“Looking for someone?” Devin raised his eyebrows. The smile on his face was almost wicked.
Anna blinked and opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She glanced back at Kurt behind her.
“Go find Jenna like you said you wanted to,” Kurt said. “You can find me later.”
Anna smiled gratefully at him. “Yes, Kurt. If you’ll excuse me.” She gave a respectful nod to both Devin and Wilhelm, then scooted around Devin and hurried away.
Devin stepped away from the Germans and watched as Anna walked away, eyes scanning the room for her boyfriend. She didn’t know he wasn’t here, that he wasn’t coming. But Devin knew. He would take care of that distraction once and for all. She would learn a hard lesson and never again allow anything to turn her away from her devotion to him. Of that, Devin was certain.
Chapter 125
Anna spotted Jenna and Matt across the room and hurried over to them. “Have you seen Ben?”
They both shook their heads. “He said he was coming,” Matt said. “We sat next to each other at the theater.”
Anna searched the room with her eyes once more, her heart squeezing in her chest. Had he changed his mind?
Jenna hugged her. “He’ll be here. Don’t worry. Maybe he had car trouble.”
From then on, Anna was constantly searching the crowd for Ben. She scanned every face, every corner, hoping to catch a glimpse of her love, clinging to a fragile hope that he might still arrive, that maybe there had been some misunderstanding or delay. But as the evening wore on and the party started to wind down, her heart sank deep into hopelessness. He wasn’t coming.
Matt looked at her helplessly. “I don’t know what happened. He said he was coming, I swear.”
Wilhelm approached and she ran to him. “He didn’t come,” she sobbed into his tuxedo jacket. No matter whether it was right or wrong for them to continue their relationship. That he hadn’t bothered to show up crushed her soul.
Wilhelm hugged her close.
“Who are you?” she heard Matt ask.
“I am Wilhelm Kunzberg Herzog von Hessen. I am . . . ah, Anna’s . . . guardian.”
“Guardian? Then why didn’t you protect?—”
“Matt, please.” Jenna put her hand on his arm. Jenna had told Matt about her life, too. “Wilhelm is a good man. He does what he can for Anna.”
“Danke, Jenna. And you are?”
“Matt Bolling. I’m Ben’s roommate.”
Wilhelm’s brows furrowed. “Ah. Yes. Do you know where Ben is? You can see that Anna is quite upset.”
Matt shook his head. “It’s weird. He said he’d be here. I can’t imagine what happened. I called him a couple of times, but he didn’t answer.” He sighed. “Maybe he just needed more time to himself.”
Wilhelm hugged Anna closer. “I am truly sorry, Liebling.”
“I’m sure he’ll call you.” Matt frowned. “When I see him. I’ll hit him for you, okay?”
Anna gave a weepy laugh. “Okay.”
“Kommen Sie, Anna. Let us return to the hotel.”
Anna hugged Matt and Jenna, then let Wilhelm lead her out of the ballroom. “Where’s Kurt?”
“He... found a new friend,” Wilhelm shook his head and gave that smile he seemed to reserve for his son’s antics.
Anna was glad for Kurt. She hated the idea of him sleeping alone because of her.
Wilhelm took her back to the hotel, helped her undress, and tucked her into bed. Then he turned out the lights and crawled in next to her, pulling her close.