Page 87 of Damaged Princess

"Does Evie know there's a fifty percent chance the person she's having a baby with is a psychopath?" Ana asks, blinking and looking between Luke and Murphy.

"Hey," Luke says, frowning. "I thought that was the group game plan. I'm just being a good team player."

"Anastasia," Murphy growls. "That wasn't very nice. Evie will never know anything other than we came to help fix the broken water heater." He gestures toward the body. "Water heater repaired."

Anastasia scoffs. "With an assault rifle and a shotgun. Totally believable, but by all means. I'll never say a word."

"Good," Murphy says, holding out a fist to Anastasia. She blinks for several long seconds as her head tilts. Eventually she raises a fist. They bump and my jaw falls open.

"Evie likes you. I like to keep my future wife happy." Murphy shrugs. "I'm not losing any sleep tonight."

"Right, back to the Russian with mafia ties?" I ask, gesturing toward Dimitri with both hands. I find it more than a little disturbing we're all standing around talking like this is no big thing.Even Anastasia. What am I thinking? Especially Ana.

Vik and Luke start discussing options, but I take a step and pull her into my arms.

"Are you okay?" I ask, nuzzling my cheek to hers. "No one expects you to be totally fine right now. Don't feel like you need—"

"I'm good," Ana says, staring straight into my eyes. "I'm more than good. I'm fucking ecstatic. That asshole…" She frowns. "He tormented me over the years."

I bite my lip to keep from saying I think maybe she should speak to a counselor. I'm definitely going to bring it up somewhere down the road, but I'm not sure that now is the right moment.

"We can dispose of him easily enough," Murphy says, nodding to the body. "Or you can call it in. If you go that route we're not sticking around. We'll be stuck here all damn night, and that'll givemea headache."

"What do you want to do?" I ask Ana. I know her father kept her out of all the police reports having to do with her mom's murder and her attack. I honestly think it could give her some solace to finally speak her truth.

I carefully pull her a few feet away. "We can say Wolfe slipped on some ice. That'll be enough of an excuse to get him checked out. If we go with that choice it means we handle this ourselves." I nod to the body so I don't have to explicitly mention the disposing of his corpse. "Or we can call in Ned. He's a friend and the chief of police."

He's also former military and on the verge of retirement. I don't see him pushing this too hard. It's clearly a case of self-defense. Wolfe's injury only helps our case, as bad as that sounds.

"This is your choice," Vik says, coming over and pulling Ana into his chest. "We're all good with you making the call."

"Have I told you that I love you, dollface?" Wolfe asks, pushing himself off the step. He wobbles a bit. Once he's stable he comes over, kissing her cheek. "Because I really motherfucking do."

"I love you, too," she agrees, wrapping her arm around his back.

"Y'all should probably call before he starts getting cold," Luke says with a laugh. He waves over his shoulder. "We're out. Call us if you need us."

"Thank you," Ana yells as they head off toward the woods. They got here within five minutes of my call. They're good friends. It's not a long walk back to their place, but I imagine they parked somewhere in the woods. Otherwise, I have no clue how they got here so fast.

"Dealing with his car would be a pain in the ass," Wolfe concedes like he was following my train of thought.

"I've got this," Vik says, pulling his phone from his pocket. He steps away, making the call.

"Fuck," Wolfe says, leaning over. "Make sure they bring an ambulance. I think I’m about to puke."

I shake my head. I wonder if that was purposeful or if he's worse off than he led on?

It seems like the entire police force for our tiny town shows up. They immediately separate us to get our accounts of the events. The medics give Ana a field blanket when she starts shaking and eventually the officers take her inside to finish their questions.

Luckily, we have nothing to lie about so I'm sure our stories match up. It's easy enough to see they believe us. That or the fact we're in a sleepy mountain town that hasn't had a murder in fiveyears means they're hesitant to break the record. Self-defense is so much more palatable to the tourists than murder.

Wolfe answers a few questions, but they determine he needs to go to the hospital. Anastasia demands she be allowed to go with him.

Everything in the house is part of the crime scene. Luckily, Ned lets us grab Vik and Wolfe's truck keys. They have spares at the lodge, but that would take extra time.

The officers are still working, but Ned lets us leave as soon as we get the call that Wolfe is being discharged. It's a half-hour drive to the hospital.

Wolf does indeed have a concussion, but we know what to look for and Lydia lives minutes away from the lodge. Anastasia sits curled up in the back next to Wolfe for the entire drive back. Their hands are linked together. Ana runs her thumb over the back of Wolfe's hand.

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