Page 96 of Girl Anonymous

He leaned into Alex’s face. “If I have to fling myself in front of a bullet or swallow the poison meant for her, she will be safe.”

“Okay, then,” Alex said. “You have my blessing.”

Dante accepted with a respectful bow.

The whole thing was getting ridiculous. Blessings and bows, knife fights, and rituals. Ancient feuds cherished in the modern world, and a single chance to heal the breach that had taken so many lives. All unthinking, Maarja put her hand on her belly and for the first time consciously considered the possibility of a baby. When she met Dante, her whole life changed. If she got pregnant, it would change again. Nothing would ever be the same, and in a moment of self-doubt, she wondered how she would face so many challenges.

She didn’t see her sister and the man who had helped her create her possible offspring observe her and draw their own conclusions.

When she came back to herself, Alex and Dante were fighting about whether or not Alex, as maid of honor, would be seated during the ceremony or lean on a staff as part of the wizarding/medieval ceremony.

Maarja interceded. She would have her way in one thing, at least. “Alex will stand and use the staff, as will your best man. Who is…?”

“Best men. Nate and Connor,” Dante confirmed.

Maarja continued, “We’ll make our vows brief, succinct, and to the point. Won’t we?”

“I can do that.” Dante gripped her hands and pulled her to her feet. “Although possibly not without the use of Old En­glish four-letter words.”

“Like what?” Alex was puzzled. “Why would you swear at your own wedding?”

“Because when Maarja’s beside me, I can think of only one thing, and that’s—”

Maarja put her hand on his mouth.

“Oh.” Alex ran her gaze over him and laughed. “Lucky Maarja.”

CHAPTER 46

As they climbed the stairs, Maarja asked Dante, “How come you’re okay with separate bedrooms?”

He carried their luggage and grimaced at the question. “Your mom came at me from the angle of if I want a traditional wedding, I should behave like a traditional bridegroom and spend my nights in miserable horniness.”

“My mom saidthat?”

“Not exactly that, but based on that logic, I did promise I wouldn’t fuck you before the wedding day.”

“You saidthat?”

“Not in so many words,” he allowed. “Not fuck. I may have used a euphemism.”

“I didn’t know you knew any euphemisms.”

One step from the top, he stopped climbing, placed their bags on the landing, and when she turned to face him, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her, a deep marvelous, sexy kiss that made her press against him hard enough to meld into his bones. When he slowly pulled away, a healthy amount of applause from below made her glare at him. He murmured, “I know so much more than I’ve shown you; you don’t need to worry about my vocabulary. It’s your vocabulary that’s going to expand.” His gaze slid to her belly. “Among other things.”

The question popped out of her mouth as if she’d been thinking it all along. “What if I’m not pregnant? What if I’m infertile?”

The man looked astonished, as if the idea itself couldn’t be conceived. “It’s a little early to worry about that.”

“No. It’s not too early.” She gestured down at the people still smiling up at them, and the people who had returned to their tasks. “It’s actually very late. We’re getting legally married in two days. If I’m not pregnant, if I can’t conceive, if I don’t want to have children, what is your reaction? For all that you believe we’re destined by fate to end this stupid-ass vendetta—”

His mouth quirked. “What do you really think of the feud, Maarja?”

“We live a modern life in modern times. All of this—” she gestured around “—is tangible. We don’thaveto get married if I’m pregnant. We don’thaveto have babies if we get married.” Reality bubbled out of her, a reality beyond family and ancient grudges and an imagined homage to their star-crossed destiny. “What do you want, Dante? Do you want me, or simply our progeny for the peace they provide?”

He truly seemed dumbstruck by her outburst. Dante without words—and how rare was that?

His lack of response gave her the impetus to pick up her suitcase and walk around him toward her room. “Let me know when you figure it out. We can trap a threat without going through with the ceremony. We. Don’t have. To get married.” She slammed the door behind her, not because she was angry, but because she wanted to provide an exclamation point for her statement.

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