Page 89 of Gilded in Blood

“Yeah. There’s something about him… I can feel he might be onto something. So to throw him off, I need to give him a bone. Something that makes him believe I’m still working for him.”

She studies my face. “So what are you going to do?”

I hesitate for a second, then sigh. “I’ll think of something.”

She gives me that look, the serious one that says she knows me too well now. “We already had this conversation. Don’t keep anything from me.”

I let out a breath, threading my fingers through her hair. “I’m not hiding anything from you. I just don’t want to burden you with this.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Because I’m a woman? You think I can’t handle it?”

“No,” I say firmly. “It’s because I don’t want to put more on your shoulders. But fine. I’m going to tell your brothers to give me a fake shipment route. Something convincing I can pass to Michael. It’ll make him think I’m still on his side while we gather more ammunition against him. It’ll buy us time.”

She searches my eyes. “Do you think my brothers will agree?”

“They have no choice. It’s the only way to keep Michael off our trail for now.”

She nods slowly, relaxing against me again. I hold her closer, breathing in her scent, letting the quiet moment stretch between us.

I look down at her, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “How was your day?”

She sighs softly, leaning into my touch. “It was okay. I took my classes and did some volunteer work. Maria was buried today.”

I can see the sadness in her eyes, even though she’s gradually come to accept that Maria’s death wasn’t her fault. It’s still there, that quiet grief, that lingering guilt she carries for the women she tries so hard to help. It breaks something in me to see her like this.

I kiss her forehead, holding her a little tighter. “I’m sorry, baby. I know it hurts.”

She nods against my chest, and we stay like that for a while, just holding each other in the quiet. No words. Just the steady rhythm of her breathing and the warmth of her body against mine.

Then her stomach rumbles loudly.

“Someone's hungry,” I chuckle.

She pulls back, cheeks turning red with embarrassment. “I… might have skipped lunch. And I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner.”

I chuckle softly, running my hand down her back. “Okay. How about we order in? Chinese sound good?”

She smiles. “I would love that.”

I order the food, and when it arrives, we curl up on the couch together, eating straight from the containers while some mindless show plays on the TV. It feels normal. Domestic. The kind of evening I never thought I’d want, but now I crave it with her.

By the time we’re done eating, she climbs onto my lap, straddling me, her hands resting on my shoulders. Her eyes are dark with need as she looks at me.

“I want to ride you,” she whispers.

I groan, hands gripping her hips. “You know I can never say no to you.”

Later that night, with Milana asleep in my arms, my phone vibrates on the nightstand.

It's a text from Michael: Ilya's been handled.

I stare at the screen for a moment before locking my phone. I know exactly what he means.

Milana

Ever since Kirill told me the truth about who he really is, something between us has changed.

The walls he always kept around himself are slowly coming down. He smiles more. He talks more. The constant tension that used to sit on his shoulders isn’t there as much anymore.