Page 88 of Cruel Knots

“Walk without them,” Lilja says with a wink. “My brothers will go crazy when they see you flashing those long, smooth legs to the rest of the men here.”

Would it matter to them at all? I wonder. At the very least, it’s worth a shot.

Lilja guides me out of the room and down a familiar path through a network of corridors. Just like she predicted, the guards patrolling the hallways stare at me.

“They rarely see a woman here,” Lilja whispers in my ear. “You’re like an eye candy on legs for them.”

My cheeks warm immediately. I stare at my feet, avoiding meeting the men’s gazes.

“You don’t have to be afraid of them,” Lilja says in a loud whisper. “I’ll tear off their nuts if they touch you.”

“You want them to hear you, don’t you?”

She shrugs and wraps an arm around me. A smile comes on my lips at the easy gesture. Lilja is the only person who can make me breathe free.

The smell of frying bacon reaches my nostrils as soon as I step into the vast kitchen of the manor. The table in the corner is piled with dishes of food but only one person sits before it.

“Morning, Princess,” Mikhail greets.

I gaze at him, taking in his baseball cap, glistening cross-shaped earring, and black leather jacket. He pushes a chair at me and gestures for me to sit.

The moment I get closer, his easy smile vanishes and is replaced by a scowl. “How long have you been walking around like this?” His steel-colored eyes gleam with suppressed rage.

The possessiveness in his gaze sends my heart pounding.

“Blame Leon,” Lilja says loudly, munching on a strip of bacon. “He left her like this. She’s lucky he spared her sweatshirt or she’d be flashing her boobs to all the guys out there.”

“What?!”

“You’re such animals you wouldn’t even let her have fucking clothes,” Lilja says, her voice heavy with disdain.

“And a toothbrush,” I mutter, keeping my gaze low. “I would like a toothbrush too.”

“She’s not a cat, Mik,” Lilja says exaggeratedly. “She can’t lick herself clean. You’ve gotta get her some soap and shit. And some fucking clothes. Geez! Even criminals in jail get those for free.”

I want to hug her and kiss her this very instant. She’s the best friend and sister I never had.

“Here,” Dora says and thrusts a plate of scrambled eggs before me. “Help yourself to the rest.” She gestures toward the dishes on the table.

I look at the food before me. There’s a mountain of pancakes, a dish of fried bacon, and platters of cut fruit. The aroma of coffee hangs over the table, attracting my gaze to a silver coffee pot.

“I can eat what I like?” I ask, looking toward Mikhail.

He looks at me curiously. “Of course,” he says. “We might be assholes but we don’t want to starve you.”

He doesn’t understand my dilemma. Back at home, my breakfast always consisted of oatmeal and some kind of fruit. Things like French toast and pancakes were a rare treat.

This is the first time I’ve tasted freedom in a long, long time.

“What’s wrong?” Mikhail prods. He reaches out and lays a hand on mine. The heat of his palm sends a jolt through me, bringing me back to reality.

“Nothing,” I mutter, gazing at the lines of ink that spread over his fingers.

“We haven’t poisoned the food if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“What’s that now?” Dora is at the table again and pouring coffee for me and Lilja. “You had no problem binging on bacon sandwiches and getting drunk here last night.”

Grabbing a fork, I stab at a pancake and pull it onto my plate. Next, I pick up the bottle of syrup and generously drizzle the golden elixir on my pancake.

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