Page 76 of Girl Anonymous

She was not sad about Serene. She hadn’t liked her in the first place, and when Serene and her henchman hurt Alex, she discovered how to hate as a Daire should hate.

She was a little sad about her own loss of naivety. It seemed the further she got into this, the more she was bruised, not just in her body, although all the aches and pains from the early morning’s crashes had begun to make themselves known. But the woman she had thought herself to be: savvy, cynical, street-savvy, no longer existed. Compared to this place she now inhabited, before she’d been cocooned in safety. The world was both worse than she had believed and—she looked sideways at Dante—better.

“Hey, look!” He shifted gears. “We’re speeding along at thirty-eight miles per hour!”

“That’s great. How much longer to Connor’s?”

“At this speed? We might get there by eleven.”

“We really need a cell phone.”

“Not yet. Let’s stay off the grid for a while longer. Until we’re prepared.”

“For what?”

“For what’s going to happen.”

CHAPTER 37

Connor lived—if he lived—in a nice average-looking place: suburban neighborhood, large lots, full-grown trees, ranch-style mid-century modern with a few tweaks like a pop-up mother-in-law suite over the garage.

As Dante and Maarja pulled into the driveway, Maarja said, “Not at all what I expected.”

“Most days, Connor works from home, so they added the space over the garage to keep him out of Owen’s hair.”

She looked at Dante. “What does Connor do for you?”

“He’s my accountant.”

“Well, of course he is.”

“What did you think?” Dante’s mouth quirked. “He was my enforcer?”

“I figured he had to be good at fighting because he’s such a big-mouthed, rude, unbearable—” She did a double take. “Wait. Who’s Owen?”

“Owen is Connor’s spouse.”

Obviously Maarja hadn’t heard him correctly. “Owen is…?”

“Connor’s partner.” Dante got out of the car.

She did, too, although more slowly and with the knowledge she hadn’t come out of that duel on the highway without bruises, and spoke across the car roof. “Owen is a…man?”

“Most definitely.”

“They’re gay.”

Dante’s mouth quirk grew to a smirk. “No need to sound so astounded.”

“Connor came on to me!”

The smirk disappeared. “Do not tell Owen! He’ll beat the snot out of Connor.”

“I would hope to hell! What would Connor have done if I’d taken him up on his offer?”

“Connor played on both sides of the street most of his life, then he met Owen, fell in love, and… Well, he still flirts.”

“In between being a jackass!”

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