Page 44 of Girl Anonymous

“Andere was hurt badly enough that no one suspected him, thus he assured himself a place in our organization.”

Feebly she said, “Wait…”

“He hasn’t been seen since the explosion that killed my mother.” Dante’s attention shifted to his phone. He picked it up and began to dial.

Maarja had only a split second to make the decision; let Andere of the French lemon candies suffer and die, or admit the truth. With all the strength of her convictions and in the belief these would be her last words, she confessed, “You’re wrong. It was me.”

He looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.

She clarified, “I detonated the bomb. I killed your father.”

CHAPTER 18

With Dante, Maarja never knew whether or not she was being played.

This time, she knew. He was not playing her.

He sat, holding his phone, carbonite frozen in shock. His eyes flared gold, a giant blast that exuded no heat, no emotion except shock and realization.

It couldn’t last. She waited for his hand to dip into his jacket, to pull out his pistol and blast her into oblivion.

Instead his lips parted to release one word. “How?”

She stared at him, his features, his eyes burned into her retinas. It was like looking at the sun without protection, waiting for the predicted eclipse.

Behind those eyes, his brain clicked through the possibilities and, of course, came up with the right answer. “The video game.”

She nodded.

Nowthe pistol. Now the bullet. Now the long sleep and the end of the feud.

“Get out.”

She didn’t move. She didn’t understand. Did he want to shoot her in the back? Why… “Why?”

“Why let you go? Why not kill you?”

“Yes.”

“Because you carry my child.”

“I do not!” Possibly not her brightest moment.

“You’d better hope you do.”

“A baby would save my life for nine months. After that I’m easily replaced.” Why was she even discussing this?

“Forever. You are bound to me forever. I hold your life in my hands. You hold my son in your body.”

His gentle smile chilled her. She wanted to shiver…but she was afraid to stir, afraid that the merest movement or whisper of denial would trigger violence. Maybe not a bullet, maybe…something that would leave her scarred, body and soul.

His lips barely moved as he said, “Maarja, everything that has happened started with you. You could have run from that explosion. Instead you chose to save my mother. That gave Serene her chance to rob me. That’s why Alex was beaten. That’s why we fucked, and that is why you’re carrying my child.”

She shook her head. “That’s stupid!”

“The real world runs on repercussions.”

“I don’t live in that world. I refuse to live in the old ways!”

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