Gilded Cage: A Russian Mafia Romance (Kovalyov Bratva Book 1) by Nicole Fox (best books for 20 year olds .txt) 📕

stagger my way back to the bedroom. My stomach twists like I’m going to vomit, but there’s nothing in there to come out.

Another lurch of agony. Sharp. Brutal. Sudden.

I trip. Try to grab the side table, but my aim is off and instead, I knock off a vase of flowers. It crashes to the floor like a peal of thunder.

Shards scatter across the hardwood. My vision is blurring, darkening at the edges.

The pain is everywhere. Head to toe, heart and soul. So much of it.

The door behind me opens. I gasp again, turn, and see Artem standing on the landing.

He looks at me with concern that I no longer believe.

His dark eyes are merely a pretense, a facade I couldn’t see past because of my romantic, naïve fantasy of who I thought he was.

He’s not a special kind of monster. He’s not the beast who will protect me, like he said he was.

He’s just a nightmare come to life.

He reaches for me. “Esme!” he says, panicked.

I shake my head frantically and try to scramble back away from him.

But the pain twists my vision until all I can see is spots of light floating in front of my eyes, bathing everything in strange, confusing stripes.

It feels like I’m falling.

Maybe I am falling, but I don’t care anymore.

The light fades into darkness.

The world slides out of focus.

I’m left alone with only my memories for company.

Many Years Earlier

“Esme?”

“I’m not talking to you, Cesar!” I pout, turning my back to him.

He chuckles under his breath as he runs up to me. “Are you mad at me?”

“Yes!” I spit like a little brat.

“Why?”

“You told me you’d take me to Tulum with you.”

“I tried, little bird—”

“I’m not a little bird!” I snap at him. “And you promised!”

“It was a good thing you didn’t come, little Esme,” Cesar tells me, putting his fingers under my chin and pushing my face up to meet his eyes. “It was… not what I expected.”

I frown, noticing for the first time the expression my brother is wearing. In only six days, he has aged a decade, it seems. His eyes are dark and sunken. New lines mark his face.

“Cesar… what happened?

He shakes his head. “Papa showed me some things.”

“What kind of things?”

He hesitates. “Scary things,” he says eventually.

His eyes are turned inward like he’s remembering what happened in Tulum.

Whatever he did.

Whatever was done to him.

I don’t understand what he means by that, but I’m afraid to ask because if I do it’ll just prove that I’m too young to be told certain things.

And I don’t think I’m too young anymore. I turned seven last week. It was a big deal.

“Scary?” I repeat.

Cesar nods as he swallows hard. “I don’t think I’m cut out to run the business, Esme,” he admits quietly. “I… I don’t really want to.”

“So tell Papa,” I urge him. “He’ll understand. Tell him you want to be a doctor instead.”

Cesar shakes his head. “I can’t do that, little bird,” he says. “Papa will never understand. Not like you do.”

I feel proud of that. I wear his compliment like a badge of honor.

Cesar and I share a bond that no one else can touch. Not even Papa.

“Maybe I can talk to Papa,” I tell him.

Cesar smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “No. I appreciate you offering, but it won’t make a difference.”

I’m secretly relieved. Papa scares me, and I prefer avoiding him even on the best of days.

But I still need to know.

“Why won’t it make a difference?”

“Because this was never a choice,” Cesar tells me. “It’s not about what I want. This is about duty. I am Papa’s only son and I have to be ready to take over after him. That’s just how things are done.”

Again, I don’t understand, but I don’t ask him to explain either. Papa doesn’t like when I ask too many questions, and it’s made me self-conscious about my curiosity.

“Don’t worry,” I tell him, hoping my words make sense. “One day, we’ll run away together, just you and me. You can be a doctor and I can be a flight attendant.”

Cesar balks with laughter. “A flight attendant? Is that what you want to be, little doll?”

I glare at him, offended that he would laugh at all. “Yes! They visit so many different places and I want to travel to every country in the world.”

He considers my answer and his laughter dies slowly. “That’s a good ambition,” he says. “I hope that one day you’ll travel far away from this place.”

“I will,” I tell him with a smile. “And you’ll come with me.”

His expression grows sad, but he takes my hand and kisses it softly. “Wherever you go, I’ll be watching over you.”

“I don’t need you to watch over me,” I say imperiously. “I can handle myself.”

He laughs softly. “I believe you, little bird,” he nods. “You were always the stronger of the two of us. You should have been the heir, not me.”

“I will be,” I nod. “Then you don’t have to be. Then you’ll be free to be a doctor.”

Cesar smiles. “You’d do that for me?”

I squeeze his fingers as tight as I can. “I’d do anything for you.”

40

Artem One Day Later

“Don Kovalyov?”

It takes me a moment to realize the man is talking to me. I’m still unfamiliar with the title.

Igor is standing off to the side of the hospital bed, wearing an expression that’s a cross between discomfort and sympathy.

I ignore him and turn my attention back to Esme.

She’s been lying in the same bed now for almost twenty-four hours. She hasn’t woken once.

I reach out and push back her matted hair. Her skin is sallow and she looks so tiny amongst the tangled sheets. Is it possible for someone to lose weight in so short a span of time?

I glance up at the IV that’s hooked up to her hand, feeding her energy and nourishment directly so that she can take her time waking up when she’s ready.

Except that she doesn’t look close