Page 338 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

“He loves me,” Anna said softly.

Gretchen looked her up and down. “You are so young. What could he possibly see in you?”

Anna blinked as tears stung her eyes. She tried to remind herself that Alex loved her, but without him by her side, it was easy to doubt. After all, she wasn’t sophisticated like his family. She didn’t speak German. She was a sex slave. His sex slave.

“I cannot believe he married an American,” Gretchen muttered to Liesl, though loud enough for Anna to hear. “I cannot believe your father allowed it. At least Mina was German, even though he did not like her, though I do not know why. She was so sweet, as was Heidi.” Gretchen turned back to Anna. “When do you want to start having children?”

Anna stared at Gretchen for a long moment, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what to do. She wanted to escape. “Excuse me,” she said quietly and got up, hurrying away from the group. Gretchen said something in German, and the other women laughed. Were they laughing at her?

She headed for the stairs and hesitated. Where was Alex? She didn’t even know where his bedroom was. The only place she knew the location of was the garden, so she hurried down the stairs and sat on a bench in the corner, hoping she’d remain hidden from anyone who came down.

Anna leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, resting her forehead on her fists. Her doubts, which had momentarily faded, were lurched back onto the surface by Gretchen’s words. She would never give Alex any children, but it was obviously expected. All the Kunzberg women had children if they were married. Even Mina had given Alex a daughter.

Oh, why had Alex married her? He’d said he loved her, but he also talked about needing to protect her. Did he marry her out of an obligation? Because his father said he needed to? Or because he felt like he needed to?

Male voices echoed in the entryway and she leaned forward, peering through the plants. Alex, Seth, Tony, Greg, and Sebastian walked into the entrance hall from the opposite side of the house. Gretchen meandered down the stairs and approached Alex. They spoke in German. Alex nodded to the other men and they disappeared up the stairs, leaving Alex and Gretchen behind.

Anna could tell Gretchen was flirting with Alex by the tone of her voice and the way she looked at him. He frowned and responded in short tones. Gretchen said something else and Alex laughed, not derisively but in delight. Gretchen looked thrilled and said something else, to which Alex smiled. She stepped closer and put her hand on Alex’s chest and Anna looked away. She didn’t want to see Alex with another woman. Anna knew it would happen, but she really didn’t want to see it on her wedding day.

Anna leaned back on the bench and curled her legs beneath her, staring up at the blue sky visible through the glass ceiling. The warmth of the sunny day had melted enough snow to clear the glass, but the early evening shadows had already started to frost the edges.

Just like my day.

Chapter 156

Alex walked up the stairs next to Gretchen, his mind busy. Seth had determined that Devin had received some sort of tip that he and Anna had gotten married, but they hadn’t yet figured out who the mole was. He couldn’t imagine who would have betrayed him like that.

Gretchen was still chattering away about what Derek and Sofie had been doing while Alex and Anna had been at the Schloss. As much as Gretchen annoyed him, he loved his niece and nephew, and enjoyed the stories she told about them. They almost always made him laugh.

He arrived at the top of the stairs and searched the sitting room for Anna. “Do you know where Anna is?”

Gretchen shrugged, giving a quick glance around the room. “Maybe she went to her room?”

Alex frowned. He could imagine Anna needed somewhere quiet, but didn’t like the idea of her wandering around the house alone. He turned away from the crowded sitting area and hurried up to the third floor to look for Anna, vaguely aware of Gretchen following him. His body ached for his wife, and he wondered if they could sneak away before dinner for some alone time.

He walked down the hallway toward the room Anna had slept in the previous night when Gretchen grabbed his hand. “Alex, why on earth did you marry that silly little girl?”

“Excuse me?” Alex stopped and glared at Gretchen, yanking his hand out of hers.

She stepped forward and put her hands on his chest. For the second time in a matter of minutes, Alex removed her hands from him, but she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and kissed him on the mouth.

Alex pushed her away and she hit the wall. He hadn’t meant to push her so hard, but he didn’t want her touching him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh, Alex, don’t look at me like that.” She waved her hand in the air. “You never minded before.”

“That was a long time ago, Gretchen. I haven’t approached you since I got home.”

Since he’d been home, Gretchen had hinted several times that she wanted to pick up where they’d left off when Alex had visited a year ago. They’d had a brief affair, mostly because Alex had nothing better to do and he was still angry about Mina’s death. Kurt didn’t care what Gretchen did, and it saved Alex from having to go into town for a conquest for the evening.

“And she’s the reason why?” Gretchen rolled her eyes. “She said that she didn’t come here to marry you. That she didn’t even want to come.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “How did you get into that topic of conversation with her?”

“Oh.” Gretchen’s eyes widened, trying to look innocent. “We were just chatting.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Did you say something to upset her?” He wouldn’t put it past Gretchen to try to upset Anna, and Anna was easily upset. Especially now that she was pregnant.

Gretchen maintained her innocent look and added a shrug. “I don’t know. We talked about speaking German, and I asked when you two were going to have children.”

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