Page 72 of Inside the Wicked

“I missed it,” I say. “Your laugh.”

She doesn’t answer for a few beats.

“What would you have done?” she asks.

I’m so proud of her for the calm she’s maintaining despite our ludicrous, life-threatening situation.

“When?”

“If you were Romeo and I was Juliet. What would you have done if you found me and thought I was dead?”

“I’d yell at you for the stupidity.”

“I faked it for you!”

I grin until my thoughts turn serious.

“You have so much to give, Anastasia Kinsley. That doesn’t die with me, and I demand you stay alive.”

“Pushy.”

“It’s my job I’m informally taking back. How else would I get you to follow me out of a twenty-eight-story window?”

“Your bodyguarding methods are very unorthodox.”

“In more ways than one.”

“In better ways than others.”

“Are we thinking about that top drawer again?”

Ana giggles, breathy and a little delirious given our precarious situation, but it’s a sound that calms me and reminds me there’s still goodness in this hellscape.

“You two are fucking adorable,” Rix coos in my ear.

I didn’t forget he was there—I just don’t care.

“They’re on the ledge?” another voice in the background says.

“Who is with you?” I demand. There’s never anyone around him when he’s working with me.

“Uh ... probably not the best time for you to hear that answer.”

Ana shivers, and I try to shuffle tighter to her.

“It’s probably Adam,” she says. Then her eyes flick up as mine snap down. “Shit, I forgot you don’t know yet.”

“Oh, I know already,” I grumble.

“It’s a long story.” She winces.

Rix says, “Okay, we’re going to get the all-clear soon. Hang tight a few minutes more.”

“Not like we have a choice,” I say.

“This was the most insane idea,” Ana says. She hasn’t moved a single inch from standing straight, palms splayed and cheek pressed to the wall.

“Not too late to choose the White House for refuge.”

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