Page 61 of A Fierce Princess

“Does Sten know about Logan?” I ask my father.

My father nods. “Yes,” he confirms.

“Does Uncle Eddie know about Sten?” I ask him.

My father nods.

“Please make sure Victor gets your laptop. He’ll need it for evidence,” my father explains. My body goes rigid. I don’t want to give up my laptop. And I don’t know who I can trust.

“Yes, Father,” I say. I step out of the study, knowing full well that I will not be giving Victor my secret laptop, the one hidden in the butler’s pantry. He will get my burner laptop. He’ll see some things, enough to make it look like my secret laptop.

I run up to my room and find my burner laptop. I pull some information from my server and put it on the laptop, and then I walk it to Victor’s office.

“Father says you’d like this,” I say as I knock on the door and open it without asking. Victor is at his desk, his phone pushed between his ear and his shoulder. He nods and motions for me to set it on his desk.

“Password?” he asks me.

I grab a sticky note from his desk and write it down.

He nods and goes back to his phone conversation. I walk back up to my room and look around. I feel lost in the moment, overwhelmed by the events of the day. My worlds have merged in the most unexpected way. I never gave it much thought, how that might happen. If I’m being honest with myself, I never thought it would happen. The fact that I didn’t expect this makes me realize how ignorant I’ve been. I don’t know why this reality wouldn’t have slapped me in the face before today.

I am about to go check on my actual laptop when there’s a knock at my door.

“Come in,” I say. The door opens and Auggie and Chris stand in the doorway.

“That was interesting,” Auggie says as he walks over and sits down next to me.

“Very,” Chris echoes as he sits on my other side. Something about being squished between my two big brothers gives me such comfort. I lean my head on Chris’s shoulder, and he kisses the top of it.

“You alright, Suzy Q?” he asks quietly.

I shrug. “Cat’s out of the box, now, isn’t it?” I answer.

“More like the lion is out of the box,” Auggie says.

“It’s Sten,” I say. “It has to be.”

“We know,” they say in unison. I know they are looking at each other over my head.

“I just…Sten’s always been so kind to us. I-I can’t believe he’d do something like this,” I admit out loud.

“People will go to crazy lengths to get power and to destroy it,” Chris says.

“I know,” I agree.

“Now what?” Auggie asks.

“Now, I do some more research,” I tell them. “I just gave Victor my burner laptop. But I don’t trust him with my real one.”

“Anna,” Chris chides.

I sit up and look up at him, squaring my shoulders as I ready myself for an argument.

“Chris, listen, I need to have access to my data. I need to know what’s going on. I only trust you two, Logan, and Daddy. That’s it, no one else, yet,” I say to them.

“Be careful,” Chris says, and I’m a bit shocked that he’s not fighting this more. He squeezes my leg. “You’re the bravest, smartest princess that I know. If anyone can save the world, it’s you.”

I laugh. “I’m not trying to save the world, just us and Logan,” I say.

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