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She chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go eat breakfast.”
“I’ll have to wear that again,” I said, gesturing at the ruined trousers.
“Walk without them,” said Lilja 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 wondered. At the very least, it was worth a shot.
Lilja guided me out of the room and down a familiar path through a network of corridors. Just like she predicted, the guards patrolling the hallways stared at me.
“They rarely see a woman here,” Lilja whispered in my ear. “You’re like an eye candy on legs for them.”
My cheeks warmed. I stared at my feet, avoiding meeting the men’s gazes.
“You don’t have to be afraid of them,” Lilja said in a loud whisper. “I’ll tear off their nuts if they touch you.”
“You want them to hear you, don’t you?”
She shrugged and wrapped an arm around me. A smile came on my lips at the easy gesture. Lilja was the only person who could make me breathe free.
The smell of frying bacon reached my nostrils as soon as I stepped into the vast kitchen of the manor. The table in the corner was piled with dishes of food but only one person sat before it.
“Morning, Princess,” Mikhail greeted.
I gazed at him, taking in his baseball cap, glistening nose ring, and black leather jacket. He pushed a chair at me and gestured for me to sit.
The moment I got closer, his easy smile vanished, replaced by a scowl. “How long have you been walking around like this?” His steel-colored eyes gleamed with suppressed rage.
The possessiveness in his gaze sent my heart pounding.
“Blame Leon,” said Lilja, 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,” said Lilja, her voice heavy with disdain.
“And a toothbrush,” I muttered, keeping my gaze low. “I would like a toothbrush too.”
“She’s not a cat, Mik,” said Lilja. “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 could’ve hugged and kissed her right now. She was the best friend and sister I never had.
“Here,” said Dora and thrust a plate of scrambled eggs before me. “Help yourself to the rest.” She gestured toward the dishes on the table.
I looked at the food before me. There was a mountain of pancakes, a dish of fried bacon, and platters of cut fruit. The aroma of coffee hung over the table, attracting my gaze to a silver pot that was smoking at the spout.
“I can eat what I like?” I asked, looking toward Mikhail.
He looked at me curiously. “Of course,” he said. “We might be assholes but we don’t want to starve you.”
He didn’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.
These guys kept calling me “princess” but my plight had been worse than that of a slave. I couldn’t believe I was tasting freedom in captivity.
“What’s wrong?” Mikhail prodded. He reached out and laid a hand on mine. The heat of his palm sent a jolt through me, bringing me back to reality.
“Nothing,” I muttered, 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,” said Mikhail.
