The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (32 page)

Aaron looked between the two men. His
friends. His friends that were dead and now were alive. “Fuck
this,” he mumbled and walked over to Alex and hugged him.

Alex hugged him back, patting his back. A guy
hug. Aaron knew how much Alex had loved Anna before, and was
certain he still did, but it didn’t prevent a twinge of
disappointment as Alex hugged him as a guy friend.

Alex sighed in relief as Aaron hugged him.
His friend wasn’t furious at him. One down, one to go. At least
here in New York.

Aaron pulled away and went to hug Seth and
then leaned back against the couch, looking between the two of
them. “I can’t believe you’re really here.” He looked around. “Nice
place.”

Alex smiled. “Thanks. I hope Anna likes
it.”

Now that Aaron had seemed to accept his
presence, Alex felt like he could relax. At least a little. Like
Anna, Aaron had changed in the years he’d been gone. Still tall and
lithe, Alex had enjoyed watching him dance when he’d hidden in the
darkness to watch the rehearsals. Especially when he and Anna had
danced together. His best friend and his wife in the same spot on
the stage was wonderful.

And, oh, watching Anna dance! So graceful. It
was beauty in motion. She also danced well, exceedingly well,
with...what was his name, Hugo? Her ex-boyfriend. He grimaced at
the thought of her sleeping with another man, though she’d told
Kurt they hadn’t slept together. Had they?

Alex couldn’t blame Anna for wanting a
boyfriend, but he was still possessive of her, even if she didn’t
know it. That was the reason for having Sebastian help him appear
to her in a dream after Jack had been killed. He didn’t like that
she’d gotten over him. That she’d taken her wedding ring off.

He’d seen the indention on her finger the
first night they were together with him disguised as Mr. J. and oh,
how it had hurt. Intellectually, he knew it was good that she’d
moved on...except that he was still alive and still in love with
her. His wife.

“Alex?” Aaron’s voice cut through his
reverie.

He shook his head to clear it. “Sorry.”

“I can imagine there’s a lot on your
mind.”

“You could say that.” He ran his hands
through his hair. “I guess I can cut my hair now,” he said with a
wry smile. “And my beard. I kept it to keep from being
recognized.”

Aaron laughed. “Like you could disguise
yourself.”

Alex shrugged. “As much as I could.”

Seth laughed. “I don’t know. I kinda like not
having to shave every morning.”

Aaron glanced at Seth and shook his head.
“I’m not used to either of you guys being that hairy.” His eyes
widened slightly and his cheeks turned a little pink and he rubbed
his neck.

Alex glanced at Seth, wondering why Aaron was
embarrassed. Seth gave him a look, and through some sort of
unspoken language they’d had forever, Alex understood. At least, he
thought he did.

Did Aaron have feelings for him as more than
a friend? Alex knew he had a boyfriend. That was such a strange
thought. He and Aaron had shared women in San Francisco. Many
times. But they’d also fucked. Many times. Once he’d started dating
Kirsty, they shared her a few times, but were never together alone.
Then Anna entered the picture and Aaron backed off sexually, though
they’d spoken lightly about sharing her sometime. He wondered what
had finally pushed Aaron over to the other side. He had no problem
with his best friend being gay. He just hoped Aaron’s feelings
wouldn’t get in the way of their friendship.

“So, I understand you’re dating someone?”
Alex had learned that the man he’d first seen Anna with at the bar
was Aaron’s boyfriend. A good guy and very flamboyant. Alex had
never imagined Aaron as a dominant partner with another man, but
seeing them interact with one another, it was obvious he was. Oh,
how time changed things.

“Yeah,” Aaron said slowly. “Cameron.” He
looked at Alex nervously. “Does that bother you?”

Alex cocked his brow. “Why would it bother
me?”

“Well, I wasn’t...,” Aaron shrugged. “...gay
when you left.”

Alex laughed. “You were bi.”

“There’s a difference. I never went trolling
for other guys.”

“Aaron, it doesn’t matter how I feel about
it. If you’re happy, that’s what I care about. And if Cameron makes
you happy, then I’m happy for you.”

Aaron nodded, staring at the floor and then
looked back up at Alex. “I’ve never met another woman like Anna,”
he said softly, his eyes pained.

He was still in love with her. After all
these years, he still loved her. Alex nodded. “She’s special.”

“I kept hoping...,” Aaron said, shaking his
head. “I guess I know why things never worked out between us.”

“But you’ve been there for her. She’s had you
to depend on while I was gone.”

“I didn’t keep her very safe.”

“You did what you could. You got her out here
and away from Devin.” He stepped forward and put his hand on
Aaron’s shoulder. “Thank you, Aaron. Anna is here and safe, because
of you.”

“I hardly did anything.”

“You told Peter the truth. If you hadn’t....”
Alex shuddered. “I don’t want to imagine what would have
happened.”

Anna hardly slept, tossing and turning. One
minute she wanted to run and find Alex and fling herself into his
arms. The next minute she wanted to find him and hit him again. Her
heart ached for him and she hated him at the same time.

The questions that raced through her head
when she left the hotel continued. He lied! He hid himself from
her! Was he trying to get his jollies off by taking advantage of
her need for sex? How many other women did he sleep with while he
was here? Why didn’t he call her as soon as he’d escaped? How could
he claim to love her if he kept himself away from her?

At long last, the sun came up and she stared
at the light growing brighter on the ceiling above her bed. She
hadn’t heard Aaron come home last night. Where had he gone?

She got up and went to his bedroom. Cameron
was there, asleep, but no Aaron, so she went to find her phone and
called him.

It took a few rings before he answered in a
very groggy voice. “Hello?”

“Aaron, are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh...yeah...fine....”

“Where are you?”

“Um...Alex’s place.”

“You’re with Alex?” What was he doing
there?

There was a pause. “Yeah, I came here last
night and we started talking until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I
slept on the couch.” Another pause. “Anna, he has a really good
reason for not coming to us when—”

Anna felt her temper flare. Aaron had already
talked to Alex. Alex had talked to Aaron, but not her? “I don’t
care, Aaron.” She ended the call and tossed the phone on her bed.
At least, she told herself she didn’t care.

But she did. She wanted to know why he hid
himself.

Anna was laying on the couch staring blankly
at the TV in the living room when Aaron walked in around lunch
time. Cameron had gone home earlier. She half expected Alex to be
behind him and wasn’t sure if she was glad or disappointed that
Aaron walked in alone.

“You okay?” Aaron asked, sitting down next to
her on the couch.

Anna shrugged. She wasn’t sure how she was
feeling, aside from resentment that Alex had spent time with Aaron
instead of her. Granted, she had run away from Alex, but that
didn’t stop her feelings.

“I have his number, if you want to call him.
Or you can go see him. He said you could come by any time.”

Anna snorted. “I’m supposed to chase after
him? He’s the one who disappeared for years.”

“Anna, he’s trying to respect your feelings.
If he thought you would accept him, he would have chased you home,
but he doesn’t want you to resent him. If he forces himself on you,
your relationship won’t work.”

“What relationship?” she asked bitterly. “We
barely knew each other when we got married, and it only lasted for
three months.” She paused. “Not even three months. “

“That wasn’t your fault or his. And you know
you two are supposed to be together. You’re soul mates.
Literally.”

Anna looked at Aaron. “What if I don’t want
to be with him?” she asked. “What if I’d rather be with Hugo?”

Aaron’s eyes widened. “Hugo? I mean, yeah,
he’s a good guy. A really good guy, but....” He grimaced. “Anna,
Devin would kill him without a thought. Alex is the only one who
can protect you. Tom’s protections are growing weak. He’s not sure
he’d be able to keep him from sensing you if Devin came again.”

“So I’m stuck with Alex, then?”

“Anna, you don’t mean that—”

“I don’t?” Her temper flared again. “I was
brought here and told I was free. Free to be my own person, and
then within a few months, I’m told that I’m not really...that I
have to marry Kurt, whether I want to or not. I have to break up
with a really good guy, a guy that I—” She stopped herself before
she said that she loved him and sighed. “I wish I’d known all this
when I arrived. Then I could have been prepared.”

“The only ones who knew that Alex was alive
when you got here were Vlad and Peter. Wilhelm didn’t know until
Alex showed up at their house one morning.” Aaron sighed. “That’s
when Kurt came and you two got engaged. They were trying to keep
you from getting involved with anyone, until Alex was able to come
see you.”

“So, Peter really did know that Alex was
alive?”

Aaron nodded. “I had no idea when we started
talking. But he did some investigating, as did Vlad, and they
realized that what Devin had told them was a lie, and began working
to undo what Vitaly had done. Anna.” Aaron looked at her with
serious eyes. “They killed Vitaly so they could get Alex free.”

“Vitaly had Alex?” Her musings were
confirmed.

“Yes. Vitaly captured Alex and his men
because Devin asked him to.”

Anna stared at Aaron, not knowing what to
say, her lungs squeezing in her chest. It was Devin? Devin did
this? Her lower lip began to tremble and the rest of her body
followed.

Devin
. Devin had taken Alex away
from her. Why did that surprise her? After all Devin had done to
her, why would he have hesitated to get rid of Alex the only way
possible?

“Why didn’t he escape? He’s...he can do
anything.”

“Three men died trying to find a way out of
that castle. Jesse, Michael and Jason all died the first year they
were captured. Vitaly had them watched like a hawk. Jason was shot
just because the word ‘escape’ was spoken.”

Tears came to Anna’s eyes. Those poor men.
“What about Seth? And Tony and Greg?”

“They’re here with Alex. Seth followed you
home last night, or partially home. He’s the one who stopped the
guy who attacked you.”

Seth protected her? Alex sent him to make
sure she got home okay? Even after she yelled and hit Alex, he
still made sure she made it home okay? “But how did they
escape?”

“After Vitaly died, and you’d escaped from
Devin, Vlad had to go out of town, and he took most of his guards
with him. He hinted to Alex how to escape.”

“Oh.”

“Peter worked very hard on trying to get you
away from Devin. He was going to take you to visit Vitaly last
September, to try and convince his grandfather that Devin was
wrong, but he died first. Vlad had been slowly poisoning Vitaly so
no one would suspect his death was intentional. Especially
Devin.”

“Did you know all this?”

“No. But it’s because of Peter that you’re
here. He saw firsthand what Devin was doing and what his goals
were. He worked with me, and Travis and Justin. We got you here
eventually, but had no idea Alex was alive. We didn’t know how
you’d be able to be away from Devin without getting sick, but Peter
assured us that he’d take care of it. I guess Alex knew he’d have
to come and establish his ‘home’ sooner or later so that you’d be
okay. It just happened faster than they’d expected.”

“Why didn’t they tell me?”

“Because Devin would have found out that they
weren’t loyal to him anymore, and killed them. Then you would never
have been able to escape.”

Anna’s thoughts went back to the Thanksgiving
she’d spent with Peter’s family. “That must have been why Nina got
so upset at Thanksgiving. She must have known about Alex.”

“Nina?”

“Vlad’s wife. She got really upset when she
found out that I’d been married to a German named Alex...and then
Vlad wouldn’t let her be around me the rest of the time I was
there.” It made sense now. But it still didn’t explain why Alex had
hidden from her.

“Anna, Alex still loves you. Desperately
loves you. He...knew what Kurt was doing, and heard what Cameron
said about you needing to get laid. He was trying to help you by
posing as Mr. J.”

“Why didn’t he just tell me? Why didn’t he
just come to me? Why did he lie?”

Aaron sighed. “You know those Elders who’ve
been killed recently?”

“Marcus and Connor? Yeah.”

“That was Alex’s doing.”

Anna’s mouth dropped open in shock. She knew
what Alex had done...in theory, but never fully comprehended
it...until now. “He killed them?” she whispered.

“Yeah. And their sons. Partially to get
revenge on what they did to you, but mostly to kick Devin’s legs
out from under him.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Alex is taking out Devin’s supporters, one
by one. It will screw with Devin’s head, and make him more
vulnerable. Then Alex can confront Devin.”

“He’s not going to kill Tom, is he?”

“No. Alex knows Tom isn’t loyal to Devin
anymore. But he has to pretend to be.”

“What does that have to do with him not
seeing me?”

“Anna, if he revealed himself to you, and
then told you he had to go out on a job, would you have let him go?
Would you have forgiven him leaving you?”