The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (34 page)

Did she love Alex? Alex was just such a part
of her...could she
not
love him? But did she
have
to love him? Did she
want
to love him? She honestly didn’t
know.

Taking a deep breath, Anna walked out on
stage as casually as she could. She and Hugo had barely spoken
since the night they’d made love, and only when they had to. It
hurt to gaze into his loving eyes.

Hugo glanced up as she walked towards him and
raised his brows. Her feelings must have been showing on her face.
She gave him a small smile and dropped her bag on the ground.

“Katrina?” Hugo’s large body blocked out the
stage lights behind him. “Are you okay?”

“Why do you ask?” she asked softly.

“You look...troubled. Did something happen
over the weekend?”

She gazed up into his topaz eyes, trying to
contain her emotions. “I....” She was so torn, so conflicted.

“Kittycat...,” he murmured. “What’s
wrong?”

“Wilhelm lifted his ban on us being
together,” she blurted out quickly.

Hugo blinked several times, looking at her as
if he wasn’t quite sure he’d heard correctly.

She held up her empty left hand. “I’m not
engaged anymore,” she added softly.
Just married
. But only
if she wanted to be, she reminded herself.

His eyes widened. “You mean...we can....”

She gave him a shy smile and nodded, pushing
thoughts of Alex out of her mind. She didn’t want to be thinking
about Alex right now. Who knew the next time she would even see
him?

“Why are you not engaged anymore?” he asked
softly.

“Wilhelm decided not to force me into
something I didn’t want to do.” That was true.

“I’m glad he changed his mind.”

Anna heard people beginning to whisper around
them, and hoped she and Hugo weren’t being too obvious. She
continued to gaze up at Hugo. Oh, how wonderful to be able to look
at him without feeling like she was disobeying Wilhelm.

He reached out and caressed her cheek. “Have
dinner with me tonight,” he said in a quiet voice.

She leaned into his caress and nodded.
“Okay.”

His gaze intensified and she thought he might
lean down and kiss her, but Vincent clapped his hands and the
moment was broken. She glanced over to see Vincent walking onto the
stage with several men behind him. Tall men. Men that....

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed softly, eyes widening
as she stared into Alex’s cobalt-blue eyes.

He’d shaved off his beard and cut his hair,
making him look like the handsome man she’d fallen in love with so
many years ago. He was not as broad as he’d been, but was obviously
still very muscular, as she’d felt on Saturday night. She’d barely
looked at him on Saturday, but now she could see that he’d grown
older, as she certainly had as well. Her heart pounded as she
stared at him, barely believing that he was really here.

He stopped and gazed at her for a moment and
then turned away from her and said something to Vincent next to
him. She stared at him as he followed Vincent to the center of the
stage.

Anna looked around and saw the female dancers
gazing at him, star struck. Is this why he’d come? So he could get
the attention of the women since she was avoiding him?

Aaron walked on stage at that moment and
stopped short when he saw Alex. Alex saw him and shook his head
slightly, making Anna wonder what that was all about.

“Everyone!” Vincent called.

The whispers stopped, and everyone was free
to gape at her husband as if he were a piece of meat. A very
handsome piece of meat. Anna was having a hard time keeping her
heartbeat at a normal level.

Alex smiled and she, along with every other
woman on stage, melted. Hugo stiffened beside her and Anna closed
her eyes. This was not good. Not good at all.

“Everyone,” Vincent repeated. “I’d like to
introduce you to Alex Kunze. A new and,” Vincent smiled at Alex.
“...very generous donor. I believe you all gave him the name
Euroman?”

The stage instantly became filled with a
hundred people whispering and giggling to each other. Alex looked
amused, and smiled politely, but didn’t seem to give flirtatious
smiles to any of the women. He simply nodded his head in
greeting.

Stef walked over to Anna and grabbed her
hand. “Omigosh! He is so hot!” She giggled and then glanced at
Anna. “Doesn’t he look like Kurt a little?”

Anna shrugged and glanced up to see Hugo
pressing his lips together.

“So, he will be watching rehearsal today and
spending time around the theater. Please be polite,” Vincent
continued in a slow voice. “And let’s begin our warm-up.”

Hugo turned on his heel and walked off the
stage. Anna followed him.

“Hugo? Hugo, what’s wrong?”

He stopped in the wings and turned around,
hurt in his eyes. “I never thought you so shallow, Katrina,” he
said in a harsh whisper.

“What?” What was he talking about?

“I saw how you reacted to...him...when he
walked up. I thought you were different than the other women.”

It took Anna a moment to understand why he
was so upset. She’d tried to mask her reaction to Alex’s
appearance, but had apparently failed to do so. And now she’d hurt
Hugo. Before she realized it, Hugo had spun around and walked away.
“Hugo!” she called, running after him into the dressing room area.
“Hugo, wait. Please?”

He stopped, hands on his hips, but didn’t
turn around. “That hurt, Katrina.”

Anna put her hand on his arm and walked
around in front of him. “Hugo, please...I can explain....” But did
she want to? No, but Hugo deserved the truth. “Hugo...I—” She took
a deep breath. “That is Alex.
My
Alex. The Alex whom I was
told was killed.”

Hugo frowned and stared at her. “You expect
me to believe that’s your dead husband out there? Then why the hell
didn’t you tell me?”

“I just found out on Saturday. Wilhelm called
yesterday, telling me that I was free to do as I wanted.” She told
him about “Mr. J.” and how she discovered it was really Alex, and
her conversations with Aaron and Wilhelm. By the time she was done,
she was in tears. “I don’t know what to do, Hugo. I love you. I
want to be with you. But...Alex.... I don’t know what to do about
him.” She looked up into his eyes. “Please believe me.”

He was still frowning, but let out a sigh. “I
don’t think anyone could make up a story like that.” He closed his
eyes and then pulled her to him, stroking her hair. “I don’t want
to keep you from him, Kittycat.”

“I don’t know what I want, Hugo. I’m so
confused.”

“I don’t feel right, going out with another
man’s wife.”

“But I don’t have to be...that, if I don’t
want to be.” She looked up at him with sad eyes and caressed his
cheek.

“You said you loved me?” he asked in a soft
voice.

Anna inhaled sharply. Had she really said it
out loud? “I do,” she whispered.

He gazed down at her for a long moment before
bending his head and gently kissing her. “I love you, too.”

Vincent introduced Alex to several of the
principal dancers and then went to sit in the audience. He and
Aaron weren’t going to hide that they knew each other, but were
trying to keep it low key. The less the other dancers knew about
how much he knew Anna, the better she would take his presence...he
hoped.

Shortly after Vincent had introduced Alex to
the Company, Anna had disappeared. Was she upset that he’d come?
Well...that was just too bad. He’d made the donation so he could
have access to the company and was going to take advantage of the
situation. Especially sitting with her at the Gala on Thursday
night. Big donation equaled a seat at the first table with Tom and
the Mayor.

The women had treated him as they normally
treated him, and he tried to keep his annoyance hidden. He used to
savor the attention; he no longer did. He just wanted one
woman...the one woman he couldn’t see right now. Hugo was gone too.
Fuck
. He didn’t like the idea of her wandering off with
her ex, but...what could he do? Commanding her to be with him would
be counterproductive. He’d just have to convince her that she
wanted to be with him. Somehow.

The two missing dancers showed up on stage a
few minutes later. Alex growled when he saw Anna’s lips were
slightly swollen. What the hell was she doing, kissing that man
when she was supposed to be warming up?

Alex found himself mesmerized by Anna’s
movements. Being this close to her, he could watch her individual
muscles flex and relax as she moved her body. Her skin was so
smooth and he wanted to rush up on stage and grab her, but he kept
in control of himself...mostly. He didn’t like the way she gazed
into Hugo’s eyes as they danced, but had to admit that they danced
exceedingly well together.

Finally at lunch break, he stood. He wondered
if it would be imprudent to go out to lunch with some of the
dancers. Should a donor do that? He’d heard someone say once that
if it weren’t for the dancers who slept with rich men, there would
be no money for the productions.

Aaron walked up to him a few minutes later
and grinned at him. “You wanna come to lunch with us?”

“Is that okay?”

“You’re my friend. We did it when we were in
San Francisco.”

“But this isn’t San Francisco.”

“True. Do you know how difficult it is to
understand you?” Aaron laughed.

Alex rolled his eyes. “I’ve hardly spoken
English the last four and a half years. I’m working on it.”

“So you gonna come? Anna always comes with
us.”

“Oh.” Alex thought for a moment. “All right
then.”

“Hey, Katrina. You coming?” Aaron called to
Anna from the edge of the stage as she was untying her shoes.

Anna glanced at Hugo. “You want to come to
lunch?” she asked with a shy smile.

He smiled back and her heart fluttered. “Love
to.” He held out his hand and helped her to her feet, not taking
his eyes off hers.

“Katrina?” Aaron asked in an irritated
voice.

“Yeah, we’re coming,” she called, frowning at
Aaron’s tone. She dropped her shoes in her bag and slipped on her
sandals. “Ready?”

Hugo nodded and they walked to the edge of
the stage where Aaron was waiting for them, talking with...Alex?
She stopped short, Hugo running into her, as she stared at
Alex.

He gave her a brilliant smile. “Hello,
Katrina.”

Anna pressed her lips together and Hugo
stiffened slightly, then moved around her and jumped down to the
audience level. He extended his hand in greeting to Alex. “Hello,
I’m Hugo Sintzenich. You’re Alex, correct?”

Alex gave him a stiff smile and took his
hand. “Yes, Alex Kunze.” He glanced up at Anna, who was still on
the stage. “I’ve enjoyed watching you work these last few weeks.
You are truly a gifted choreographer.”

“
Danke
.” Hugo said something in
German that she couldn’t understand.

Alex looked surprised and glanced at Anna
again. “You speak German?”

Hugo smiled. “Didn’t your father or brother
tell you?”

Alex began to shake his head and then stared.
“You know who I am?”

“Katrina told me.”

“Ah.” Alex looked between Anna and Hugo,
confusion in his eyes. “I see.”

“Kat, where’re we going...?” Stef walked up
and trailed off as she seemed to sense the tension in the group of
people. She glanced around at the tense faces. “We doing
lunch?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said. “C’mon.” He dragged Alex
by the elbow and Hugo followed after them, speaking in German with
a serious look on his face while Alex listened intently.

Anna crossed her arms and huffed. Was Hugo
trying to make friends with Alex?

“Kat, what’s wrong? Do you know Euroman?”

Anna sighed and glanced at her friend. “Yes.
He’s my husband.”

“What!” Stef exclaimed loudly and then
clapped her hands over her mouth. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
She stared. “When did you get married?”

“I...no, my husband that I thought was dead.
I...I didn’t know until Saturday night....” She began to tell Stef
about her trysts with Mr. J. when Aaron turned around and looked at
her.

“You coming?” he asked.

Anna saw the pleading look in Alex’s eyes and
bit her lip and nodded. She and Stef both jumped down off the stage
and hurried after the men.

They stayed well behind them and Anna
finished telling her story to Stef. “I didn’t think anyone could be
hotter than Kurt, but man....” Anna saw Stef drag her eyes all over
Alex’s backside. “Damn, girl.”

Anna frowned. She didn’t like her friend
ogling Alex. But she had a point. ‘Course, all three men ahead of
them were worth looking at, not to mention the three men, Seth,
Tony and Greg, walking behind the whole group. She suddenly
realized she hadn’t greeted them, nor thanked Seth for saving her
on Saturday night. She stopped and turned around, giving them timid
smiles. “Hi,” she said softly, looking between the three of them.
They, too, had aged in the last four and a half years. Tony and
Greg both had a bit of grey at the temples, but were as handsome as
they’d been when they’d left her that morning all those years
ago....

“Hey, Anna,” Seth said, walking up and giving
her a bear hug. Tony and Greg did the same thing and Anna found
herself blinking back tears. Her past was surrounding her. These
guys watched out for her and Alex. They suffered years of
imprisonment because of her.

Suddenly, Anna wasn’t hungry. She glanced at
Stef. “I’m gonna go back to the theater. I’m not hungry.” She
squeezed her way between Tony and Seth and ran back to the theater.
She needed to be alone.

Alex found himself reluctantly liking Hugo.
He was a good, honorable man and cared about Anna deeply. He half
suspected he was in love with her. It would have been so much
easier to hate the man he was competing with for Anna’s heart, but
he couldn’t.