Page 78 of Cruel Knots

“You might be the only one that thinks so.” She gives me a small smile.

Dora comes to the table and sets down a bottle of Jack Daniels. Next, she places glass tumblers and a plate of bacon sandwiches before us. Pulling onto a chair beside Lilja’s, she sits down too.

Without a word, the two women pour themselves their drinks. Lilja pushes a glass at me.

Taking it, I take a tiny sip while Dora and Lilja take larger swigs.

The whiskey is sweet with a smokey, honeyed flavor to it. Every sip slides down my throat smoothly. Warmth flares deep in my belly, making me relax and be wary at the same time.

I slow down my sips. It’s almost embarrassing to think this is my first taste of whiskey. Callum never allowed me to drink beyond a little wine at the dinner table.

Being with Lilja has opened my eyes to more ways Callum oppressed me all these years. He’s been controlling every aspect of my life.

I glance over at the two women who’re munching bacon sandwiches at one in the morning. Callum made sure I stuck to a routine when it came to my meals.

Reaching over, I grab a sandwich and take a large bite. Next, I take a big swig of the whiskey. The liquor burns my throat but I don’t care. It feels good to do as I want.

The taste of freedom is sweeter and warmer than anything else I’ve experienced. I grab a second sandwich and let the whiskey relax me even more.

“How many guards do you have here?” I ask as the thought suddenly sparks in my mind.

“About fifty, I guess,” Lilja says.

“How did you manage to kill two hundred men with that number?” I ask in wonder.

She slaps her tumbler on the table and chuckles. “Won’t you like to know that?”

“I’m seriously curious,” I say, giggling hard. Shit, I’m drunk, I realize.

“This manor was built by my ancestors,” Lilja says with a gleam in her dark eyes. “It’s hard to breach the walls but nearly impossible to escape them once you manage to get inside.”

“Why?”

“Only a Volkov knows the secrets of this manor,” Lilja explains. “There are traps and mazes in every corner. We simply need to lure them into an ambush and finish them all at once. Two hundred. Four hundred. A fucking thousand. We can take them all down.”

“Wow,” I breathe.

“When you kill for a profession, you get a lot of backlash and rage,” she explains in a slurred voice. “We have to make sure our home keeps all avenging parties at bay. It’s nothing personal unless they decide to make it so.”

“Who is she again?” Dora asks, gesturing toward me. Her cheeks have turned flaming red from the booze. “The dumb, little lamb has no idea where she is.”

“Lucia’s an outsider,” says Lilja. “She has absolutely no idea about who we are and what we do.”

“That explains the silly questions.”

“Callum Baldwin is going to learn his first lesson in dealing with a Volkov tonight,” Lilja says in a low, grave tone. “The people who took the risk to help him will die soon.”

“How?”

“Leave it to my brothers. No one attacks our home and gets to boast about it.”

“Won’t that create more problems in the future?”

Lilja shrugs and places her head on the table. “We all need some entertainment in our lives.”

My drunkenness helps me brace the lethality of the Volkov Pack. There’s so much more I want to know about them but my mouth opens wide in a yawn.

Scooting closer to Lilja, I drop my head on her shoulder. Her warmth is comforting, lulling me into a drunken doze immediately.

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