Page 276 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

Wilhelm stiffened. “You what?”

“I told him that I hated him and hit him a couple of times before Ian pulled me off him.” She frowned. “I thought I broke his nose.”

Wilhelm raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

She nodded and looked back at her hands. “But he looked fine this morning.”

“Perhaps you did not hit him as hard as you thought you did.”

Anna shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never hit anyone before.”

“That is not a bad thing, Anna. It is no great accomplishment to say you have injured someone.”

“I guess.”

Wilhelm chuckled. “I bet he was surprised.”

Anna shrugged. “He didn’t seem to care. I hit Ian, too.”

Wilhelm petted her hair and kissed the top of her head. “You are full of surprises, Liebling.” He paused. “Anna, with all that has happened... I do not know if it is wise for you to live by yourself.”

“Why?”

“Because if something were to happen... I worry about you. Would you consider having Jenna stay with you? At least until the end of the year?”

Anna chewed her lip and thought about Wilhelm’s request. Jenna probably wouldn’t mind. She’d be closer to Matt, even though she stayed with him most nights, anyway. It would be nice to have someone to come home with. The apartment felt so big right now. Big and empty.

She nodded. “Yes. I’d be okay with that.”

Wilhelm smiled and kissed her temple. “Gut. Go get ready for bed and I will go talk to her.”

“Okay.” Wilhelm left, and Anna went into her bedroom. She heard a faint ringing and looked around until she found her phone in the bottom of her bag. Aaron’s picture danced on the screen. “Hi, Aaron.”

“How are you doing?” he asked in a gentle voice.

“I’ve been better. You . . . heard what happened?”

“Yeah. Jenna called me. I’m so sorry. I know you really cared about him.”

“It wasn’t an accident. Devin killed him.”

Aaron was quiet for a long moment. “How do you know that?”

“Because I was there. He did it in front of me.”

“Oh, God, Anna! Oh, God. I’m so sorry. Please tell me you’re not alone.”

“Wilhelm is here. Well, I mean, he just went to talk to Jenna, but he’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Good. If you need anything, please call me.” His voice was so tender it brought tears to her eyes. Maybe if she hadn’t dated Ben and been dating Aaron?—

No, if she’d been dating Aaron, he would be dead instead of Ben. Devin didn’t care who it was, he wouldn’t allow her loyalties to be divided. He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill Aaron any more than he’d hesitated to kill Ben. Either way, her affections would have gotten someone killed.

She needed to keep her emotions under control from now on. Devin would surely get rid of anyone she cared about too much. He’d already threatened it because of her anger.

“Thanks, Aaron. I appreciate it.” She sighed. “I need to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re coming tomorrow? Isaak would understand. You should stay home.”

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