Page 73 of Trapped with the Undercover Prince

Chapter Thirteen

Anna stared at Zar’sprofile. He looked awfully pleased about something. “What’s with this smug face?”

“Me, smug?” he asked in a dramatic tone. “I would never.”

“Zar...”

“Anna, you found out who you are despite two explosions, a crashed train, and the discovery that your grandmother changed her name and told no one. Why aren’t you jumping for joy?”

Well, when he put it like that...She should be happy, so why did she feel overwhelmed and certain something awful was about to happen?

“Things like this just don’t happen in real life, and if they did, it wouldn’t be to me.”

“Why not?”

She narrowed her eyes and studied him. Was he teasing her?

He glanced at her briefly while he drove. “I’m serious. Why couldn’t it be you?”

“She never told me her real name. She told me stories and that’s all I thought they were until nearly the end of her life. Why wouldn’t she tell me who she was?”

“She must have had a reason. Maybe she wanted you to find out who she was when you got here.”

“This feels like a dream, not reality. Maybe that’s it. I’ve worked hard all my life. My mom died of cancer when I was just twenty, so it was my grandmother and me after that. I worked hard in medical school, then as a resident, and after that, I put my whole life aside to become the best surgeon I could. When cancer came for me, I really thought I wasn’t going to survive it.” She laughed without humor. “Some days, I didn’t want to survive, but I did. Within two months of getting the all-clear, my gran passed away.”

Damn it, when had she started crying? She wiped away the tears on her face with both hands. “It’s like I can’t catch a break, then my world gets blown up and you storm into my life.”

She laughed, but it didn’t sound happy even to herself.

He reached out with one hand and took one of hers. “I’m not a figment of your imagination, and you’re not a figment of mine.”

“Very reassuring,” she said dryly. “Isn’t that what all the figments say?”

“If this were a fantasy, we wouldn’t be in any danger at all.”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t have any answers, only a cold ball in the middle of her gut that told her not to count on things going her way.

“Anna,” Zar said softly. “Talk to me.”

“I’m worried about Luke. I’m worried about you. I’m worried that whoever is trying to terrorize the whole country might get lucky the next time. I’m worried about how my life might change. I never considered the consequences of finding out who my grandmother was.” She lifted her free hand, palm up. “I didn’t think there would be any.”

He squeezed her hand. “I want to make something perfectly clear.”

Cold bands wrapped around her heart. “Okay,” she said even though she wasn’t okay at all.

“You are in charge of what happens next.”

When he didn’t elaborate, she asked, “Next?”

He nodded.

“Next what? Next week?”

“Next with you. Nothing is going to happen in regard to your family name and estate unless you want it to happen. You’re going to need time to assimilate a lot of information before you can make any decisions. Nothing needs to happen right away.”

She didn’t think his nothing and her nothing were the same.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face because he added, “For now, just focus on Luke and leave everything else to me.”

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