Page 21 of Den of Thieves

“The children are getting smarter by the hour. I am outnumbered and they know it.”

“Didn’t your cousins arrive yesterday? Surely, they’d be of some help.”

“You mock me, baby,” Vladimir groaned.

“Not at all.” He glared at the ceiling. It didn’t take a video feed to hear the smile in her voice.

“Do you know our house has tunnels?”

“Yes. I had Eric install motion censored LED lights throughout since Alexander likes to explore.”

“When were you going to tell me?” Vladimir sat up in bed. This was the first he was hearing about this.

Karina sighed on the other end. “You know about the tunnels. I told you about them before we bought the castle, remember? You said you wanted to dig out a bunker in the backyard?”

“Oh yes, it is coming back to me now,” he said, getting out of bed. “Is there access from our bedroom?”

“Yes. Pull the sconce to the right of the fireplace. They were the old servant tunnels from when a royal family lived there. Listen Vladimir, I have to go. We just pulled up to the house.”

“I love you, Solynchnka. Hurry back to me.”

“I will. I love you, baby. Vlad?”

“Yes?”

“Put the gun down before you hurt someone. Spiders are the only thing you have to worry about in those halls.”

Vladimir dropped the weapon into the drawer with a sigh.

“Don’t tell me the big bad Bratva King is afraid of spiders.”

“Fine. I won’t tell you.”

She let out a bark of laughter.

“I don’t see you volunteering. I’m risking my life to ensure the safety of our son!”

“I’ve been through them already.”

“Really?”

“I had to do something to bide my time while you worked late.”

“How noble of you,” he clipped.

“Goodbye, moya lyubov’. Stay safe from those treacherous spiders.”

He clicked off at the sound of her robust laughter.

Vladimir tilted the light fixture and the entire fireplace slide backward, revealing a darkened tunnel that lit up once he poked his head in. The tunnel was made of stone and wood support beams that looked to be reinforced over the centuries, if the different shades of brown were any indication.

His wife said she’d traveled these halls, but with the amount of dust and cobwebs that littered every surface, he had his doubts.

He continued on, going around the perimeter of the castle. The tunnels were bigger than he thought, complete with stairways. Thanks to the small lights in the corner of every intersection, he concluded the paths widened in the common areas and narrowed near the living quarters. There was a small doorway into each room with peepholes etched into the wood.

As amazing as the tunnels were, Vladimir decided to keep them a secret for as long as he could. And close off the access to the master bedroom. He was glad to see the security was dedicated to their work, even at this late hour. It seemed they were the only ones that took their jobs seriously.

In the morning, he would speak to the staff about the many sexual relationships happening amongst them. He didn’t care what happened at the old house because the staff lived in a separate building on the property. Now that everyone was under the same roof, things would have to change. This was a home, not a brothel.

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