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Pulling me tight against his body, he turned me toward the door and forced me to walk with him. If anyone saw us, they’d think we were in a lovers’ embrace as we walked down the hallway.
My heart pounded hard. Callum would go mad when he saw me on the arm of another man. He’d tear me away from Yakim and probably skin me alive to purge me.
Glancing up at Yakim, I tried to gauge his expression through the thick layer of scars marring his face. One of his arms was wrapped tight around me. He held the knife against me in such a way that it was conveniently concealed under the folds of his large jacket.
He didn’t need to threaten me. I was never going to run to my brother.
Our relationship wasn’t what it seemed on the surface. Callum wasn’t the overprotective brother he pretended to be. He was only interested in keeping me chained to him so he could continue to obsess over me.
Yakim led me into a different part of the manor. Unlike the previous area, this place had more décor. Ancient paintings of battlegrounds and nameless people from a bygone era dotted the walls. I even glimpsed a few armor displays along the way.
Who are these people?I wondered as Yakim guided me down a confusing network of corridors. They were all living in a place that might as well have been a fucking museum. It was unbelievable to think such a place existed in our modern little town.
“Remember what I told you,” Yakim growled as he led me down a wide, sweeping staircase.
My fingers curled onto the jacket, drawing it closer around me. Even though I wanted to escape these strange men, it felt worse to be confronting Callum.
He stopped when we were close to the ground floor. Looking ahead, I caught sight of Callum and about half a dozen men flanking him.
Leon and Mikhail stood closer to the bottom steps, facing my brother and his guards.
Callum’s dark eyes zeroed in on me the moment we got closer.
An icy chill ran through me as his piercing gaze swept over me. The pursing of his lips and the building rage behind his eyes told me he was going to unleash his wrath on Yakim and his brothers.
I glanced up at Yakim. To my surprise, his scarred lips were stretched into a smile.
“I hope my brothers gave you a warm welcome,” Yakim said in a deep, loud voice that echoed all around the vast hall. “Forgive me for being late. I was bringing her over to join me in welcoming you to our home.” His voice was deceptively casual and polite.
“Come here, Lucia,” Callum said through clenched teeth.
The urge to follow his command was almost unconscious.
I felt the tip of the knife digging into my side threateningly. The poke was enough to remind me that Callum wasn’t the master of this house. It was the man standing by my side.
“Lucia,” Callum ground out. “Now!”
“She’ll be staying here from now on,” Yakim boldly announced.
Callum’s gaze shifted toward Yakim. His expression slowly changed as he stared intently at his scarred face.
“Recognize my brother, asshole?” Leon asked in a voice dripping with venom.
Callum’s gaze swung toward him.
Something close to disbelief flickered in his eyes. “You three...”
“We’re alive, yes,” said Mikhail. I couldn’t see his face but the rage in his voice didn’t escape my notice.
“How?” Callum seemed to forget about me as he stared wide-eyed at the three men before him. “How are you all alive? I destroyed you three!”
“A man like you can never destroy us,” Yakim said in a seemingly calm voice. “You broke our bodies and threw us in a garbage dump. That’s not enough to get rid of a Volkov.”
“Give me back my sister!” Callum screamed, his black eyes nearly popping out of his face as he sneered maniacally at the men before him. “I will kill you again if I need to. Howdareyou touch her? She’s mine!”
“She was always ours,” said Leon. “We’d have taken her far away sooner if we knew what kind of a monster you are.”
My heart throbbed with a painful emotion at those words.It’s them, my mind whispered to me.
