving Michael information.”

I hold her gaze.

“You asked why I never carried out the rest of the plan.”

She nods once.

I let out a slow breath. “Because somewhere along the way…” The words catch in my throat. “…you stopped being a job.”

Confusion flickers across her face. “I don’t understand.”

“It means…” I rub a hand over my jaw. “It means every decision I made after meeting you stopped making sense.”

She looks confused. “What does that mean?”

I swallow hard. The words feel foreign on my tongue, but they’re true. “It means I’m falling for you, Milana.”

The silence that follows is deafening.

“You’re not a mission anymore.” I hold her gaze, refusing to look away. “You haven’t been for a long time.”

She stares at me, eyes wide, like she can’t believe what I just said. And honestly, I can barely believe it myself.

But it’s the truth. And now there’s no taking it back.

She stares at me for a long moment, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“You shouldn’t lie to me,” she says, voice cracking. “Stop lying to me, Ilya. Or Kirill. Or whoever you are. You’ve lied to me enough.”

“I’m not lying.”

She scoffs.

“You expect me to believe that? After everything? After pretending to be someone else? After living with me day after day and looking me in the eye while you lied?”

“I know.”

“You don’t get to tell me you’ve suddenly developed feelings for me.”