Page 336 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

It was Hugo. “Are you okay, Katrina?”

She forced a smile. “Of course. Why?”

“You don’t seem okay.” He frowned. “Is Alex hurting you?”

She shook her head. He wasn’t being abusive. Just... ignoring her.

“You don’t need to lie for him.”

“I’m fine, Hugo. Please...” She opened the door and looked down the hallway. “I can’t be seen talking to you.”

Hugo frowned. “He’s no better than Kurt.”

“I hurt him, Hugo. What else is he supposed to do?”

“He made us break up. Him and his stupid family.” His gaze softened. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have let you go.”

Her heart ached at the love in his eyes. The more Alex ignored her, the more she missed Hugo. She shook her head. “It doesn’t do any good to wish things were different.”

The ballet Anna was dancing in was the first one of the evening, and she went straight home after she finished. She took a shower and curled up in bed to read until she fell asleep or Alex came home, whichever came first.

She finished her book around eleven-thirty and Alex still wasn’t home, so she wandered into the library to find another one to read. Ignoring the pain in her heart was getting easier. Sometimes.

Nothing in the library piqued her interest, and she went back to the bedroom to search for her e-reader. There was always something interesting to download.

The condo door opened as she settled back into bed and male voices echoed back to the bedroom. Then she heard female voices and her heart dropped into her stomach. Multiple female voices.

Should she go out there? Should she hide so whoever Alex brought home wouldn’t know he was married? Or did he want her to know he’d brought someone home?

She bit her lip and then decided to go out, using the premise that she wanted some water. Her cup was by the bed. She grabbed it and headed toward the kitchen, which was right next to the living room. Her stomach churned as the voices got louder.

When she walked around the corner, she saw three nicely dressed women, along with Alex, Greg, Tony, and Seth, sitting in the room. Alex sat at one end of the couch with Greg and another woman. The woman reached for Alex, but he shook his head and brushed her hand away.

Alex looked up and their eyes met. Emotions flitted across his face as he stared at her. Anna held her cup up with an apologetic look and hurried to the kitchen.

One of the women giggled as Tony kissed her neck. The one sitting between Alex and Greg saw her and raised her eyebrows. “Who’s that?”

Everyone turned around to look at her. She shifted on her feet and bit her lip. She was dressed for bed while the women were dressed elegantly and hanging on the men.

“That’s Anna.” Alex shrugged. “She . . . lives here.”

The third woman laughed. “Live-in maid?”

“Something like that.”

Anna bit her lip and turned around to quickly fill her cup and returned to the bedroom. It was obvious Alex didn’t want the women to know he was married to her.

She stood in the center of the bedroom, looking around, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, she grabbed an extra blanket from the closet and crept upstairs to the conservatory. There was a couch up there and, if the door was closed, it was quiet. She wrapped the blanket around herself and cried herself to sleep.

Alex awoke to an empty bed. He’d gone out with the other men after the performance and they’d met women at the bar they’d gone to. Alex didn’t flirt; he had no desire to, but the idea of making Anna jealous appealed to his baser self.

He had no intention of sleeping with any of them. They were there for the other guys. But he couldn’t resist the jab about Anna’s purpose in the household. He saw the pain in her eyes and was satisfied that she was hurting as much as he was.

But when he came to bed and Anna wasn’t there, he realized he might have gone too far. He found her asleep upstairs in the conservatory, her face still wet from her tears. She’d given him the space to be with someone else.

His whole body tingled with guilt. How many times had Devin done that to her? That she’d offered to sleep somewhere else after they first began fighting made him realize she’d probably experienced that with Devin more than once. Was he no better than Devin?

Alex had just wanted her to feel his jealousy. For her to know how much she’d hurt him by running to Hugo after they’d fought. He was angry and hurt and wanted to punish her so she’d never do it again. But had he gone too far? Had his anger done irreparable harm?

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