Page 33 of His Deadly Devotion

“Predictable. Give me that burner.” I hold out a hand while scrolling through Kyla’s contacts until I find the one I want.

Zara picks up on the first ring. Thankfully. I was worried she wouldn’t answer an unknown number. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Aurora. Good to see you’re not pig food.”

“Nope, I did have my car taken away, though. I have to use a driver now.” She sighs.

“How terrible your life is,” I scoff.

“It is when that driver reports all your comings and goings back to your father.”

“I need a favor.”

“Okay, what do you need?” Zara says.

“A laptop. Can you smuggle me one in without my brother or your sister knowing?”

“Pfft… Of course I can. Give me a few hours.”

“Thanks. You’re the best,” I tell her.

“I know,” she replies and hangs up.

I hand the burner back to Connor. “What are you going to do? With the computer. What do you want it for?” I ask him.

“We need money. I have it.” He shrugs.

“Connor, you can’t access your accounts. You don’t think your parents are watching them?” I huff. “I mean, I have money too, you know, but it would be stupid to log in and access it.”

“I’m not accessing anything they know about. I have some hidden funds. The accounts aren’t even in my name.”

I blink at him. “Why?”

“The same reason you had new identities and passports made up for us, Aurora. You never know when you’re going to need to get away,” he tells me.

“Are you sure they don’t know?”

“Positive. Relax. I would never do anything that I thought would lead my family to you,” he says. Which reminds me…

“I never asked… howdidthey find us in that cabin?”

“My parents were paranoid about me being kidnapped.” Connor smirks. “They had trackers sewn into all of my belts,shoes, and my wallet. To be honest, I forgot they did that shit until they turned up.”

“That’s why you took your shoes off?”

“Why’d you think I took them off?” he asks me.

“To run faster? I don’t know.” I laugh. “I didn’t really stop to think about it at the time.”

“We need to find somewhere to get new IDs,” Connor says, changing the subject.

“Once we have access to the funds, I can get them,” I tell him. “How much money did you squirrel away?”

“Last I checked, I had around twenty mil in three different accounts,” he says.

My eyes pop open. “I know I’m not great at math and all, but that’s… sixty million dollars, Connor. Where the hell did you get it from?”

“I’m good at investing. Believe it or not, it’s all legitimate. Well, apart from the fact that the person who owns the accounts doesn’t exist.”