Page 335 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

Alex lifted his chin and clenched his jaw. “Yes, you do.” He reached down and tipped her face up to his. “You never had a problem with it before.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You weren’t around long enough for me to have a problem with it.”

Alex barely kept himself from wincing.

“Perhaps you should perform the final ritual. Then I would be like the other Elder-Mistresses. Cold and beautiful.”

“I like your warmth,” he said before he could stop himself.

Anna looked back at the floor.

His anger rose to the surface again. “I will allow you to continue dancing with Hugo for this season, but once Devin is dealt with, we will be returning to Germany. I expect you to keep your interactions with him strictly professional.”

“Yes, Alex.”

He wasn’t commanding her, he rationalized to himself. He was just laying out his expectations.

“When I am out of town, I expect you to go to class and return here. No going out to clubs or spending time with other men. I obviously can’t trust you.” He briefly wondered if she would be glad if he disappeared again.

“Yes, Alex.” Her voice was getting softer with each response.

“If you need to go somewhere, I expect you to ask me first. If you disobey me, I will put a tracker on you.”

“I won’t disobey you,” she whispered.

He continued to look down at her, and she looked up after a moment. “Do you want me to sleep in a different room?”

“Why would I want that?”

“That’s what—I mean, in case you want to bring another woman home.”

Was she going to say that’s what Devin would have her do? He closed his eyes. He was angry, yes, but he would never do that to her. “No woman could satisfy me like you do.”

She bowed her head again.

Chapter 166

The next two days were terrible and Anna was close to tears the entire time. Alex hardly spoke to her, and she didn’t dare approach him without permission. She went to class and rehearsals each day and kept to herself. If she wasn’t dancing, she was at home in the bedroom or the upstairs conservatory. Alex and his men spent most of the time in the study planning their trip to Boston, so their interactions were minimal.

Anna understood why he was angry. He had every right to be. She was the one who’d done wrong. She’d wounded Alex by going to Hugo. She deserved her Master’s scorn.

Alex didn’t attend rehearsals. They lay awkwardly in bed next to each other each night, but never talked or touched.

Tuesday night was her first regular performance. She went home after rehearsal that afternoon to rest. As she was getting ready to leave, she knocked on the study door.

“Herein.”

She pushed open the door and saw the men standing around a large table with maps and laptops covering it. Alex didn’t look up as she stood there.

“A-are you coming tonight?” Before their fight, he’d promised to attend as many performances as he could, tonight being one of them.

He looked up and stared at her with hard eyes. “I told you I would be there,” he snapped.

Her mouth moved to speak, but no sound came out. He cocked his eyebrow at her, as if impatiently waiting for her to speak.

“Yes, Master,” she whispered. She closed the door quickly and ran back to the bedroom, wiping away the burning tears. Would he ever forgive her?

That evening, Anna arrived at the theater and went straight to her dressing room. Slowly, she began to get ready and jumped when someone knocked on the door a while later. She stood and opened the door a crack, peering out into the hallway.

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