Page 260 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

“Anna. Oh, yes. I know who she is.” His eyes glinted with wicked amusement.

Ben furrowed his brows. “You do?”

Jack cupped her chin. “You didn’t tell him about me, Baby? I’m hurt.”

Anna tried to shake her head free, but he held on too tightly.

“Let her go, Jack.” Ben’s voice was tinged with warning and he pulled Anna out of his grasp. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Jack raised his eyebrows at Anna. “Do you want to tell him, or shall I?”

“I-I was going to—‍” Anna hung her head and shook her head. It jerked from side to side in an effort to stop the words, but she couldn’t. Not anymore. “He—he’s my guardian, Ben.”

She looked up to see Ben’s eyes blazing with anger as he turned back to Jack. “This is the man who abused you?” He pulled his arm back and struck out with his fist, connecting with Jack’s jaw before Anna realized what he was doing. “You fucking bastard,” Ben seethed, his fury palpable.

Jack grabbed his jaw and shook his head before turning back to Anna, laughing. “Oh, Baby. He doesn’t know, does he?”

Ben clenched his fists again. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

The room had grown silent as everyone’s attention was focused on them. She grabbed Ben’s hand again and tried to pull him away. “I... there’s something I need to tell you.”

Ben glared at Jack. “You don’t need to defend yourself against what he did to you. We’ve talked about this.”

She shook her head. “No, there’s more.” Tears filled her eyes. “I—‍” She looked around. “Can we sit down over there?” She pointed to an empty table away from his coworkers. Ben nodded, and they went over and sat down.

Anna rubbed her hands together and stared at the tabletop. Ben reached across the table and put his hands on hers. “Tell me, love,” he said in a gentle voice.

Anna bit her lip. To her relief, Jack had disappeared. Tears stung her eyes as she tried to figure out how to say what she needed to say.

“Anna, I love you. Anything you need to tell me, I’ll listen.” Ben’s eyes were filled with so much love and concern as he looked at Anna. He gently cupped her cheek. “You don’t have to tell me everything right now, Anna. Take your time. I’m here for you, no matter what.”

His reassuring words and touch did little to quell the nausea in her stomach. No matter what she told him, Ben had a relationship with Jack. He’d known Jack longer than he’d known her; Jack had been his mentor. Her guardian would tell him stories about her and Ben would grow more and more disgusted with her. Their relationship was over. She hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it at the time, but it had been doomed from the start.

“I don’t know where to begin . . .”

Ben smiled tenderly. “I’ve always found the beginning is a good place to start.” He squeezed her hands encouragingly.

She sucked in a deep breath. “Do you know who Devin Andersen is?”

His brows twitched. “Of course. Everyone knows who he is.” Ben smiled. “What does that have to do with you? Do you know him?”

Anna nodded. “I’ve known him all my life. He and Jack are very good friends.” In a halting voice, she told Ben how Jack had taken her in after her parents died and the reason behind why he’d abused her. The shock and disbelief in Ben’s eyes were undeniable. She wanted to crawl under the table and curl into a ball. Why did she have to share such awful things with the man she loved? And why did they have to be true? “On my twentieth birthday, Jack took me to... to Devin and handed me over to him.” She closed her eyes. It got so much worse from there.3

“What do you mean by Jack handed you over to him?”

“Devin . . . owns me. I belong to him.”

Ben gave a sharp laugh. The tension and unease in the air was heavy. “Anna, you can’t belong to anyone. No one can own you.”

Anna shook her head. “Devin makes his own rules. He owns me.” She pointed to her necklace. “He gave me this to warn other men that he owns me. If I don’t wear it... I get hurt.” She flinched at the memory of the visit to the jewelry store.

“Anna, he can’t?—‍”

“Oh, but he does, Ben.” Jack appeared and sat down next to Anna and put his arm around her. She leaned away and winced, terrified of what Jack would do to her. Or Ben.

Ben growled. “Get out of here, Jack. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Doesn’t it?” Jack contorted his face into a mocking expression and leaned in toward Anna, speaking in a hushed tone, but loud enough for Ben to hear. “Did you tell him how often I get to fuck you? Does he know what you do on Friday nights? All those men you fuck all night long? Did you tell him you’re Devin’s mistress?”

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