Page 40 of Cruel Knots

A secret entrance? I question myself, slowly creeping under the mantle to check it out.

A hallway stretches before me. Stepping forward, I note how the ceiling is tall enough for me to walk straight.

So, Callum Baldwin has a secret room in this mansion. Interesting.

This is a brand new, undiscovered location for me. Taking precautions, I proceed down the corridor.

A smaller room opens up at the end of the hallway. Staying concealed behind the wall, I peer inside.

Surprise flickers through me as I stare at an unexpected and disturbing sight.

Six men hang from chains that are suspended from the ceiling. They’re all naked, their torsos bearing marks and bruises from abuse. The room appears to be a torture chamber but that’s not the most disturbing thing about this scene.

All the men are missing their dicks and balls.

I’m about to take a closer look when Callum Baldwin appears in my view, making me step back into the shadows of the hallway.

“It’s been over twelve hours since she was taken!” Callum shouts in an enraged voice. “Tell me where the fuck she is!”

The six men whimper and squirm against their bindings.

“You were supposed to guard her,” Callum bellows. “How could you leave her all by herself during the blasts? That’s when she needed you the most!”

“We wanted to check the threat,” one of the men says meekly. “Miss Baldwin wasn’t supposed to come out of the room.”

Callum grabs the man’s head and punches him in the teeth. “I’ll kill you for this. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to keep her all to myself these past years? She hates me but I never loosen my hold on her. This was supposed to be our wedding day? Do you understand that, motherfucker? You lost me my sister! My wife!”

My eyes widen.

Callum wanted Lucia to be his wife? Did I hear him right?

Picking up a baseball hat, Callum starts hitting the men at random.

Terrified screams rise from inside the room, assaulting my ears.

“You’re not walking out of here until I find her,” Callum bellows, hitting the poor men who’d been recruited as Lucia’s guards. “Tell me where she is. Who has taken her? She can only be mine. Mine! I’m the only one who can touch her. I’m the only one who has the right to be inside her.”

Fuck! I curse internally. Callum Baldwin is truly crazy. His obsession with his sister has turned into something disgusting and vile.

There’s no doubt in my mind anymore. The scene I just witnessed is enough for me to understand the dynamic between Callum and Lucia. They’re siblings, children from the same parents.

Was the marriage to Freddy Stone just a pretense for them to get their own happy ending? The gay bastard would get his inheritance for marrying a woman while the Baldwin siblings could continue keeping their sick relationship a secret.

My stomach churns. It’s sickening to imagine our angel being intimate with a monster like Callum Baldwin. What would my brothers think of this revelation?

I think of Mikhail and how he’s addicted to her after a single taste. He’s going to have his heart broken if there’s truly such a vile relationship between Lucia and her brother.

I have to find the truth, I decide, stepping away and hurrying out of the hallway. Even if I have to make her scream and bleed, Lucia will have to tell me the truth about her relationship with her brother.

12

Lucia

It was a while before I noticed the dress Mikhail left me beside the tray of food. My dark surroundings don’t allow me to make out much of the features but the fabric feels light and comfortable. The sleeves are short and the hem falls below my knees.

The dress covers me up but it doesn’t provide much warmth.

Locked in the dungeon-like basement, I curl up on the floor and try to get some rest.

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