Page 29 of Broken Princess

"Trust me, I think Lorenzo has as much of a vested interest in keeping that secret as you do." He pauses. "I still can't believe he told your dad what's going on between you two."

"Me either."

Anthony hesitates. "What exactly did he tell him, anyway?"

I shrug. "He wouldn't get specific. I'm honestly kind of afraid to know. Probably just that it was a one-time thing and won't happen again. Nothing that would interrupt his precious engagement."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's really eager to have that hot pink ball and chain wrapped around his neck forever," Anthony says flatly.

"Hey, don't blame hot pink for Kayleigh," I tease. "She is the one wearing his engagement ring." I say that as much to remind myself as anything.

"Yeah, for now," he scoffs. "If he has even a lick of sense in his head, which is admittedly doubtful, he'll be using the insurance policy on that tacky rock."

I snort. "Not likely. But I guess if nothing else good came out of this, at least I don't have to go to class anymore."

"Good for you, maybe," Anthony pouts. "I'm going to be bored to death without you."

"You'll be fine," I say with a smirk. "But I'll be back next semester, assuming I'm still here. I just need to lie low for a little while. The last thing I need is everyone at the Academy finding out I'm pregnant."

"Yeah, but you have to admit, it would probably be nice to be gossiped about for a different reason for once."

I give him a look.

"Sorry," he chuckles. "I'm just saying."

"Can you do me a favor?" I ask.

"Anything," says Anthony.

I blink. "You know, you should probably wait until you hear what the favor is first."

He just smiles. "I'm a ride or die bitch. You should've figured that out already."

"True enough," I say. I can't help but laugh. "I know I already said this, but… thank you. If you hadn't intervened, I don't know what would've happened."

"I didn't really do much," Anthony says with a shrug. "And I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that I had to go to Lorenzo. It marks a new personal low point for me."

I laugh. "Well, I appreciate the sacrifice. About that favor… Do you think you could keep an eye out for Stefan while I'm gone?"

"You make it sound like you're going to be at a nunnery for the next few months."

"Well, probably not far off," I reply. "But I feel bad just leaving him hanging, and he doesn't know I'm pregnant." I pause. "Hedoesn'tknow I'm pregnant, right?"

"No, I didn't just go around telling everyone while you were gone," Anthony says, rolling his eyes. "Do you really think he would tell anyone else, though?"

I hesitate. "No… I don't. But still, the fewer people who know, the better."

"I'll do what I can," Anthony says. "He's going to be a pretty bad substitute for you, and I'm pretty sure the feeling will be mutual, but if nothing else, I can keep him out of Kayleigh's clutches."

"That's all I ask," I assure him.

Although there's a part of me that wouldn't mind her being distracted from Lorenzo. I really can't let myself think of ridiculous things like that, though. Way too dangerous.

"Well, I should probably get back to campus," Anthony sighs. "Yet another fraternity thing."

"A thing?" I ask dryly.

"Party, mixer, volunteer project, whatever," he says with a dismissive wave. "It all blends in together, and it's always stupidly boring."

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