Page 17 of Thorns of Blood

“I need information on Liana Volkov,” I said, taking a sip of my brew.

He didn’t miss a beat, but something dark flashed across his face.

“And why do you think I have it?” The man’s gaze sharpened on me. “And if I did, what makes you think I’d share it with you?”

My hand paused on the way to my mouth, my eyes honing in on the man sitting opposite of me.

“If you know what’s good for you, and her, you will,” I deadpanned.

“Excuse me?” Kian laughed and shook his head. “You have some balls.”

I clenched my jaw and felt my fingers flex on the mug. I set it down on the table and leaned forward.

“I do have some balls, but more importantly, I know that Liana Volkov’s trail goes cold here. Under your late brother.”

“Ever occur to you that the trail goes cold because she died?” Kian questioned.

“She’s alive,” I said with a conviction I didn’t feel. If her twin claimed she was, I had to believe so, but that still didn’t explain what possessed me to agree to this lunacy and help Louisa. Iowed her nothing, and I certainly wasn’t getting anything out of this shit.

Although, if I was honest, my brief encounter with Liana eight years ago might have had something to do with it. She was unlike any other woman I had ever crossed paths with.

Her mother had brought her up on deceit and lies. I could relate.

Kian eyed me suspiciously. You could see his mind weighing his options, deciding if it was worth his time…—and Liana’s—to clue me in on her whereabouts.

“You’re right,” Kian finally said after a long pause. He eyed me closely, and I wondered if he could somehow read my thoughts. “Liana Volkov, although she called herself Louisa when we crossed paths, is indeed alive.”

Not wanting to lose him, I pressed on. “How did she escape?”

He shrugged. “I guess she got lucky.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” I scowled, wondering about this man in front of me. He was a difficult puzzle to decipher. “Where is she?”

“Venezuela.”

I let out a sardonic breath.Of course she was. How ironic that I was just there myself. It would have been helpful to know it then. “You mean to tell me she’s been hiding there this whole time?”

“No better place,” Kian drawled. “Trust me, I was tempted to leave my brother to the feisty thing and let her kill him, but I feared he’d kill her protégé first, so I offered her a way out. Of course she took it. For little Amara’s sake.”

“Who are Amara’s parents and how did she come to be under Liana’s protection?”

Kian looked as though he’d spoken too freely, but then he shrugged. “A baby was given to Santiago five years ago to settle adebt by Gio DiLustro; Liana took her under her wing. That’s all you need to know.”

My brain was turning over all this information, but I knew I had to keep going while I could. “I only met Liana once, but she didn’t strike me as the motherly type.”

His jaw ticked, but other than that, his expression remained impassive.

“Well, take what you will out of it,” he said in a measured tone. “But let me be clear. You don’t want to go around that woman. She’s broken beyond repair and as psycho as they come. Takes after her mother, I suppose.”

“Is she trustworthy?”

“Enough to protect an innocent child,” he claimed, and I truly believed that if this man thought Liana was irredeemable, he would have ended her life, despite that every instinct in my body told me it went against his character.

I leaned back in my chair and dragged a hand over my face. “I don’t even know what to say.”

Kian tilted his head to the side. “I thought you had balls. But if you’re scared of Liana Volkov, it’s best you stay away. She’ll eat you for breakfast.”

That brought me up short. “I’m not scared of her. I just can’t believe she’s alive. Or that Louisa was right about it.”