The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (35 page)

“I want Katrina to be happy,” Hugo said in
German as they walked out of the theater. “I don’t know everything
that she’s gone through, but I know enough to want her to be happy,
even if it’s not with me.”

Alex glanced at Aaron. “We can speak in
English. I’ve known Aaron longer than I’ve known Anna, er
Katrina.”

Hugo gave Aaron an apologetic look and Aaron
grinned. “It’s all good,” Aaron said.

Hugo looked back at Alex. “I don’t want to
stand in your way. You are her husband and....” He grinned.
“...from a very powerful family that I don’t want to mess
with.”

Alex chuckled. “I appreciate your
understanding, Hugo. I....” Alex glanced back at Anna, who was
speaking softly and intently with her friend. “I want her to be
happy, too. I don’t want to force her into anything and resent me.”
He sighed. “But I love her. I’ve spent the last four and a half
years longing for her. I will do whatever I can to win her
back.”

Hugo nodded, understanding in his eyes. “As
much as it kills me to say this, I will back off and let you and
her get to know each other again.” He was quiet for a moment and
then chuckled. “I hope you’ll let me continue to dance with her,
though. It would be difficult to find a new partner two days before
the performance.”

“That’s not my decision. That’s hers.” Alex
twisted his wedding band on his hand. Anna had chosen well in Hugo.
“If she decides against me, I’m glad to know that you are sincere
in how you feel about her.”

“I had asked her out to dinner for tonight
before we knew you were coming. I’ll talk to her....” Hugo looked
behind them. “Where’d she go?”

Alex whipped around and saw Stefanie jogging
towards them. “Where’s Katrina?” he asked, a little harsher than he
meant.

Stefanie’s eyes widened.

“I’m sorry,” he said, with a soft smile. “I
worry about her.”

“She said she wasn’t hungry and went back to
the theater,” she answered, narrowing her eyes.

“Stef is Katrina’s defender,” Aaron said,
walking over and putting his arm around her. “Stef, Alex is as
protective of Katrina as you are. Maybe more.”

Alex smiled, glad to learn that Anna had
surrounded herself with good people who cared deeply about her.
Maybe if he could win them over, Anna would be more receptive to
his advances.

“Katrina,” Hugo sighed as they talked after
rehearsal. “I don’t want to get in the way of you and Alex. I think
you need to give him a chance...give yourself a chance to get to
know him again.”

Anna stared in disbelief at Hugo. He’d just
told her he didn’t think they should go out to dinner tonight and
now he was telling her that she should give Alex a chance?

Anna had been looking forward to having
dinner with Hugo. After all, she was free to do as she liked now.
And, when she didn’t remember Alex was there, or look at him, she
really wanted to spend time with Hugo. The problem was that Alex
seemed to always be somewhere she could see him and it tortured her
heart.

She saw the other female dancers come up with
excuses to go over to him and flirt, but he never flirted back. He
was polite and friendly, but nothing beyond that. There was an
element of relief in seeing that.

Alex stood at the edge of the stage, talking
with Aaron and Vincent. Seth, Tony and Greg were all surrounded by
female dancers and appearing to enjoy it very much. She could
imagine they hadn’t gotten out much since they’d arrived.

“Katrina?” Hugo touched her shoulder. “Are
you upset?”

Anna turned her gaze back onto Hugo’s kind,
handsome face. “Hugo...I...I want to go out with you.”

“And I, you, Kittycat.” He stepped closer.
“But you need to figure things out with Alex first. If you decide
you don’t want to be with him, I will welcome you back with open
arms. But you need to give yourself a chance to find out.” He
inhaled deeply. “He loves you, Katrina. It’s written all over his
face when he watches you dance. And he is your husband, like it or
not. He should have the first chance with you.”

Anna grimaced at the reminder that Alex was
still her husband, though she wasn’t exactly sure why. She nodded
slowly. Hugo was right. If nothing else, it wasn’t fair to Hugo to
be uncertain of how she felt about Alex.

Hugo leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll
see you tomorrow.” He straightened and walked away.

Anna stared at the pointe shoe in her hand.
She felt lonely again, but at the same time, felt like she wanted
to be alone. She dropped the shoe in her bag, picked it up and
walked into the wings to head home.

Footsteps sounded behind her and she turned
to see Alex jogging in her direction. “An—er, Katrina.” He gave her
a sheepish smile. “I don’t know if I should call you Anna or
Katrina.”

Anna stared at him for a moment. “Whichever
you’d like to call me, I guess.”

“You’ve always been
mein Schatzi
,”
he said in a low voice, filled with emotion.

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Alex....” She
shook her head. Why were her emotions so raw?

“Please, just give me a chance,” he
whispered, stepping close. “I know that I wounded you terribly by
hiding from you.” He cradled her cheek. “But I couldn’t bear to
tell you I had to leave again. I didn’t want to put you through
that again. I knew it would be incredibly difficult for you if I
did.” He stepped closer and she tipped her head up to gaze into his
eyes, brimming with tears. “I was going to tell you as soon as I
came back from this next job. Vati is fairly certain that...I will
be able to retire once the others find out what happened.”

Anna closed her eyes. She could hardly stand
to look at his eyes, they were so filled with emotion. “I’m afraid,
Alex. I’ve been hurt so badly....”

“I know,
Schatzi
,” he murmured. She
could feel his breath on her face and knew his face was just inches
from hers. His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled her
close. “I will do everything in my power to make sure you’re not
hurt again.”

Fear bubbled up inside her and she pushed him
away. “No...no, Alex. I can’t.” She clutched her chest and ran away
from him as fast as she could.

Alex stared through his tears as his beloved
wife ran away from him. He took a deep breath, chest expanding as
he sucked air into his lungs. Maybe the cool air would soothe the
burning pain in his heart.

He’d pushed her. Pushed her too fast. He
hadn’t meant to, but he did. The fear he’d sensed from her as she
ran away was heartbreaking. Once again, she was afraid of him.

“She’s not afraid of you, Alex.”

Alex looked up to see Sebastian walking
towards him from the backstage area. “What are you doing here?” he
asked in a hoarse voice.

“Wanted to see how you two interacted
today.”

“Hardly at all,” Alex muttered, running his
hand through his hair. “I tried to kiss her and pushed her too
fast. I felt her fear.”

“Fear of being hurt, Alex, not of you. Her
heart is battered. The very fact that she’s not a cold-hearted
bitch is attributable only to her heritage.”

“Why are the other ones like her so...cold
then?”

“They’re not cold, they’re just above
emotions.” Sebastian stopped in front of him. “She was born of love
between her parents. She was raised, at least her first few years,
in a home of love. Even Jack and Devin loved on her when she was
younger. That is why she’s able to feel things other women like her
could only dream of. That’s what makes her so powerful. That’s what
makes her so vulnerable.”

Alex felt his rage oozing through his veins
like molten lava. A slow-burning hatred and abhorrence to the
abomination that was Devin Andersen. No pain, no punishment would
ever make up for what that man did to Anna. But he would pay. Alex
would personally oversee it. Death was too kind for someone like
him.

“Alex, calm down,” Sebastian said softly,
putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You will have your
opportunity to deal with Devin.”

Alex’s eyes were hard as steel. “And I will
savor every moment.”

“Hey, Anna you want to come out to dinner
with us?” Aaron asked, standing in her bedroom doorway.

Anna sighed, assuming the “us” included Alex.
She didn’t want to see Alex. He made her feel things she was afraid
to feel. Every relationship she’d ever been in ended in heartbreak.
Why would she want to go through that again? Yes, she’d been about
ready to try and start things with Hugo, but...Hugo was different.
He had nothing to do with the Brotherhood and Devin didn’t know he
existed.

She sat on her bed and frowned at Aaron. “Not
really.”

“He’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you’re
afraid of.”

Anna’s stomach growled and she clutched her
stomach with her arms.

“We’re going to Rinaldi’s,” he said in a
sing-song voice.

Anna huffed. Leave it to Aaron to pick her
favorite restaurant.

“You have to come, there’s too many guys, and
I can’t handle them on my own.”

At that, Anna laughed and rolled her eyes.
“Okay, fine. But only for you. And because of where we’re
going.”

Anna dressed quickly in a dark green sheath
dress. After she fixed her hair and makeup, she went out to the
living room and was relieved to find that only Cameron was there,
standing in the kitchen with Aaron.

Cameron’s blue eyes were sparkling as he
walked over to her. “I can’t believe I get to meet Mr. J. tonight!”
he shrieked, and Anna couldn’t keep herself from giggling at his
enthusiasm.

Aaron rolled his eyes. “If you start
flirting, I’ll be jealous,” he muttered.

Cameron grinned and kissed Aaron full on the
mouth. “Only as I would flirt with any celebrity.”

“Not encouraging.” He kissed Cameron back as
though trying to brand him, and Anna watched their easy
relationship with frank envy.

They took a taxi to the small Italian
restaurant across town. When they walked in they were led to a
large table in the back where Stef, Jamie, and several other
dancers including Hugo, were sitting with Alex and his men.

Anna was not happy to see Jasmine there,
sitting next to and blatantly flirting with Alex. Jasmine had been
behaving herself lately and had even apologized to Anna for the
Devin incident. Anna had a feeling it had more to do with fear of
losing her position with the company than any remorse on her part,
but the other dancers had slowly been allowing her back into the
social circle.

Anna sat between Stef and Aaron after
greeting everyone. Alex gave her an affectionate smile that made
her heart flutter, but she quickly looked away.

Aaron introduced Cameron to Alex, and Cameron
greeted him wide-eyed and breathless, to which Aaron looked a
little grumpy. Alex greeted Cameron with an amused but genuine
smile. It would be a strange event, meeting your best friend’s
boyfriend.

“I can’t believe Jasmine!” Stef whispered
behind the menu.

Anna looked over at Alex who was smiling
politely and nodding, but there was no hint of flirting in his
face. “She doesn’t know who he is.”

“She flirts with anything with a cock. Aaron,
did you warn Alex about her?”

Aaron shook his head. “No, but Alex is a
smart guy.”

“Does he know what she did with Kurt?” Stef
asked Anna.

Anna shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve barely
spoken to him.”

“Why?” Stef looked shocked.

“It’s...uncomfortable.”

“It’s uncomfortable looking into those
gorgeous eyes and beautiful face?” Stef asked with a grin.

Anna smiled, knowing Stef didn’t mean
anything by her comment. “Well, kinda. I’m not used to him being
alive. It’s something I never dared to hope would happen and I’m
not sure what to do with it.”

“Take him home and jump his bones. That’s
what I’d do.”

“It’s complicated,” she said softly. Alex was
not only her husband, he was also her Master. He could make her do
anything he wanted.

Anna watched him throughout dinner as he
interacted with her friends. He was polite and friendly with the
women, but didn’t flirt back when they flirted. To the guys, he was
more relaxed, telling jokes and laughing a great deal. She found
herself gazing at him as he did laugh, noticing the crinkles at the
corners of his eyes, wondering when they’d appeared. His lips were
as perfect as ever, and she remembered the feel of them against her
own mouth and body. His hands were large and powerful as he waved
them in the air while he talked, and she remembered how those hands
had made her feel.

Even after being imprisoned for all that
time, he was still an easy-going, charming man who knew how to
interact with people in such an admirably easy way, it awed her. He
listened to each person carefully, asking questions and clearly
making them feel as if he sincerely cared about what they were
saying.

Alex would glance at Anna frequently, giving
her gentle smiles and making her heart jump in her chest. He asked
her questions along with the other dancers, but didn’t single her
out. Anna wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She had a feeling he
was trying to be unobtrusive, but part of her was indignant that he
treated her like all the other dancers.

“That’s a pretty ring,” Jasmine said as the
dinner plates were being cleared. She grabbed his right hand and
stroked his ring finger. Anna narrowed her eyes.

“
Danke
. It’s my...wedding ring.”

“Wedding ring?” Jasmine exclaimed and then
gave a strained smile. “Your wife is a lucky woman. Where is
she?”

“We are....” Alex glanced at Anna. “We have
been separated for a long time and are trying to see where our
relationship is at the moment,” he said softly, taking his hand
away from Jasmine and twisting the ring on his finger. “I am hoping
we can work things out.”