Page 146 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

Devin ended the call and walked toward Anna.

She stood as he approached. “I-I’m sorry, Devin. I should have considered that it was his point of view he was sharing.” She put her hand on his arm. “I’ll keep it in mind if he tells me those sorts of things again.”

“Good girl.” Devin smoothed her hair. “You’re learning quickly. If you hear anything like that from anybody, come talk to me before you jump to any conclusions.” He stroked her hair back from her forehead. “You know I only want what’s best for you, don’t you?”

Anna nodded, her heart warming to him. “Yes, I do. I wish you were taking me home, though.”

Devin smiled. “I know, and I’m sorry. But I do need to get to the Manor this morning. If I took you home, I’d be tempted to stay and not go to work.” He kissed her, wrapping his arms around to cup her ass. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, though.”

She drew her brows together, confused.

“Gathering.”

“Oh, yeah.” Her face flushed.

“It’s informal again tomorrow. No painful rituals or anything. Just the Brothers and some guests.” He stroked her cheek. “I will enjoy showing you off and watching you make my Brothers happy. You’ll be able to get to know them better now.”

Her stomach lurched, but trusted Devin’s words. The first Gathering hadn’t been bad, but the second one had been terrifying. If tomorrow was similar to the first, it wouldn’t be too bad.

Tyler stomped down the stairs, having changed his clothes and brushed his hair. The three of them walked out to the garage where Tyler took Anna’s bag, walked to Devin’s red sports car, and put it in the trunk.

Devin kissed her goodbye, telling her to treat Tyler well, and then climbed into a black SUV.

Alex groaned as he lay on his stomach in his bedroom in San Francisco. The punishment for sending the girls to Deutschland had been harsh. But it had to be. Alex had a high pain tolerance and a few lashes with a whip wouldn’t do much to him. But twenty lashes with a cat-o’-nine-tails? Fuck, yeah. His back stung like nobody’s business. Vati had tried to urge him to stay in Frankfurt until he healed, but Alex insisted on returning to San Francisco. He didn’t like being so far away from Anna.

When Devin had called, the first thought that came to mind was that Devin had found out about him taking the girls. But, no, Devin was just pissed because Alex had told Anna the truth about herself. Well, she had the right to know the truth, even if Devin didn’t think so. And the Elder wanted Alex to drive out to the Manor so they could talk? There was nothing to talk about.

If he had to go see Devin tomorrow, the Elder would undoubtedly be suspicious of Alex having been whipped. It was a distinct Brotherhood punishment. Maybe the Elders would make an exception and allow Sebastian to heal him. He didn’t want his father to be in danger.

He mentally reached out to his Immortal friend.

Sebastian.

How are you feeling?

Like shit. Devin wants to see me tomorrow about telling Anna the truth about herself. Is it a good idea for me to go to his Manor as I am?

There was a pause. No. I will speak to your father.

Chapter 61

Tyler took Anna home and pushed her into her bedroom as soon as he walked into her apartment. He left with a smile on his face and a promise to come visit her again soon. She didn’t mind the idea too much. He was easy to please and didn’t hurt her.

She sat down on her bed and stared at the floor, wondering why her heart was heavy. She’d made Devin happy at the banquet and had even pleased his son. Why wasn’t she content?

Then it hit her. Aaron.

How could she have forgotten about him? Maybe it was right that she did. After all, when she was with Devin, all her focus needed to be on obeying him. And she had.

But now that she was home and alone? She felt dirty. And confused.

She hurried into the bathroom and impatiently waited for the shower water to heat up. The hot water would clean her, right?

Standing under the water in the shower, she willed its scalding touch to wash away the guilt in her heart. She locked the memories of Zach and Devin and Tyler into the back of her mind. It wasn’t fair to Aaron for her to carry the memories of other men with her while she was with him.

Was it fair to him at all that she was with other men? It wasn’t. Even now, her insides still stung from Devin using his spikes on her. Her encounter with Tyler had exacerbated the pain.

Sighing, she finished cleaning up, debating if she should take a nap before calling in hopes of some healing. He’d want to have sex this afternoon, and she wasn’t sure if... no, she could handle it. She’d been through worse. She’d promised she’d call when she got home, and she needed to keep her promise.

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