Page 23 of Secret Weapon

“He kept us hidden away.How long since you left?”

“Four and a half years.”

Four and a half years since my heart broke.Four and a half years since I faked my own death and ran.

“You’ve been here the whole time?”

“Most of it.”

“He didn’t tell me you’d gone.Those later years, he barely told me anything beyond how disappointed he was that I’d chosen to be ‘difficult.’Difficult.”Ana spat the word.“He used my daughter as leverage to make me do his dirty work, and somehow,Iwas the difficult one.For him, isolation was a tool.He manipulated me.He manipulated all of us.”

Did that sound like something Zacharov would do?Yes, but Ana washisdaughter, and I couldn’t forget that she knew how to manipulate people too.

She stood and held out both hands.“We used to trust each other, Dasha.Remember when we said it was us against the world?”

“That was a long time ago.”

Emmy took Ana’s place on the couch, the ice held against her nose.

“So were you two a thing?”she asked, her voice slightly muffled.“Just wondering if bi-curiosity runs in the family.”

My turn to snort.“Well, Vik would definitely be a top.”

They both stared at me.

“Who the fuck is Vik?”Emmy asked at the same time as Ana said, “What the hell does that have to do with Vik?”

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