Page 20 of Reckless Promises

I’m not sure where my backbone is coming from when it will probably get me in trouble, but I can’t seem to help it when my sass gets me a reaction from this otherwise coldhearted man.

“Exactly,” he agrees with me.

Asshole.

I don’t know if he means it or if he’s just trying to piss me off, but my teeth grind at his confirmation.

Being used for sex like Sascha planned was hard enough to consider. But to be tied to someone who is repulsed by me—who wants me to be their trophy while they screw around behind my back—is sickening for other reasons.

Of all the things my mother trained me for, it wasn’t to be treated like I’m invisible. All my worst fears are coming to life.

Not mattering at all.

Now I’m going to die a mafia wife with zero importance—a virgin one at that.

“Something else on your mind?” Cillian’s back to scrolling through his phone, but he clearly doesn’t miss that I’m staring at him.

I roll my shoulders back. “It’s very brave of you, that’s all.”

“What is?”

“Sharing a bed with me. What makes you think I won’t kill you in your sleep?”

He glances over, those gunmetal eyes spearing through me, before the smallest tick in the corner of his mouth fights through. “That’s your choice to make, Clover. But word of advice…”

“Yeah?”

Cillian leans closer, and even though there’s still a gap of space between us, I feel every ounce of his attention. “Don’t miss.”

I swallow, and his glance moves to my throat before he once more goes back to his phone. He probably assumes I won’t—and I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to—but it doesn’t mean I can’t keep him on his toes.

Laying down, I pull the blanket up over my shoulders. It was hard enough trying to sleep when it was just me in this bed. And now, with Cillian beside me, he’s all I hear. All I smell. He’s static in the air making the hair on the back of my neck stand on its ends.

Closing my eyes, I try to focus on anything but the man beside me—a man who’s going to be my husband in less than a day.

I remember when I was still young and thought there was a chance my father would let me marry for love. I thought if I behaved and found someone I cared about, who could also benefit him, he’d approve.

I remember when I was still a dreamer. When the Bardot estate was an opportunity, not my fortress. Then I woke up. And I learned that love was never in the cards for me.

And now I’ll be the wife of a man who couldn’t care less. At least, not past the point of destroying my family.

Cillian rustles around before turning off the light on the bedside table. He settles in, and the gap between us grows as his breathing steadies and slows. And then it’s just quiet. It’s just darkness. It’s just him and me.

Alone.

8

Cillian

Trying to fall asleepis pointless when I’m not alone in my bed. So after a restless couple of hours, I head to my office. Laying beside a woman is one thing, but settling in is another. It adds strings, it forms attachments, and it makes things complicated.

Which is what Odette is.

A complication.

But I bought her to make a point, so I’m going to have to figure out a way to make sure that doesn’t become an issue.

It was clear from how she held the stage she’d be trouble, but I underestimated her. She might be scared of the stories she’s heard about me, but she would rather burn with conviction than back down from a challenge. Like last night, having the audacity to use the fact that I wasn’t trying to fuck her as a reason to be pissed.

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