The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (26 page)

Anna’s face softened and she nodded. “Yeah.
That’d be nice.”

“Call me if you need anything. Even if it’s
in the middle of rehearsal. Vincent will understand.”

She nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Aaron.”

“I didn’t do anything, but I’m glad you’re
okay.”

Aaron walked back to the studio as quickly as
he could. He knew Hugo would be extremely worried and meant to give
him an assuring smile when he walked into the room, but when he saw
Jasmine, his temper exploded and he stomped over to her.

“You fucking bitch!” he shouted over the
music, which promptly stopped. “You almost got her taken by him!”
He pulled back to hit her but someone pulled him away before he
could swing his arm. Yeah, a guy hitting her probably wouldn’t be a
good idea, a small rational part of his mind told him. He struggled
against whoever was holding him but searched out Stef, who was
standing next to her. “You remember about her guardian? That’s
nothing compared to what that man did to her. A walk in the
park.”

Stef’s eyes widened and then narrowed on
Jasmine. The resounding crack as her hand hit Jasmine’s cheek was
one of the most satisfying sounds he’d ever heard. Aaron knew he
could count on Stef to get indignant for him.

Jasmine struck back and a catfight ensued,
which Aaron watched gleefully. Stef outweighed Jasmine by twenty
pounds and she got in some good throws before Vincent, seemingly
reluctant, stepped in. “Enough!” he shouted.

Everyone stopped. Vincent didn’t yell often,
if ever.

The two women looked at him, as did everyone
else in the room.

“Jasmine, did you hear Hugo tell that man
that he hadn’t seen Katrina?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Did you know it was a picture of
Katrina?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Don’t you think there might have been a
reason why Hugo lied about seeing her?” Vincent’s stare became very
harsh. “Katrina came here to be protected. From him. That man....”
Vincent shook his head and dragged his hand through his hair. “Your
jealousy of her has gone far enough. It’s bad enough you’ve stolen
the attention of her fiancé from her.”

Jasmine’s olive complexion paled into an ugly
ash color. “You knew?”

“Yes.” He looked around the room. “Anything
you hear or see today will absolutely not be repeated at anytime,
anywhere. If I find out anyone has spoken about these things, they
will be fired immediately and not given a good reference for their
next job.”

“What the hell, Vincent?” Jasmine whined.
“What’s so special about her?”

Vincent breathed in deeply. “Do you know what
torture is, Jasmine? I mean real torture. The type that takes you
to the brink of death and you pray that death will finally take
you?”

Jasmine wisely didn’t say anything, but shook
her head.

“That is what that man has done to Katrina.
Many, many times. If you had taken even a sliver of what she’s gone
through, you wouldn’t be here today.” He glared at Jasmine. “I
think you need to go home for the day or I
will
fire
you.”

Jasmine picked up her bag and quickly ran out
of the room.

Vincent rubbed his face. “Let’s continue this
after lunch, shall we?” He turned and walked out of the room.

Aaron was bombarded with questions, but he
didn’t answer most of them. But he was pleased to see that everyone
was on Anna’s side instead of Jasmine’s. He would be surprised if
Jasmine was still here at the end of the week.

Anna fidgeted as she waited for Hugo to
arrive. She’d been nervous all day, unable to stay still for long.
After Devin was gone, the glow diminished, then disappeared and the
nervousness returned, though she wasn’t terrified anymore. Tom had
even texted her, telling her that Devin had decided to go home
early and she could return to rehearsals tomorrow.

She was thankful for that. Being stuck in the
apartment for so long was driving her crazy. She was afraid her
vibrator would give out and then where would she find release?

Hugo arrived ten minutes later and she told
him she’d be back tomorrow. “We don't have to practice if you don’t
want to,” she said.

“What else did you have in mind?” he asked
with a boyish, yet seductive, grin.

Anna blushed. “Oh, I meant...I just
thought....”

He stepped forward and in a flash his lips
were pressed to hers in a hungry kiss. She stood in shock for a
second and then wrapped her arms around his neck. His tongue delved
into her mouth, stroking hers, making her moan softly.

He held her tightly, chest pressed against
chest. Her mind swirled with sensation and thought. It warred
against itself about whether or not she should be kissing Hugo like
this.
Oh, but it felt so good.
Desire had been building
for months. The affair with Mr. J. would be over soon. Then she
would only have Kurt. Why shouldn’t she have Hugo too? They both
knew it couldn’t last, but maybe it was possible to just enjoy one
another while they could. Find comfort in one another’s arms.

But then what? For Hugo? He could be out
trying to find someone he could really be with, instead of holding
onto something that could never be.

She pulled away slightly, and looked up at
him and shook her head. “Hugo, we can’t.”

“Can’t what?” he said, nuzzling her neck. “I
want you, Katrina. So badly.”

“I want you too, Hugo, but....” She pulled
away. “I can’t do this to you. You should be out finding someone
special. Someone you can settle down with. Not wasting time with
me.”

“Time with you is never wasted, Kittycat,” he
said softly.

She gave him a pleading look. “I won’t be
able to keep myself from falling for you again if we...make love.
And then I’ll have to leave. You know that. I won’t be here
forever.”

“Katrina, I’m a big boy. I can take care of
myself. Going into this, I would know that it was only short term.
But it would be a wonderful short term.”

“But what if you met the love of your life in
the middle of it and didn’t pursue her because of me?” She took his
hand. “You are a wonderful man, Hugo. One of the best I’ve ever
known, and I’ve known many men.” She smiled. “But my life is
already laid out for me, and I don’t want to start this if I have
to leave you soon.”

“Do you know when you’re leaving?”

Anna shook her head. “Things will
be...settled after my next birthday. Kurt will likely take me home
then.”

He stepped away and sat heavily on the couch.
“We could just be fuck buddies.”

“I couldn’t do that with you, Hugo. I care
about you too much. I’d end up falling in love with you and my
heart would break even more when I had to leave.”

He sighed and rubbed the top of his head.
“Yeah. I know. You’d take a piece of my heart with you back to
Germany.”

“I’m sorry, Hugo.” She sat down next to him
and took his hand. “But I love dancing with you.”

He smiled warmly. “I love dancing with you
too. Nothing will change that.”

“Good.”

Hugo left a little while later. Since she
would be at the studio in the morning, they didn’t really need to
practice tonight. She curled up in bed with one of Mr. J.’s books
and tried to get her mind off everything.

When Anna went to the studio the next day,
the other dancers were very kind to her. Aaron had told her what
they had found out about her, and their kindness melted away the
awkwardness she felt walking into the room.

On Thursday, they were to practice in the
theater and Stef ran up to her as she walked into the wings.
“Omigod, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Do you know why we’re in here this
afternoon?”

Anna shrugged. “Staging purposes?”

Stef shook her head excitedly. “
He’s
here. He wanted to watch us.”

“He? He who?”

Stef rolled her eyes. “You are so dense
sometimes. Euroman!”

Anna’s heart dropped to her stomach. Mr. J.
was
here
? “Where?” she asked, trying to act calm.

“First Ring. I already looked. It’s pitch
black out there. Can’t see anything. But isn’t it exciting?”

Anna shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “I
guess.”

Stef rolled her eyes again. “Well, the rest
of us are excited. We’re going back to the club on Saturday. Wanna
come?”

Anna shook her head. “I’m staying home that
night. Personal reasons.”

“Is it because of Hugo?”

“What? No. It’s...Saturday would have been
Alex’s birthday. I just don’t feel right going out.”

Stef looked like she wanted to say something
but changed her mind. “Okay. Then next week?”

“Maybe.”

The female dancers were preening themselves
before walking out on stage. If Anna hadn’t been so nervous, she
might have laughed. But this would be the first time Mr. J. would
see her dance and it filled her stomach with nerves; nerves that
were more aggressive than butterflies. Frogs maybe.

She chided herself for being nervous. Why did
she care what he thought? He was a lover, that’s all. It was purely
a physical relationship. Maybe he was having one last fling before
he got married too. She vehemently denied that she had any feelings
for the man she’d never seen.

Anna successfully forgot about the stranger
watching rehearsal...for a few minutes...every so often. With
amusement, Vincent declared it one of their best rehearsals.

Saturday evening finally came and she was
relieved to be able to stop hearing about Mr. J., but had to admit
it was pretty lonely in the apartment by herself. Aaron had gone
out and she was alone, as she’d wanted to be. She went to her room,
pulled out her memories box and took out Alex’s ring.

“Oh, Alex. I thought I had given you up, but
you still hold onto my heart, even after all these years. I don’t
think I’ll ever really get over you. Especially when I have to go
back to your home and live there. Sleep in your room. Eat at your
family’s table. Sit in the library we sat in together. You will
haunt me forever.”

She had been over him, until that last dream
when he pleaded with her. It made her doubt all her resolve and now
she was an emotional mess again.

Devin put his phone down on his desk and
stared out the window in shock. He’d just finished a phone call
from a distraught Connor Diaz, the Elder from Philadelphia. His son
had been shot earlier in the day. In the head. It looked like an
assassination, but who would call out a hit on an Elder-Son?

There was no reason to call hits on Sons.
They wielded no power, had no authority. They simply were next in
line. But Chris was harmless. Yes, he was a jerk sometimes, but no
more than Tyler or any of the other Sons.

Why the hell would someone kill Chris?

This had not been Devin’s best week. The
Summer Gathering had not gone as well as it should have. It wasn’t
as bad as it could have been, but he was definitely losing his
power. Anna had been gone five months now and he was feeling it.
The president, idiot that he was, was not listening as well as he
should be.

He would kill whoever had helped Anna escape
with his bare hands. They’d apparently managed to smuggle her out
of the country as well, though he’d spoken to the French Elders and
there was no sign of her in Paris either. Where the hell had she
gone?

She had been in New York. Fucking Aaron. He’s
who should have been killed, not Chris. Devin’s fingers itched to
call an assassin, but Brotherhood assassins weren’t to be used for
‘common’ people. And killing someone who belonged to Wilhelm
probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do right now.

The Philadelphia kill made no sense. No sense
at all.

Monday evening, Anna received a phone call
from Tom.

“Anna, I need you to stay in your apartment
starting on Wednesday,” Tom said.

“What? No...I can’t.” Anna had been looking
forward to going out and seeing Mr. J., even though she hadn’t
heard from Simon yet.

“Anna, Devin is going to be here on
Wednesday. You need to stay in the place where I can protect
you.”

“Why is he coming here?” Anna was confused
and then scared. Why would Devin be coming to New York again? He’d
just been here last month. Had he found her?

“There is a funeral on Friday in
Philadelphia. He’s stopping here on the way. Chris Diaz, Connor’s
son, was killed on Monday.”

“Connor...? The Philadelphia Elder?”

“Yes.”

“He was killed? What happened?” Anna had no
fond feelings for Chris. He was a cruel man, like his father.

“He was killed by a Brotherhood
Assassin.”

“Omigosh!” Who would want Chris dead? “Is
it...like Alex’s funeral?”

“Yes. Wilhelm said he and Kurt will try and
stop by and see you.”

Anna’s jaw clenched, anger mixing with her
fear of Devin finding her. She didn’t want to see Kurt and Wilhelm,
but knew she couldn’t avoid them. She sighed. “Will you call
Vincent about rehearsals?”

“Of course.”

Tuesday morning, when she got to the studio,
she gave Hugo an apologetic look. “Did Vincent tell you?” she
asked.

Hugo frowned. “Yeah.” He sighed. “I suppose
it’s better than you being found, but it sure does make it
difficult.”

“I’m so sorry, Hugo. Could we...maybe
practice in my apartment?”

He got a mischievous look in his eyes. “Just
practice?”

Anna bit her lip. “Hugo....”

Hugo smiled. “I was kidding, Anna. When do
you have to be holed up?”

“Starting tomorrow.”

“Okay. How about Thursday and Friday?”

Anna nodded. “Okay.”

Wednesday and Thursday dragged on and on.
Simon called her on Wednesday and told her that Mr. J. was
unavailable this weekend, but assured her that he had plans for her
for the next weekend. Part of her was relieved. At least she didn’t
have to say she couldn’t go, but she couldn’t help but wonder if
Mr. J. was losing interest in her.