© Maeryn Lamonte 2025

I was still in my nightdress when the doorbell rang the next morning. Fortunately, I’ve never quite lost the paranoia accompanying the possibility of being found out, so I always have a dressing gown nearby. This one was long enough to cover the depths of white lace currently cascading off my shoulders, so all I needed to do was pull it on and cinch the tie tight.

The traffic was still awful in London, even with half the population gone. I swore as I tried to change lanes to turn off the dual carriageway. The asshole who shot into the gap from behind put his hand out the window and mimed the wanker sign. Then, when he saw my face and my long blond hair, he almost crashed into the car in front. He gaped at me. Seeing a woman was so rare nowadays, it often had that effect on men.

Chapter 9: Justice

Linus took a deep, ragged breath, his voluminous chest rising and falling, and pulled through the gate. He followed the drive to the spacious brick-paved area beside the entrance to the enormous house. Conrad’s gleaming new Porsche was there along with a massive pickup truck also sporting the decorative orange license tag with the big white paw in the middle. Seeing the truck, a flash of horror ran through his mind, seemingly from nowhere. Anna’s heart pounded in his chest, and Linus felt light-headed as he put the car in park, hands shaking.