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I nod, frowning.
“Well, they had to cancel it last minute this morning, which sucks. ButthenGavan apparently knows the organizers of the Bijou Gala at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, which istonight, and he got us in! We’re leaving in like an hour on his private plane! That why we’re here, to raid my closet upstairs. C’mon! Get ready!”
I scowl. “But isn’t that like the most exclusive art fundraising gala thing in the world?”
“Totally. It books out a year in advance, and tickets are a hundred grand each.”
My brows lift. “And Gavan got exactlywhointo this thing?”
“All of us! Callie, me, Elsa, Nora, Nora’s friend Galina, Neve, Ares, Hades…andyou!”
She’s hyper, and gushing. And…glowing.
I groan to myself. As suspicious as I still am of Gavan and his motives…I’ve never seen Eilish like this. So happy. So…all of it.
But I’m sure asshitnot letting her fly overseas with him without me there, too.
“Well? C’mon, Castle! You coming?”
My jaw grinds. My eyes dart for a second to Callie, where they lock with hers for a moment before I yank my gaze back to Eilish.
“Yeah,” I nod. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
“Eee!!!” she squeals, giving me a huge hug before she grabs Callie’s hand and yanks her after her out of the kitchen.
That is, until they get to the doorway, when Callie stops and glances back at me. Our eyes lock once more, and I see her mouth open and then shut, before she sucks her lower lip between her teeth in a way that has fire roaring in my chest.
Then they’re gone, leaving me standing there still trying to convince myself the reason I’m going to Paris is to protect Eilish.
3
CALLIE
Cruisingforty thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean, I know my predominant thoughtsshouldbe on the fact that my best friend is obviously head over heels in love with a fearsome Bratva kingpin.
Like full-on, mushy, so sweet it might give you diabetesin love.
And yes, maybe I’m still a little worried when it comes to Gavan and his intentions for my friend. Especially since she’s already confessed that their relationship started as something purely and completely sexual in nature.
But now? It’s pretty clear just by looking at them that there’s something much, much bigger going on between them. It’s in the possessive way Gavan holds Eilish’s waist or tangles his fingers in the back of her hair. In the way that even though he’s invited us all on his insanely luxe private jet for this trip to freakingParis—where he’s even paying for the hotel rooms, apparently—he still always tends to Eilish first before seeing if anyone else needs anything.
There’s danger in Gavan’s eyes. But also a singular devotion to my friend.
It’s sickeningly cute.
I tell myself that the devotion I see in Gavan’s eyes is why I’m not sitting here worrying about Eilish. But the truth is, I’m not worrying about her because my thoughts are completely and utterly stuck on you-know-who.
You-know-who, who has fastidiously avoided evenlookingat me since we got in the cars Gavan sent to take us to the airport. Who hasn’t even glanced at me once since we settled into our seats. The fucker’s even sitting with his back to me, typing out what are probably work texts and emails on his phone.
It’s pointed. It’s purposeful.
It’s cringeworthy embarrassing, the way I completely humiliated myself last night. The way I just…threwmyself at him and kissed him like that.
Again, what the hell was I thinking? That this god of a man was going to take one look at some twenty-year old mafia princess and sweep her off her feet? The only thing last night accomplished was it made it abundantly clear to me how fucking stupid my little fantasies were. And even clearer how he thinks of me and views me.
I’m not something he would ever want. I’m Eilish’s little friend. I’m Ares’ kid sister.
That’s it.
