Page 213 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

Anna shook her head and walked across the room and stood by the bed, looking at him. Hugo. Her boyfriend. She smiled at the thought.

“What’s that smile for?” He sat and patted the bed next to him.

“I was thinking about you being my boyfriend.”

“I’m glad that made you smile.”

“Me too.” She was stretching out her legs under the covers when she remembered... “Oh, the light!” She sat up, but he put his hand on hers.

“I’ll get it.” He got up to turn the light off, and then slowly made his way back to the bed and chuckled. “It’s dark in here.”

Anna giggled. “That happens at night.”

“Mmm.” The bed dipped beside her and he moved around for a moment, then reached for her. “Come here.”

She moved under the blankets and stretched out on her side next to him, head resting on his chest as he lay on his back. He played with her hair. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was so worried when you didn’t come backstage. Especially when Aaron freaked out.”

“I’m sorry I worried you.”

“What matters is that you’re safe, Kittycat. I can’t ask for anything more than that.” He tucked her closer to his side and she rested her hand on his bare stomach. When she moved her fingers, she could feel the ridges between his abdominal muscles. There was no chest hair to tickle her nose, and he smelled good. A spicy vanilla scent of some sort. She closed her eyes and was sound asleep within minutes.

“You’re kidding, right?” Devin stared at his phone sitting on his home office desk and pushed away in shock.

“I wish I was.” Tom’s voice through the speaker was tense. Devin could tell he was shaken even through the phone lines. “It was... really disturbing. His skull was caved in, his neck was broken, and his dick... I can’t imagine what happened. He must have put up a fight, though. His room was all torn up and... God, did he have mob connections or something?”

“With him, you never know.” Jack didn’t think things through sometimes. Devin stood and paced over to the window, gazing out at the downtown skyline, the lights of the buildings sparkling like the stars in the night sky.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was here? I could’ve offered him a place to stay or something. Kept whoever wanted him dead off of him.”

Devin sighed. “I wanted him to see if Anna was there and to keep out of sight until he confirmed either way.”

“I really don’t think she’s here. I’ve looked and I don’t sense her.”

“I can’t figure out where she went. I should be able to sense something from her. The bond is still active.”

“I’ll keep looking.”

“Thanks, Tom. Let me know if you find out anything else about Jack’s death.”

“I will.”

Devin shook his head. Jack was a smart man, but sometimes his passions got ahead of his brain. He couldn’t imagine what trouble he could have gotten into to deserve such a horrible death, though.

Shit. Now who would train his red girls?

Chapter 112

Alex studied as much as he could without neglecting time with his family. Despite his efforts in reading and studying, he found no information about breaking the bond or the potential consequences of not performing the ritual. The only thing the tome said, and what he knew already, was that the final ritual solidified the bond. His gut told him the bonds would dissolve, but he hesitated to take the risk without knowing more. He didn’t want anything to happen to Anna.

It was nearly midnight and he lay on his bed in his old room, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about Anna. He’d just moved back in earlier in the afternoon. Kurt had moved into Greta’s old room since Sofie and Derek both had rooms on this floor, and he didn’t want to move them back into the wing he’d lived in with Gretchen.

Alex had patiently stayed in one of the guest rooms until Kurt was ready. He didn’t want to push his little brother. Kurt was having a hard enough time adjusting to Alex’s return, though he had a feeling it had more to do with Anna than him. Kurt had admitted that he was glad he could stop trying to learn about The Brotherhood and becoming an Elder, but Alex had seen regret in his brother’s eyes.

Vati had said Kurt had been doing very well stepping into Alex’s shoes. He’d never seen Vati so proud of Kurt, and Alex hoped Vati would continue to support Kurt in the way he had obviously supported him while Alex had been gone.

Kurt had changed in the years Alex had been gone. Alex never would have imagined his younger, carefree brother ever feeling so responsible for so many things. But he did. And he had taken his adopted role as eldest son very seriously. Alex didn’t imagine for a minute it had been easy; he knew it wasn’t. But it wasn’t in Kurt’s nature to be so serious. He hoped Kurt would learn to be himself again.

They hadn’t talked much since Alex had returned, aside from light family conversations. But every time Anna’s name was mentioned, Kurt got quiet and he clenched his jaw. Kurt had fallen for Anna hard. Harder than the first time. Vati said he’d asked her to marry him twice, but both times Devin had prevented it. This was one of the only times Alex was thankful for Devin’s interference. What would he have done had he returned home and Anna was married to his brother?

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